Movie Review: Deepstar Six (1989)

Deep sea week here at Wondra's World continues with Deepstar Six (1989). Quite similar to Leviathan in many ways, Deepstar Six is about a team of people working underwater who come up against a monster.

I struggled with this one because it's a little unclear at first why the crew's down there, since some people appear to be there to perform scientific research wile others are there as part of a military mission to install an underwater missile silo. All becomes clear, though, when shit hits the fan and the scientists who want to explore the cavern they discover before blowing the shit out of it and plonking bombs on top of it are told where they can go. It's a military operation that scientists are allowed to tag along on.

(Incidentally, the scientist in question is a woman so whether she's dismissed because of her opinions or because of her gender is unclear. )

The most interesting thing about this premise is the idea of hiding missile silos at the bottom of the ocean. I can only shake my head because it's so... human. We never stop finding new ways to turn every inch of the planet into a potential war zone.

*sigh*

I'll start by saying that I didn't care much for Deepstar Six. It was a little too bland, too nice for my tastes. A little too nice and a lot more boring. A movie about aquatic monsters really shouldn't be so hard to get through.

There are elements of Deepstar Six that do work, though. For instance, they do a good job of character development. It's character-driven, with a strong romantic element. That being said, the endless technobabble and predictable scenarios undo all the hard work they do in making you care about the crew members. Deepstar Six grows so tedious that you don't care what happens to the crew, as long as it happens soon.

The crew of Deepstar Six are, at least competent (unlike the crew of Leviathan.) They care about doing their job right, even if they do allow themselves to be bullied into continuing with the mission after logic dictates it should end. It's nice that the crew is made up with many familiar faces, including Miguel Ferrer, Greg Evigan, and Nia Peeples. (Though none of the performances really stand out.)

Although the blatant sexism and constant sexual jokes are tedious, Deepstar Six impressed me in other ways. I like that the man in charge (Taurean Blacque's Laidlaw) is black. It's a little thing, maybe, but even today many movies show a shocking lack of people of color in positions of authority. Sadly, he's a total dickwad and blindly follows his own agenda, which brings up all kinds of issues about authority, but it's a start.

Deepstar Six doesn't age as well as Leviathan, though much of the technology is similar. The problem lies in futuristic seacraft and cringe-worthy models that are just too horrible to be believable. (I like the funky scuba suits, though. Reminds me of Bioshock.) Oh, and the godawful monster, of course!

Seriously. It's terrible.

At least they're careful about how much of the monster they reveal until later in the movie--a very, very wise move.

The movie is just too long and the music is always too loud. Female characters are either sexualized, insulted, or completely dismissed. Both the graphics and the acting are mediocre at best. Overall, Deepstar Six is just blah.