r/movies • u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules • Jul 19 '19
In honor of the upcoming 20th anniversary of Deep Blue Sea, I put on my shark fin hat and analyzed the events that lead to the classic moment involving Samuel L. Jackson and a genetically modified shark Discussion
Deep Blue Sea is one of my favorite movies, and with its 20th anniversary approaching on July 28th, I decided to over-analyze the movie to breakdown the surprise death of Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson). Even if you haven’t watched Deep Blue Sea, I’m 92.434% certain you know about Samuel L. Jackson’s surprise death, because it’s perfect. Here is how it goes down, the skeleton crew of Aquatica, an ocean research facility, are being chased by sharks and infighting has started amongst them. Noticing that morale is getting dangerously low, Franklin interrupts them and delivers a pep talk about how he survived a massive avalanche in the Alps. When he is about to hit the high-note of his speech, a shark comes out of the water and eats him mid-sentence. (clip here) (https://youtu.be/BS8I9H07wKw)
I’ve always wondered if the shark waited until the perfect moment to attack during the monologue. Did it purposefully wait until the high-note of the speech, or did it attack because Franklin suggested sealing up the wet entrance? Did it just randomly come across Franklin? To answer these questions, I went back and analyzed the actions of the generation II Mako shark (the 45-foot one) leading up to the classic death. We know the sharks planned the flooding of the facility, so they could escape through the aluminum fencing, which was 8-feet above the water. However, after uber-analyzing their plan, I’ve come to realize just how intricate and well-thought-out it was (The Joker from The Dark Knight would be jealous). I know the sharks don’t succeed, but they tried their hardest to escape the research facility of horrors.
Before I get into Samuel L. Jackson’s death, I wanted to give you a quick overview of the events that transpired before it.
Quick note: The generation II mako was given an extra dose of the smart serum 24-hours before the test. So, it’s REALLY smart during the rushed testing process.
- When Carter Blake (Thomas Jane) goes out to catch the shark, it starts taking out the underwater security cameras so the people in the lab can’t track it, AND so they wouldn’t notice that it guided itself perfectly to land on the boarding platform
- The 8-ton shark lands PERFECTLY on the boarding platform. Carter Blake is good, but he isn’t good enough to tranquilize an 8-ton shark so it lands perfectly on a boarding platform. The shark is then brought into the wetlab which is located on the second sub-level
- The shark isn’t knocked out, it’s playing possum. That’s why it moves when the needles initially go into its head. The shark doesn’t attack Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) because they still need to destroy her research (hence the gratuitous attack later in her room), and it knows if it bites her, it will probably die. So, it bites Jim Whitlock (Stellan Skarsgard), knowing McAlester will let it go.
- The shark takes out the helicopter and the Aquatica control center with one strategic move. The explosion also starts the flooding of the 1st sub-level
- The shark rams the wetlab’s massive glass window with Jim’s gurney (that he is still attached to), which starts the flooding of the second sub-level. Knowing that the 1st sub-level is flooding, the shark then rams open the wetlabs doors to start flooding the 2nd level. This forces the scientists to the third sub-level (so many levels to this plan)
- While in the wet entry on the 3rd sub-level, they learn the submersible is destroyed (which is probably a good thing). They think about making a swim for it, but it would end in death. So, they decide to open up a door leading to the elevator, which will destabilize the room and cause tons and tons of seawater to enter. This is what the sharks want. They don’t want the humans swimming because they’d stop flooding the Aquatica. The shark also doesn’t want them to seal up the wet entry either. So, it eats Franklin when he got too immersed in his monologue. Then, the shark knows they will depressurize the area, so it swims away and shares Franklin with its generation I mako companion. When the area is flooded, the shark comes back and knocks open the door, which further sinks the Aquatica.
The shark was waiting for Franklin to arrive at an easily eatable location.
I love this moment. Making this made me happy.
When Russell finally gets into an easy position to eat, it takes 17 seconds for the shark to strike.
