DeepStar Six

Review Summary: Forgettable rehash of THE ABYSS and ALIEN. During 1989, a certain sub-genre in the sci-fi films struck cinemas, it was the underwater disaster/thriller epic. Three films were released that time. The most popular was "The Abyss", directed by James Cameron. The other was "Leviathan". "Deepstar Six" maybe the weakest of the three. Mostly because of its lack of a famous cast and impressive special-effects. But it's lack of visuals, doesn't always mean it's bad. "Deepstar Six" is not a totally terrible film, but it's lack of special effects, thrills and especially originality totally sinks it. The film promises a B-monster movie, but the alien beast doesn't fully appear until the second half. First, the crew must get past a flooding, a nuclear explosion problem and the lot, all tedious in its attempt to thrill the audience. If the film gave more interest, it would have been better, even for a rip-off. Rating: * out of 5.

Futuristic scientists try to set up an underwater sea lab and soon are forced to deal with a squid-like menace from the deep. The story line is all too familiar and there are just not enough scares to titilate a tad of terror. An ensemble cast features: Greg Evigan, Cindy Picket, Miguel Ferrer, Nia Peeples and Nancy Everhard. Just enough special effects to keep this from being a total waste.

Eh, it was okay. Nothing special. Mostly mumbo jumbo tech talk and eventually a monster from the depths. Even for 1989 standards, it was clichéd and predictable. No recommendation from me.

Three major underwater movies came out in 1989, Deepstar Six, the Abyss and Laviathan. Now first place will have to go to the Abyss. It's great but more about that when I review the Abyss. But as for Deepstar Six, it has some minor character issues and it is your stereo typical monster movie situation. Monster found in cave, starts eating everyone. The cast does a great job with what was given to them. The effects are good for your standard animatronic monster movie. Nothing special. Nothing bad either. Now what gets my goat is that they never say that the monster is an alien, and how it got there in the first place. That's my only major complaint so in the under water monster movielympic race, the winner is THE ABYSS, but coming in a close second is DEEPSTAR SIX who takes the silver.

Deep in the ocean some foolish marine biologists accidently disturb an ancient prehistoric creature from its slumber. The creature is understandably a little cheesed off and proceeds to cause the death of many of said biologists. With your brain safely checked in with the cloakroom attendant this film is undemanding and fun. The creature is particularly impressive and credit must go to the the special effects guys. The cast is eclectic and low budget with Miguel Ferrer giving the best performance as Snyder, the only member of crew realizing the gravity of their situation and slowly going stir crazy. This film is better than many other watery efforts and this includes bigger budget efforts like Leviathan and Sphere.

I remembered watching DeepStar Six on TV as a kid, about the same time I first watched "The Abyss." While this movie is not as suspenseful, dramatic and adventurous as "The Abyss," I still found it to be quite entertaining and fun. The film starts off with a crew in a sub doing some sort of experiment on an underwater nuclear base. However, their presence then disturbs an unidentified giant sea creature, which I thought resembled a large lobster. The creatures attacks the sub and crew and then the rest of the movie is basically a struggle for survival with some intense monster action. The movie is sort of predictable and the cast of characters weren't as memorable as I recalled, but it has a quick-paced plot with good special effects and intense monster action one might find enjoyable. Grade B-

"DeepStar Six" is just another "Alien" clone, to be ranked with all "Alien" clones as just another time waster. This might be what it deserves, however, it can be noted as a few notches above other "Alien" clones for its excellent cast, which, even when the story and writing become pretty silly, sticks to it and keeps things running smoothly. The characters are pretty convincing as well, epecially for such low standards as this. And while most of the film is talkly and uneventful, I will proudly state that the last half hour are great and very tension-filled. I was very pleased with the climax, and even the monster was acceptable. If the whole film had been as surprising as gripping as the last half-hour, this might have been the greatest "Alien" clone around. Instead, it's just a pretty good, low-budget flick that's worth watching once or twice if it comes on cable. **1/2 out of ****