The Film That Titanic Should Have Been

I saw Deep Rising at a sneak preview last winter. I remember sitting in the theater, right in the midst of Titanic-mania, and thinking now here's the deep sea movie I've been waiting for. From the opening frames, Deep Rising put me in the mind of a great Larry Cohen monster flick. Decent character development, but not so much that it gets in the way of the on-screen action (of which there is plenty). I laughed, I cringed, I cheered, and I laughed some more. In short: I had a damn good time with Deep Rising. And so did everybody else in the theater . . . Or at least it seemed so, judging by the vocal squeals of horror and delight throughout the film. But something strange happened as the lights went up: The very same squealing audience members stood up, put on their coats, and proceeded to slam on the film. Despite their obvious and vocal enjoyment of Deep Rising, no one wanted to admit it.

I was pissed. Here I was, surrounded by a vocal audience who were too "high brow" to admit that a movie can be cheesy yet totally entertaining at the same time!

Months pass. The film is panned both critically and at the box office. Everyone but me forgets that it existed. It's during these months that I begin to question my critical prowess: Was I completely diluted? Is Deep Rising as bad as everybody said it was? In cases like these, I rent and re-watch with a hypercritical eye.

By god I was right. Deep Rising is totally entertaining. A fast-paced, no-pretense action/horror flick of the highest order.

Treat Williams (who I'll always have a soft spot for because of his turn in Dead Heat - another film that's better than folks made it out to be) is a profiteering boat captain with a cargo full of bad guys and nuclear war heads. Meanwhile, the lovely Famke Jannsen is a pick-pocket aboard a luxury liner. The pirates on Williams' ship are headed for the luxury liner. But so is a gigantic, flesh-eating, multi-tentacled beastie from the depths of the ocean. Basically what you end up with is a crew of gun-toting, swarthy Aliens characters versus a massive sea monster. Deep Rising moves, folks. Sure the plot is somewhat generic, but it hits its marks right on cue and keeps on moving at a lightning-fast pace. The creature effects, by Freddy Vs. Jason director and special FX maestro Rob Bottin, are excellent. CGI effects, in my opinion, are overused and seldom work when you're trying to bring a living creature to life. Deep Rising has excellent use of computer-images monster tentacles and when combined with prosthetics (especially in one standout "monster regurgitation" scene) is doubly effective. As with any great monster movie, the final unveiling of the creature is held off until the last reel and it's worth the wait.

I don't want to give too much away and I don't want to give you the impression that Deep Rising re-writes cinema history or anything, but if you're looking for some cheap thrills and good laughs stay away from dreck like Mercury Rising or Hard Rain and rent this one instead. No big star names to distract from the action, one big monster that is a force to be reckoned with. A damn funny ending. Definitely worth renting.