Leofwine_draca Directed by Sean S. Cunningham (of Friday THE 13TH FAME), DEEP STAR SIX is an enjoyable late-'80s underwater monster romp, which like LEVIATHAN was made to cash in on the success of James Cameron's THE ABYSS. DEEP STAR SIX retains the interest with a fleshed-out cast of B-movie characters making up the crew of the station, all with their own distinctive traits. The bickering and talking between the crew is enlivened by a string of deaths which, while not explicitly gory, are all different enough to be enjoyable. These include crushing, exploding, depressurising, being ripped in half, and electrocution.The actors and actresses are all average for this kind of film, they aren't given much to do apart from try and survive. The best of the bunch by far is Miguel Ferrer (THE NIGHT FLIER), as an on-the-edge nutter who goes over the top - in a big way! Although the survivors are obvious from the start (one of the girls is pregnant, which basically means immunity for her) and the film is not at all original (we've seen it all many times before) there is a sense of fun and lots of action to make things very enjoyable - and light.A good companion piece for this film would be LEVIATHAN, as the two are very similar, although LEVIATHAN has the edge in terms of horrific scenes. Also interestingly the ending is exactly the same as the ending of LEVIATHAN, with the final survivors surfacing and exploding the monster who returns for a final scare. Also, like LEVIATHAN, if you think one of the stunt men's names looks familiar - it's none-other than Kane Hodder! The special effects are average for the underwater scenes but pretty good for the monster, which resembles a big crab thingy and has lots of moving parts, and so it is quite effective, if not very mobile. It looks pretty anyway and its very big, so kudos there. Lots of action and underwater thrills mean that DEEP STAR SIX, while clichéd, is still a fitfully entertaining undersea adventure.

chow913 What happens every time a highly anticipated movie is about to be released? The cuckoo effect! A rival studio rushing into production a similarly themed lesser film to cash in on the free publicity of the other film. It's been going on for decades and isn't going to stop.In 1989 we got TWO cuckoo films trying to cash in on the release of James Cameron's much anticipated 'The Abyss.' One was 'Leviathan' and the other was 'Deep Star Six.' While it would be impossible for either of the two to even be in the same league as 'The Abyss,' 'Leviathan' was an enjoyable cuckoo film. It had a fantastic A list cast, a scary build up, and quality FX. 'Deep Star Six' had... Miguel Ferrer.That's the major problem with 'Deep Star Six,' it's doesn't fail because it never even tries on any level. For example, 'Leviathan's limited budget required them to film dry for wet for its underwater shots, which it did surprisingly well. 'Deep Star Six' ONLY HAS ONE 30 SECOND UNDER WATER SHOT! That's right, an under water sci-fi action film which only has one under water scene! The plot, a deep ocean under water base... well, they never really explain WTF there is a giant under water base. They only mention something about it being a nuclear missile site for the Navy or something.Unlike 'Leviathan' the characters are extremely forgettable and the cast is totally devoid of any namable stars, save Miguel Ferrer whom is terribly miscast in his role. The only other three actors I recognized were Greg Evigan ('My Two Dads' 'PSI Love You' 'Tek War') Matt McCoy (husband in 'Hand That Rocks The Cradle') and Elya Baskin (token Russian guy in EVERY MOVIE).I looked up the filmographies of the other actors just in case I missed anyone. Nope. They've barley done any other work.Their mini subs are attacked by a sea monster or so we're told. Remember, there's only one under water shot in the beginning so we never actually see the monster under water or the destruction its blamed for.The monster eventually gets inside the base and this is another example of 'Deep Star Six' not even trying as Matt McCoy being cut in half is NEVER SHOWN! In one shot he's alive, in the next he's cut in half. Maybe the monster is innocent? So far we haven't seen it cause any of the deaths. In fact, we haven't even seen the deaths! When we finally see the monster it's bigger than an elephant which begs the question, how the hell did it get inside and how does it later fit through airlocks the size of manhole covers?The surviving crew members do the only sensible thing and close the airlock, thus trapping the monster inside the base! While the airlock was leaking water they'd already decided to abandon the base anyway so what would one flooded room matter? Anyway, five crew members escape the room alive. Alright, so letter lock the door and NEVER go in that room ever again! At this point the film reminds us that they will decompress and evacuate the base in four hours. Good! Just leave the monster alone for four hours and they'll never have to see it ever again!!! Of course they go back into the room!!! What's the worst that could happen? Thus the monster causes more death and destruction. Maybe it just wants out? Open the airlock and let it out!As I said, there's nothing to hate about 'Deep Star Six' except how little it tries. It was a cuckoo project to begin with that really comes in a distant third behind 'The Abyss' and 'Leviathan.'

Wuchak Due to the hype of James Cameron's blockbuster "The Abyss" in 1989, there was a glut of underwater sci-fi/horror thrillers, all lesser productions (not that "The Abyss" was a great movie, just that it was a top level production)."Deepstar Six" is essentially an underwater version of "Alien" and Star Trek, but not as good. The story revolves around A crew of underwater workers/scientists who accidentally breach a cavern and disturb the creature living there. Havoc ensues. The film was directed by Sean S. Cunningham, known for 1980's "Friday the 13th" and 1983's "Spring Break." "Deepstar Six" is essentially Friday the 13th underwater, but with adults and therefore more sophistication.Although this is a Grade B production in comparison to the Grade A "The Abyss," it's not bad at all as far as actors, sets and F/X go. In other words, the sets are convincing, the no-name actors do a quality job and the special effects are effective. The monster is pretty good, it just lacks the iconic stature of the creatures in "Alien" and "Aliens." Whereas the actors are skilled, the character development is lacking and, as such, they're relatively uninteresting people and therefore largely fail to apprehend the viewer's sympathy. Don't get me wrong, there's only one whiny loser in the bunch, but the rest of 'em come off too bland. Nia Peeples is the best, but probably only because she's such a petite babe, who's inexplicably removed prematurely; stupid! Still, there's just barely enough of her.The first half is relatively ho-hum as the characters are introduced and the underwater setting is established, but the second half won me over to some degree. There's a great scene of someone dying because he or she failed to properly decompress; and the ending, although clichéd, is effective. So, overall it's pretty mediocre, but just good enough to check out.The film runs 105 minutes.GRADE: B-

Grumpy Pheasant This is first and foremost, a B movie. It's a hastily made movie trying to ride the coat-tails of Abyss' hype... and it shows.First, the plot: basically, just an excuse to get a strange hungry creature on board an underwater facility with some terrified humans. From then on, it all unfolds as linearly as you'd expect, with force clichés thrown in; some scenes directly borrowed from other poor movies: the very last scene, for instance, mirrors exactly the groan-inducing end of Jaws 4. To seal the deal on a terrible script, quite a few events are completely unexplained. Don't worry, you'll easily predict them, not because they logically follow (they don't), but because they're stereotypical horror movie tropes, badly executed.Next, the creature. The real meat of this kind of movies! Expect disappointment. It looks sillier than scary, moves excruciatingly slowly (on camera; off-camera, it moves extremely fast, maybe it's just shy?) and spends more time posturing (and roaring) in front of the humans than actively attacking them. One never sees it whole, but its head and torso have more screen time than the rest of the cast combined.Finally, the effects. Strong effects can do a whole lot to redeem an otherwise bad movie, DeepStar Six doesn't have those. DeepStar Six compensate for lack of effects with pure gore, in B-movie tradition. Gratuitous gore.DeepStar Six isn't enjoyable. The script is just painful; the creature arbitrary and uncharismatic; the intense scenes dull and slow.