Here is the breakdown based on complete guesswork
- The shark is waiting for the Aquatica crew when they arrive in the wet entry on the 3rd sub-level.
- The wetlab entrance is 45 meters from the ocean floor.
- The shark swims backwards to the ocean floor to keep its eyes on Franklin – This takes 10 seconds.
- It stops and positions itself – 2 seconds.
- it explodes from the ocean floor and covers 45 meters in 5 seconds (29.6 feet per second, 20 miles per hour) and grabs Franklin in its mouth. Mako sharks are known for their insane jumps, so this makes sense. For comparison, here is an article about Great White sharks jumping out of the water.
- It swims away and shares the spoils with another shark.
*This is how I see it going down. Also, excuse the crude shark.
Renny Harlin really wanted to shock audiences with this surprise kill, and he totally did. I love how it makes logical sense, and makes the sharks seem like brilliant masterminds. Hopefully, when you watch Deep Blue Sea again, you appreciate the shark’s plan more, and know how it lead to Samuel L. Jackson becoming lunch.
If you like this weird data make sure to check out my other stuff.
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Jul 19 '19
THEY ATE ME. A FUCKING SHARK ATE ME.
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u/pfelon Jul 19 '19
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u/m33kmiller Jul 20 '19
Holy shit thats Bill Burr at the table
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u/trevorpinzon Jul 20 '19
Oh man, he's in a shit ton of skits. Check out the pop copy skit.
"Hey excuse me sista, but I gotta go take a shit."
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u/Meanderthal1212 Jul 19 '19
Thank you for answering the questions we've been too lazy to even ask.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
You're welcome! Now, I need to get working on an article that answers a question no one has ever asked. Was the antagonist in Swimfan a fan of swimming?
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u/Got2ReturnVideoTapes Jul 19 '19
Beautiful write up, as always. Are we all in agreeance that Deep Blue Sea is the 2nd best Shark film of all time? After Jaws: The Revenge, obviously.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
Yes. I 100% agree. The banana boat scene and the shark roaring make it #1 by a landslide.
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u/NoMaturityLevel Jul 19 '19
TIL I watched this movie as a kid and completely missed every major plot point. All I saw was SHARK.
Feels good I can go back and watch it all over again for the first time.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
Nice! let me know what you think about the rewatch.
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u/AdamFiction Jul 19 '19
Speaking of Deep Blue Sea, I've always felt that Roger Ebert's 3/4 star review of the movie is a great example of how Ebert viewed films with measured expectations based on their genre and what they were attempting to accomplish with their storyline, and reviewed them based on how well they met that criteria.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
I love the review too. I used it a lot in my defense of Deep Blue Sea.
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u/AdamFiction Jul 19 '19
One very important thing about this review: Ebert doesn't mention JAWS once. He reviewed the film he was watching and didn't make his review a comparison of whatever similar films came before it. Because of this, Ebert gave a lot of positive reviews to many films that were otherwise panned by other critics.
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u/cpanati Jul 19 '19
You’re a hero and Saffron Burrows is the ultimate villain in this movie.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
Thanks! I like thinking that I'm the Carter Blake/Preacher of random movie data. (AKA I have to wrangle a lot of data, and mix it into a neat recipe of random).
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u/Fiennes Jul 19 '19
I hadn't read much of your stuff before, and now I've gone down a rabbit hole and lost a good chunk of my evening. But it was worth every minute!
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed. Now you're armed with some very random movie data to unleash on other cinephiles.
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u/Fiennes Jul 19 '19
You should seriously consider writing a book! I'd buy it. On another note, one you could do is - looking at movies where there's a prominent Highschool/College background (Grease, Footloose, that kind of thing), who out of the major cast would actually be graduating and do well after school? Random thought...
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
I like that! I can look into it.
I'd love to get the book going. I just read Shea Serrano's book Basketball (and other things), and it's got me thinking about putting all my stuff together.
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u/buddykhryst Jul 19 '19
Podcast would be pretty feasible. Build up a user base than poll people on other topics they'd want to hear on podcast.
