The Deep (1977)

Good entertainment both over and under water

This famous movie holds up well, mainly due to the hot pair, Nick Nolte and Jaqueline Bisset, but the suspense is great too. November 28, 2008

The Book was Great........The Movie is Even Better.......The Rum is the Best

The DVD in widescreen is great, but I hope the director's cut with the extra 53 minutes surfaces (a bad pun, excuse me) some day, I missed it when it was on TV and from what I heard it helps make better sense of some of the plot. The underwater photography is some of the best ever filmed (courtesy of Al Giddings)and the stars do all of the diving.

The storyline is one of the great "what ifs" of history, two wrecks from different centuries end up one on top of the other. If your a history buff (as I am) you'll realize that with the number of ships that have wrecked in Bermudan waters over 500 years it's not that far fetched a plot.

The cast is great, Shaw at his best as the reluctant anti-hero, Bisset and Nolte at their most nubile and athletic, Gossett doing a great turn as the drug hungry villain, plus the always great Eli Wallach. Then there is the real star of the movie, the islands of Bermuda and the water that surrounds them.

This is one of the few movies made in which the movie is superior to the book. I greatly enjoyed the book, it goes much deeper into Romer Treece's (Shaw) background and why he is so anti-drug, but the movie is even better. A few of the characters (in particular, the one played by Wallach) are changed and the ending is changed, in my mind far better in the movie then the book.

If nothing else this movie introduced me to what is still my favorite alcoholic beverage........Goslings Black Seal Rum and Treece (Shaw) has two of the best lines ever about its consumption. When asked about drinking before diving he responds....."Rum's not drinkin', rum's survivin'" and when asked what he does when its too foggy to get the boat out he responds........"I stay home and drink rum".

I highly recommend this DVD and it is best enjoyed with a Gosling Black Seal.....neat of course! August 26, 2008

old one but a good one

she's an older one, but a good movie, good story line, enjoyed it, actually saw it when it came out and wanted to see it again... February 11, 2008

Drug Drama in Bermuda

1977's "The Deep" is a very serviceable movie drama, featuring a solid cast (Robert Shaw, Nick Nolte, Jacqueline Bisset, and Lou Gossett), an exotic location (Bermuda), and a thrilling premise (a hunt for underwater treasure).

The movie opens with an underwater dive by David and Gail (Nolte and Bisset) while on a romantic holiday in Bermuda. Those not distracted by Gail's wet t-shirt will watch the couple discover a ship wreck and various artifacts, including a mysterious glass ampoule. The dive is interupted by Gail's scary encounter with an unknown underwater creature under the wreck.

Back on shore, the couple's effort to trace their small collection of artifacts leads them to two encounters. The first, with legendary Bermudian diver Romer Treece (Robert Shaw), leads to the discovery that they have found a long-sought World War II freighter loaded with glass ampoules of morphine, and that the freighter may be sitting on top of an even older Spanish treasure ship. The second encounter, with Haitain drug dealer Cloche (Lou Gossett) leads to the discovery that Cloche and his gang are prepared to kill to get to the morphine.

The rest of the movie is a suspense-filled chase on land and underwater, as Treece, David, and Gail try to recover the Spanish treasure while staying one step ahead of the Haitians in a complicated game of cross and double-cross. The tension lasts to the final scene, a dramatic fight to the death inside the wreck of the freighter.

This movie is well-recommended as a entertaining underwater thriller, featuring Robert Shaw in one of the last roles of his long career. August 5, 2007

Thank you Ms. Bisset, you made this kids heart jump in this movie

OK sure it's not the greatest movie made but it is one fun underwater adventure and as stated my first crush started with Ms. Bisset's wet tee-shirt dive over the opening credits. The memories this one brings back. The underwater photograph is still stunning and the tale of treasure hunters and drug dealers is still very well done.
The copy I have features both the full and wide screen version of the film but little else, but who cares lets go diving! July 31, 2007

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