Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Screen It! is not attempting to rate the movie as good or bad but to give parents the tools to decide whether it's appropriate for their kids.

This movie has been screened for objectional content in 15 areas. Click for a detailed look.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
Here's a quick look at the content found in this R rated suspense/thriller. Being a film about people attacked by sharks, it should come as little surprise that it's filled with many suspenseful scenes as well as those featuring rather bloody and gruesome deaths of characters being eaten or shredded by such creatures. Profanity is heavy due to at least 4 uses of the "f" word, while other profanities and colorful phrases are also present. Some women are briefly seen in skimpy bikinis or underwear, and a few are seen making out with young men. A bit of drinking and smoking is also present. Due to the severity of the shark attacks and the possibility that they and other related scenes could induce nightmares in kids (or prevent them from getting anywhere near any standing water), we suggest that you take a closer look at the listed content should you still be concerned about its appropriateness for anyone in your home.

QUICK TAKE:: Suspense/Thriller/Horror: A research team must contend with a pack of genetically altered, ultra intelligent sharks that have invaded their sinking research station.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they liked "Jaws," or are fans of such movies and/or someone in the cast, it's a good bet -- although this one seems most attractive to male teens.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For graphic shark attacks, and for language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: SAFFRON BURROWS plays a researcher who broke some medical research conventions by altering the DNA of the sharks.
THOMAS JANE plays the resident shark expert and robust hero.
LL COOL J plays the station's cook and initial self-doubter about his chances to survive.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON plays the financial backer behind McAlester's project.
JACQUELINE McKENZIE, MICHAEL RAPAPORT and STELLAN SKARSGÅRD play other crew members who don't get to do much other than contend with the shark attacks (and cuss or act belligerent under the circumstances).; THOMAS JANE plays the resident shark expert and robust hero.
LL COOL J plays the station's cook and initial self-doubter about his chances to survive.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON plays the financial backer behind McAlester's project.
JACQUELINE McKENZIE, MICHAEL RAPAPORT and STELLAN SKARSGÅRD play other crew members who don't get to do much other than contend with the shark attacks (and cuss or act belligerent under the circumstances).; LL COOL J plays the station's cook and initial self-doubter about his chances to survive.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON plays the financial backer behind McAlester's project.
JACQUELINE McKENZIE, MICHAEL RAPAPORT and STELLAN SKARSGÅRD play other crew members who don't get to do much other than contend with the shark attacks (and cuss or act belligerent under the circumstances).; SAMUEL L. JACKSON plays the financial backer behind McAlester's project.
JACQUELINE McKENZIE, MICHAEL RAPAPORT and STELLAN SKARSGÅRD play other crew members who don't get to do much other than contend with the shark attacks (and cuss or act belligerent under the circumstances).; JACQUELINE McKENZIE, MICHAEL RAPAPORT and STELLAN SKARSGÅRD play other crew members who don't get to do much other than contend with the shark attacks (and cuss or act belligerent under the circumstances).

DETAILED CONTENT LISTING:
Click on a category for specific details or scroll through the page for a broader overview.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: MILD (Return to Summary Chart): We see two young men drinking beer on a boat and moments later see a spilled wine bottle.
At a party onboard the station, Dudley pours drinks for people, including Franklin who has vodka.
After Susan asks him how he avoided a shark attack, Blake comments that maybe he'll tell her if she takes him up on a beer he previously offered her.
After the station is rocked by an explosion, Dudley finds an undamaged bottle of wine/liquor, opens it and drinks a great deal of its contents.

BLOOD/GORE: EXTREME (Return to Summary Chart): From a distance we see Whitlock urinating off an outdoor station platform (as Franklin comments on him "pissing into the wind").
We see the fake, but moderately realistic looking brain of a shark inside a model.
During a feeding, we see several sharks shred another shark into bits with lots of blood in the water.
We see and hear the squishing sound of several probes going into a shark's head (but there's no blood).
A shark suddenly bites off a man's arm and we see the bloody stump as well as lots of blood flowing from the open wound.
A man's hand is a little bloody, as is Dudley's later in another scene.
A shark suddenly grabs a man, chews on him a bit and then tears his body in half (resulting in bloody water).
We see a character in the middle of a shark's mostly closed jaws.
After a shark kills another character, we see lots of blood in the water.
A shark tears a body in half and we see the lower half (with a twitching leg) float away.
A character's leg is bloody after a shark attack, as is the bandage later seen around the wound.
A character purposefully cuts their hand to draw blood (and we see a little).
We see more severed body parts (from a distance) after another person is killed.
We see a huge, bloody explosion with bloody chunks of shark flesh falling into the water.
A character has a bloody cut on their leg and face.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: MODERATE (Return to Summary Chart): We hear that Blake spent two years in prison for smuggling.
Susan evidently has both for breaking a ban on genetically altering animals (and not telling the rest of the crew the results of her work).
Under the stress of the ever worsening situation, several characters say bad things to others.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: EXTREME (Return to Summary Chart): The very young or easily frightened may find the following as more suspenseful/scary than the older, average moviegoer.
Two young couples on a boat have an encounter with a shark at night. First, it repeatedly bumps their vessel (after we see its underwater point of view) and then finally bursts up through it, sending all four into the water. With suspenseful music playing, they try to get back on board before the shark gets them.
We see Blake swimming in one of the large holding tanks and a huge shark coming right after him (but he survives the encounter).
At night, Susan cautiously walks out onto the darkened deck.
At night and underwater, Blake swims through a tunnel made entirely of cage walls and has two sharks try to attack him from either side of it. He then swims through the open waters and has a shark come after him.
A shark suddenly bites off a man's arm and we see the bloody stump as well as lots of blood flowing from the open wound, as well as the crew trying to save his life.
A helicopter tries to lift that man to safety, but a mechanical mishap (during a ferocious storm at night) turns into tragedy as the man is dropped back into the water and grabbed underwater by a shark.
A shark speeds toward an observation window and hurtles a man toward it, worsening the man's injuries and shattering the glass, causing a great deal of water to rush into the compartment. The crew members inside then try to rush to dry safety.
A character hesitantly wades through some water as strange sounds echo around him. We then see a shark coming after him.
A character falls into the water after just witnessing a shark eat a parrot in front of his eyes.
A man tries to hide in a glass front oven from a shark attack that accidently ignites the oven.
The characters try to climb through a vertical shaft that's flooding from the bottom and occasionally raining fiery debris onto them from above.
A shark nearly gets a man on a ladder.
A ladder falls, sending one person into the flooding waters and the other two hanging just above it. They try to rescue the other person, but a shark gets there first.
Two characters go underwater and try to attempt something knowing that the sharks are around them.
Several more lethal shark attacks may be tense to some viewers.
A character slowly walks down some steps into a flooded compartment and then across it, aware that a shark could be lurking underneath.
A person tries to avoid another shark attack after a false alarm scare and nearly has their hand bitten off.
Several characters try to swim to the surface and avoid the sharks.
A shark grabs a character and pulls him through the water, but that man stabs the shark several times until it lets him go.
A person jumps into the water to bait the shark.
Several more shark attacks may be suspenseful/scary to some viewers.