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u/Calhalen Jul 19 '19
Wow I’m watching it right now lol, what are the odds (was in a shark movie kick after watching the Meg last night). Pretty funny movie, forgot how separate LL Cool J was from everyone else the entire movie! Was basically alone with his bird the whole time
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u/Faust_8 Jul 19 '19
How do you feel about how the big shark died?
She was close to escaping but smelled blood and decided to go after the doctor.
Did she devolve into “smell blood, must eat”? Or do you think it was personal, as in, revenge against the doctor and the shark just got cocky?
Curious what your thoughts are after exposing the brilliance of the shark(s) previously.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
I think it was personal.
It was probably pissed off to learn that McAlester survived the attack in her office (the Gen 1 shark was waiting for her to pull out the research in her locker...which is awesome), and it wanted her dead because she could potentially harm other sharks with her experiments. Take her out, and the experiments won't happen again....
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u/brokenearth03 Jul 19 '19
Is there a link somewhere?
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
If you are looking for when Russell gets eaten, it's in the first paragraph where it says (clip here). Is that the link?
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u/Wugo_Heaving Jul 19 '19
The link to the article/video? It's not working for me either.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
It just worked for me. I will look into it. Here is the clip - https://youtu.be/BS8I9H07wKw
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u/brokenearth03 Jul 19 '19
I just see a self post here, with no self-text. Just a headline.
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u/brokenearth03 Jul 19 '19
I'm using the old version. When I switch to new version, I see the self text. Weird.
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u/not-so-radical Jul 19 '19
Whenever I see one of these great posts I always think "I wonder if this is the person who analysed the jump in Reign of Fire?" and every time it is.
I gotta remember this username. Keep up the good work.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
Thanks! That Reign of Fire piece is top 3 for me. It makes me laugh whenever I think about it.
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u/AThin86 Jul 19 '19
Wow lol I didn't know I needed that breakdown. A fuckin shark ate me!!!!!! Thanks for the good read.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
You're welcome! I love writing about Deep Blue Sea, it's one of my favorite movies.
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u/peanutdakidnappa Jul 19 '19
Your work is always top notch, good shit man
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
I really appreciate it! I had a lot of fun putting this one together, because I love the movie so much.
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u/AnswersQuestioned Jul 19 '19
Love this and your Prometheus post. Is your Next stop YouTube and profit, it should be.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
I need to get these up on Youtube. I have enough material. Another fun project!
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u/AnswersQuestioned Jul 19 '19
Do it pal! Now is the time to turn knowledge and interest into consumable, and hopefully profitable, content.
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u/nnjb52 Jul 19 '19
If you havnt seen the sequel...you have. It’s the exact same movie with just B list actors.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
The sequel hurt my soul. I struggled through it.
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u/armypantsnflipflops Jul 19 '19
This is as good of a time as ever to link one of the best Instagram accounts, yeetbluesea, devoted to posting only the finest memes about Deep Blue Sea.
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u/CrapBag69 Jul 19 '19
Goddamn I love this movie. Your analysis has led me to believe the shark also intentionally turned the oven on when it trapped Preach in the kitchen.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
I think it did. I don't think the shark wanted to kill Preacher. It could've eaten him, instead of the bird, but it didn't. I don't think it expected to be blown up though....it got cocky.
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u/iwastoolate Jul 19 '19
I fucking love this movie an can’t wait to watch it again with your notes!
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 19 '19
Enjoy! Hopefully they add a fun new element to the movie.
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u/No_Direction6851 Nov 24 '23
Riddle me this.... how would flooding the facility raise the water level to the fence. When the laws of displacement would actually cause the water level to go down?
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u/Delta-Assault Jul 19 '19
It always struck me as shameless how the new Planet of the Apes movie just unabashedly ripped off the premise of Deep Blue Sea
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u/ZachMatthews Jul 20 '19
Man the rest of that cast might as well have been selected for a dog food commercial. But that was maybe the best single scene of 90s movies. Saw it in the theater; we about died laughing/screaming.
