Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Good concept, poorly executed.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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.'

Despite a very solid cast and some fairly good production values, DeepStar Six sinks under the weight of it own inertia. This is an extremely uneventful film, and though ostensibly a monster movie there is almost no monster action whatsoever until the final twenty minutes or so, and even then what we get is extremely lackluster thanks to some very poor special effects. The script presumably aims to build tension gradually and spends a lot of time focusing on the ensemble cast (with a little extra emphasis on our heroine, played by Nancy Everhard), but while this may sound like a good idea in theory, in practice it fails utterly, as even a character-driven story needs a certain amount of drama and tension, which DeepStar Six totally lacks. As a result, I zoned out at numerous points in the tedious plot line and found myself strongly considering the stop button more than once...but I persevered in the vain hope that at some point a monster would rear itself from the mysterious depths and serious havoc would ensue. Never happened, as even when the sea monster that is our villain finally awkwardly asserts itself, the resultant action is poorly executed and the creature effects are inferior to similar designs from the 1950s. Some quality performances from a respectable cast that tries hard are unfortunately wasted, and while the aforementioned Everhard does a good job as our likable but underdeveloped heroine, the best performance probably comes from Miguel Ferrer as a burn-out victim whose sanity is slowly slipping away from him after six months of arduous underwater duty. It wouldn't have taken a whole lot for DeepStar Six to have been a solid b-movie, or maybe even a little more than that, if only the script and direction had made action a higher priority and perhaps developed a couple of the key characters a bit better. But as it stands, DeepStar Six is simply monotonous and underwhelming in the extreme.

It says a lot about the lack of imagination that when one studio comes up with an idea for a production other studios feel the need to join . If you have a film about a volcano for example there will be another film about a volcano . In 1989 Hollywood studios went one better and brought out three films with an identical premise of a deep sea research station making alien contact: LEVIATHAN , THE ABYSS and DEEPSTAR SIX . None of them did very well at the box office which says one thing - if you're going to play follow my leader at least follow a winner Having a film featuring aliens in inner space is no different from having a film featuring aliens in outer space so right away you're think of pulp B movie and unlike THE ABYSS this movie does try and stay true to its B movie roots , even the title DEEPSTAR SIX offers up connotations of sci-fi B movie horror It's strange watching how the storyline is structured . It's a very mechanical three act play but for some bizarre reason a film featuring the ocean as the backdrop lacks a hook . No not a fishing hook stupid a dramatic hook to pull the audience in . The first 30 minutes is composed of a group of marine biologists talking techno-babble as inCharacter A : Technical words , technical words ,technical words Character B : More technical words , technical words Character C : Even more technical words , technical words You can see what the director and screenwriter are trying to do , they're trying to convince the audience that these characters are scientists who exist in the real world and they succeed to a large degree but you're senseless and find yourself uncaring towards the characters . When a hot latina chick does a workout and gets all sweaty you may enjoy this scene then start fearing it might be the best scene in the movie After the first act the second becomes a disaster type movie where the research station will set off its nuclear reactor in the type of plot you've a million times and you're left wondering if DEEPSTAR SIX is a marketing scam not featuring a monster at all . Thankfully we do eventually get a big mouthed monster who chews up the cast but this doesn't happen until the one hour mark By no means a terrible film DEEPSTAR SIX will be a disappointment for those people watching it expecting to see brainless thrills and spills . As I said it feels like three films stuck together , a talkative scientific drama which turns in to a disaster flick and ends as a sci-fi horror B movie and one wonders why it just didn't hit the ground running as a more straight forward horror

I'm really surprised that this movie doesn't have a higher rating than what it does. It came out around the same time as "The Abyss" & "Levaithan," but I really think it is a good film by itself. I think obviously that "The Abyss" was the best of the three and "Leviathan" the worst, but "DeepStar Six" is sort of like that middle child that really gets ignored. It really blows my mind that "Leviathan" is rated higher than this movie and probably only because it had a bigger budget.There are uniformly good performances throughout this film and decent enough special-effects, though they are rather dated. The music is well composed and it has a fairly believable story, so why the low ratings?