GUNS/WEAPONS: MILD (Return to Summary Chart): Harpoon: Used by Carter to capture an attacking shark.
Gun: Fired into the air at the start of a party.
Spear gun: Carried by Blake as protection and later usee to spear a shark through its dorsal fin.
Explosive: Used to kill a shark.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: MINOR (Return to Summary Chart): Phrases: "What the f*ck," "Pissing," "Stupid ass," "Cut the crap," "You stupid bitch" (said by one woman to another), "Screw" (nonsexual) and "Balls" (testicles).
Dudley playfully gives someone "the finger."

JUMP SCENES: MODERATE (Return to Summary Chart): The sound of a fired flare may startle some viewers.
Two sharks suddenly attack either side of a cage tunnel.
A captured shark suddenly rears up and surprises everyone.
A shark suddenly bites off a man's arm.
Dudley's parrot scares him.
A shark suddenly grabs a man, chews on him a bit and then tears his body in half.
A dead (but not gory) body suddenly pops up in front of someone underwater.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): EXTREME (Return to Summary Chart): An extreme amount of suspenseful and/or frightening music plays throughout much of the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): NONE (Return to Summary Chart): None.

PROFANITY: HEAVY (Return to Summary Chart): At least 4 "f" words, 3 "s" words, 10 damns, 7 asses (3 used with "hole"), 6 hells, 1 S.O.B., 1 crap and 3 uses of "G-damn," 2 of "Oh my God" and 1 use of "Christ" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: MILD (Return to Summary Chart): We see two young couples making out/caressing each other onboard a boat at night. The women are dressed in bikinis (one that's rather skimpy/high cut and shows cleavage), but nothing else happens as they have an encounter with a shark (although one of the women asks a man if he feels something and the guy enthusiastically responds, "Yeah, I feel something").
Another woman on the station shows a bit of cleavage.
A character sees a Playboy magazine floating by, picks it up and briefly looks inside it (we don't see anything but a brief glimpse of the cover that doesn't show anything explicit).
We briefly see Higgins in her bra.
Looking for batteries, Scoggins asks where Higgins' vibrator might be (he doesn't call it by that name, but implies it by his gestures and asking, "Where would a girl keep her thing?").
When discussing how time is relative, Dudley says that putting your hands on a hot woman would make an hour seem like a second.
Susan strips down to her rather skimpy bra and underwear (needing her rubber wetsuit as insulation under her feet). As such, we see several shots from above her that show a great deal of her wet breasts and related cleavage (still in her bra).

SMOKING: MINOR (Return to Summary Chart): Franklin smokes a cigar and Whitlock smokes a cigarette.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: MINOR (Return to Summary Chart): Susan briefly talks about repeatedly having to tell her father -- who was suffering from Alzheimer's -- that his wife was dead.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: MILD (Return to Summary Chart): Whether there's any validity to the medical experiments as presented here.
That shark attacks are a bit more rare than as shown here.

VIOLENCE: EXTREME (Return to Summary Chart): A shark breaks through a boat's hull, but before it can get the occupants, Carter shoots and captures it with a harpoon.
During a feeding, we see several sharks shred another shark into bits.
Two sharks try to attack Blake in a cage tunnel and then destroy several surveillance cameras.
A shark suddenly bites off a man's arm and we see the bloody stump as well as lots of blood flowing from the open wound.
A helicopter crashes and explodes, killing a total of three people.
A shark speeds toward an observation window and hurtles a man toward it, killing him and shattering the glass, causing a great deal of water to rush into the compartment.
A shark eats a parrot.
A shark is blown up by a gas explosion.
Franklin implies that during an event before this story started, several people were purposefully killed.
A shark suddenly grabs a man, chews on him a bit and then tears his body in half.
A shark kills another character.
A shark kills yet another character, tearing the body in half.
A shark is electrocuted after trying to attack another person.
A shark grabs a character and pulls him through the water, but the man stabs the shark several times until it lets go of him.
A person purposefully slices open their palm to make it bleed.
Another character is attacked and killed by the shark.
A spear penetrates a shark's dorsal fin and injures a character's leg.
A shark is blown up with an explosive.