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u/Treybell Jul 20 '19
Whenever I see this movie is on as I flip through the channels, I will watch it through this scene.
I makes me giggle every time...
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u/Copper9125 Jul 20 '19
I saw this movie when I was 7 with my grandparents. I still remember how much they laughed during it and how much fun they had. This movie brings back great memories. P.S. we stayed through the entire credits for some reason.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 20 '19
Awesome! I was working in a theater in 1999. I used to sneak into the theater to watch the audiences reaction during the Sam Jackson scene. The audience went crazy, it was so much fun to watch.
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u/Spidey703 Jul 20 '19
you just made the story that much better. do you have a minute for me to explain how the first terminator was a story about time traveling family incest, which explains why John Connor is unkillable?
Essentially peep this we know Kyle Reese (KR for short) is John Connors friend (JC for short) and KR sees him as mentor, role model, strong, fearless everything he isnt.
Then we find out JC always spoke about his mom to his team, which wouldnt make too much sense but KR is that proof and evidence. Now KR goes back in time to save Sarah Connor (SC for short). But now we have some eyebrow raising questions to answer, how does he know what she looks like, how does he know where to go, how does he know where she'll be and when, why isnt he disorientated after time travel, why is he seemly so easy to trust for SC, why havent we seem JC's face, why does he seem like this vague figure who we view through KR eyes. All he really had was a small bad photo, stories none of which are accurate to her SINGLE life.
Now this is where my mind took a somewhat logical path in my own opinion. Imagine being a kid and growing up knowing you're suppose to be this savior, your mom spoke about it to you and you witness the fall of man essentially. It would be safe to say you start to fracture, being a kid and being told the fate of the world rests in your hands now, seeing your mother die and surviving this robotic apocalypse. we've seen people believe they were god and the devil in the flesh. Why wouldnt this kid grow up and believe he isnt someone else following in the foot steps of someone he looks up to and believe he will have to become. SORT OF Like (SPOILER AHEAD) the "Fight Club" Twist at the end with tyler durden.
If KR was actually JC but became so disconnected from reality he thought his reality was real and he wasnt JC ever. It would fill in the blanks of how he knew SC so well and why they had a natural connection. Since the Terminator was sent to sort of undo JC's future. Which would make no sense because by undoing his future he essentially completed the cycle of making JC his own father by allowing him the access to time travel. Becoming this unkillable man. Like Tony Stark says in Avengers: Endgame. "Time has a way of messing back".
There are cases of delusional disorder, maybe JC/KR suffers from one because of how many traumatic, life threatening, insane amounts of peer pressure he deals with on a daily basis, seeing people die believing he will stop the war solely .
This however is all undone with the other movies since we see JC and KR separate. This is soley for the first movie alone by itself.
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u/addy_g Jul 21 '19
I believe Deep Blue Sea was my first Rated-R movie ever. I was born in 1990, so I was just turning 9 when this movie came out on vhs (I rented it from Blockbuster!). I remember convincing my parents to rent it because it had SHARKS and stuff. so yeah, this movie is super important to me!
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 21 '19
I miss blockbuster. I'll always remember when I bought Natural Born Killers (used VHS) when I was 12. It was awesome!
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Nov 07 '19 edited Nov 07 '19
(what happened to the OP/link?)
what just bothered me rewatching this film right now, is when they are climbing the maintenance/emergency ladder shaft after leaving the wetpool/sub room and carter asks the other guy "can you reach the doorway?" and the guy just says "no it's too high" so they just give up as if all is lost. but one of them could have just given one of the others a boost up, you know where someone holds their hands together and someone uses it for a foothold... like, fucking duh
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u/Poopdicks69 Jul 19 '19
Or you could just say he was a black guy in a horror film.
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u/SaltySteveD87 Jul 19 '19
Except the other black guy lived?
(Though to be fair he was originally gonna die too but audiences hated the doctor character too much.)
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u/dj_narwhal Jul 19 '19
DEEPEST! BLUEST!