While flipping channels the other day I came across The Deep. I have fond memories of this movie because it came out at the same time as Star Wars and as a fan of Jaws I was ready for another nautical themed film. It was promoted somewhat as another Jaws but it is very different in tone. I like Robert Shaw’s character, a nautical old salt very different from Quint, the music score is also very good. Probably few remember the movie today although it does have one lasting claim to fame, Jacqueline Bisset’s wet tee-shirt.
I remember Jacqueline Bisset whining about them using the t-shirt shot for advertising. Hey, if you don’t like the shot don’t do it. I on the other hand thought it was WONDERFUL.
In Jackie’s defense, the print ad used an artistic rendering of her as opposed to a photograph she posed for. Her complaint was somewhat valid.
As for the movie itself, I haven’t seen it in years but I do remember that its release somehow coincided with the time in my life when I began to really notice girls.
I remember liking The Deep, though I barely remember anything other than Bisset. Same with Orca and Bo Derek…
That’s the one with the moray eel, right?
Yeah, I was something of a fan. I first saw it when I was way too young, only 9 or 10. To this day, I compare certain types of scenes in movies to the impression The Deep had on my childhood psyche: “OK, the bad guy jumped out from the empty doorway holding a chainsaw! That was a shocker, yeah, but how does it stack up against that damned eel?”
Oh, and then there was that doll-thing with the eye going all crazy. Crap!
That would be two lasting claims to fame, wouldn’t it?
It may have come out at the same time as Star Wars and Jaws, but it is a very forgettable movie. What was the plot? What were some great lines? Does anyone swoon when they hear the soundtrack from “The Deep”? A pair of boobs is all that’s remembered. Great.
I remember the little bottles bobbing about, that was a great scene.
A couple of divers find what they believe is the wreck of an old Spanish treasure ship. In searching for artifacts and phat lewts, they realize it is a Spanish wreck, but there’s another wreck of a WWII vessel that contained thousands of ampules of morphine in the same location. Some Bad Guys are trying to get the morphine and conflict ensues.
Oh, were you asking rhetorically?
I remember Kevin (Robert Tessier) and Lou Gosset’s muscular henchman doing battle with a length of chain and an outboard motor. Then they locked on to each other’s heads, went back to back and twited until one’s neck snapped.
Sure the movie was 70s cheese but all in all it was entertaining enough.
Besides the bikini-clad Jacky Bissett, I liked when the giant morey ell squished the bad guy’s head. Would 40 year old morphine still be good?
I like it quite a bit. I liked Robert Shaw better in it than in “Jaws,” and Louis Gossett made a fine villain. And the wet t-shirt scene is classic.
A classic from the early HBO days when we’d sneak over to a friend’s house when his parents weren’t around and watch R-rated movies. Looooved this one. The barracuda was awsome!
I liked the book too. Y’all know its Peter Benchley, right? The same guy who wrote Jaws.
I always liked this movie. Shaw’s character was great. I liked the diving scenes quite a bit. And not just for the T-Shirt. It was a nicely shot movie. And the plot was okay and reasonably suspenseful.
Exploding lighthouses, fighthing with outboards, sunken treasure, EELS!, and the oft-mentioned wet tee shirt shot.
All a 13-year old boy could ever ask for!
And it still has revelance today: Look at Nick Nolte then. Look at him now. Don’t live like Nick Nolte. Use this film as a warning. 