Review of The Deep (1977) by Robert H — 11 Jul 2013

It's unbelievably hard to take "The Deep" seriously. Unlike "Jaws," which it is often compared to, there is an underlying feeling of cash grab and sleaze in its midst, most likely thanks to most of the budget being spent on fantastic underwater sequences or Jacqueline Bisset's oh-so-tight wet T-shirt in the first few minutes of the film. Despite not being of the nicest quality, it isn't a bad way to spend two hours. Though "The Deep" isn't a great film no matter how you look at it, it remains to be entertaining throughout. I don't know if it's due to its neat special effects or '70s nostalgia, but nevertheless there is a lot of fun to be had here.

Gail (Bisset) and David (Nick Nolte) are a couple vacationing in Bermuda who just happen to stumble upon some hidden treasure when scuba diving; right off the bat, one can expect that something more dramatic will ensue. The twosome, like many movie couples, are a bit clueless, and all too quickly accept the help of Romer Treece (Robert Shaw), a local treasure hunter. As it turns out, the area where they found some of the treasure is actually the wrecking site of a sunken ship, which also holds a failed morphine shipment that's worth millions.

While the group is much more interested in the treasure than the morphine, they find a fiend in Henri Cloche (Louis Gossett), who wants to make some money off of the drugs as well as collect the treasure. A race to get the goods starts off, but it's quite a hazardous one.

"The Deep" barely lifts a finger when it comes to the filmography of Peter Yates, a director whose credits include "Bullitt," "The Hot Rock," and "Breaking Away." It's one of his least stylish and most little-brained ventures, but Yates has a talent when it comes to directing thrillers. Luckily most of what makes "The Deep" good is its action and adventure, 95% of which takes place under the sea. It's highly difficult to film with believability, but Yates manages to bring it up to par with James Bond caper "Thunderball.".

The underwater scenes range from being beautiful and quite mysterious to decently frightening. When they're riddled with suspense, the high-point being the epic finale, "The Deep" turns into a great movie. When the drama is on dry land, however, it all gets a bit sudsy. It's the uneven balance that pulls the film down, but when it's good, it's really good.

"The Deep" isn't Oscar-caliber entertainment in the way that "Jaws" was, but it's an action movie that manages to make us a little bit sentimental while still thrilling us.