The Deep (1977)

In Bermudas, while diving for pleasure, David Sanders (Nick Nolte) and Gail Berke (Jacqueline Bisset) find a submerged vessel, and they bring a couple of objects withdrawn from the ship. They look for the advice of Romer Treece (Robert Shaw), an expert in treasures and old ships, and they realize that indeed there were two vessels in the same location: a French one, from the Eighteenth Century, with a treasure in jewels, and another one, from the war, with a load of morphine. David and Gail associate to Treece, trying to recover part of the underwater wealth. Meanwhile, the powerful Haitian drug dealer Henri Cloche (as Louis Gossett Jr.) menaces the group, trying to get the drugs. "The Deep" is a very linear adventure, without any plot point or surprises. The wonderful locations, the magnificent photography, the good cast and the amazing beauty of Jacqueline Bisset support this movie, which is recommended for killing time only. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Fundo do Mar" ("The Bottom of the Sea")

Fmovies: Suspenseful , thrilling and well-paced underwater adventure about divers who locate a a shipwrecked treasure and morphine . This is an intense and engrossing movie with agreeable performances and good rendering of maritime action . The hit smash of ¨ Jaws ¨ by Steven Spielberg prompted this screen rendition of another Peter Benchley book . It concerns about an innocent couple ( Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset ) get involved in an underwater search for treasures in the island Bermuda . They descend deep into the big blue without the aid of any kind of breathing apparatus, though sometimes use scubas . The frogmen get excited when they accidentally discover what they believe is a vast sunken treasure. They find a shipwrecked galleon and a crashed WWII vessel plenty of dope . They find a historic wreck, but nearby is a wrecked ship with a large quantity of morphine . Romer and Gail want the treasure; their diving partners also want the drugs . Dangerous criminals realize the ship and dope are submerged somewhere in the area . When the bad guys learn that the couple has located the drugs, Romer and Gail find themselves in mortal peril . Exciting and well-paced underwater adventure about a marriage that in the process they are threatened and then must thwart the enemies. The team of divers faces danger when they attempt to retrieve goods from a Spanish ship , as they spend time in shark-infested water and are helped by a treasure-seeker ( Robert Shaw ) and his underling ( Robert Tessier ) and confront nasty drug-lord ( Louis Gossett Jr ). The four divers set off on a perilous expedition in search of legendary treasure of a mysterious galleon resting in ocean floor and take back drug into the ship .

The pace moves along nicely and production values are on the high scale . This is an amusing seagoing adventure in which the ocean deep figure prominently , though this time guarding sunken treasure . The action is plentiful with undersea excitement with terrifying underwater sequences. The film is spirited, lively and at times rather frightening light amusing . Made mainly as vehicle for Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset , they show particularly in the technical excellence of the underwater scenes . They show off their considerable screen presence, both attractive and slender . Lightweight entertainment notable for sunny outdoors and underwater photography as well as Bisset in a bathing suit, a glamorous bikini and of course her famous wet T-shirt. Jacqueline Bisset fans will ask no more than the sight of their star in a swimsuit involved in this fast-moving sunken treasure yarn.

This waterlogged story is packed with gorgeous cinematography by Christopher Challis who manage to keep this afloat with fab footage maritime as expert cameraman ; furthermore pulsating musical score by the classic John Barry . The movie was spectacularly shot in Bermuda , Australia and British Virgin Islands . The motion picture is professionally directed by Peter Yates ( Bullit ) though drags in some places and is overlong . In the 2000s was realized a special remake of this story with Paul Walker and Jessica Alba in similar roles to Nolte and Bisset titled ¨ Into the blue ¨.

I loved this movie when I first watched it in 1977 as a 32-year old and I love it just as much today. It has everything that a "boy's own" adventure could offer; a decent plot, a beautiful girl (let's face it, Jacqueline Bisset is gorgeous at the best of times but put her in a wet T-shirt and she's, well, WOW!, a fabulous exotic location, a dastardly villain or two and a couple of decent goodies to battle the baddies. Toss in a great music score by John Barry (that theme is brilliant) and what more could you ask for?

Robert Shaw plays a great part and is equalled only by Eli Wallach; he was always an excellent baddie! Nick Nolte may not be the world's greatest actor but he does the job okay in this movie.

The Deep fmovies. Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset star in this solid "B" movie, meant to entertain not challenge the average movie goer. Allow your mind to suspend reality for a couple of hours, and enjoy "The Deep" for what it is. Fans of Robert Shaw, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Eli Wallach will be pleased to see them on screen, but less than satisfied with their weak parts.

When first released, the scenery above and below the water in "The Deep" proved to be amazing. Jacqueline Bisset appeared draped in a wet t-shirt, causing audience members everywhere to either gasp, gulp or sigh. Accompanied by multiple tropical fish, Ms. Bisset's underwater scenes are just as satisfying.

My recollections of seeing "The Deep" for the first time in the theater, include sitting in the front row with head bent backwards, watching oversize tropical fish swimming back and forth across the screen. I get a hint of a stiff neck every time I review the movie in my head!

I do recommend you rent or buy "The Deep." Pop up some popcorn, put your feet up and just let yourself be immersed in this entertaining and gorgeous at times, movie. -- M. Nels Pearson

I have the movie on Video, would buy it on DVD, I have read all the other reviews and surprised nobody mentioned the great music by John Barry. The theme made it to the radio top hits in 1977 For me, the music makes this movie, together with the three main stars including Shaw, Nolte and the beautiful Jacqueline Bisset. Is there an actress today quite so stunning? Don't think so... The Deep probably did not have the impact of Peter Benchley's Jaws but I like it just as much. The music is more melodic, the warmer location Bermuda, in contrast to the cooler Cape Cod of Jaws. I always appreciate a good treasure hunt anyway, Spanish doubloons and the possibility of reef predators adds interest. Watch it just to see Bisset in skimpy scuba swimsuit... you won't be disappointed

In spite of its many shortcomings (lazy direction, over-the-top acting, gratuitous violence, to name a few), you really HAVE to love this movie! Two years removed from the sensational release of JAWS, THE DEEP in many ways had some very big shoes to fill. For me, THE DEEP is JAWS-lite -- a kind of melodramatic, soap-opery version of JAWS. For all its flaws, allow me to wax poetic about the many virtues of this sublime cinematic guilty pleasure:

1) That amazing opening aerial montage of Bermuda - maybe the greatest opening establishing shot in the history of cinema. All the Bermuda based location work in this movie is top notch, adding a rich and handsome texture to the otherwise middling narrative.

2) Robert Shaw. While his performance is slightly overbaked (while also channeling and lazily riffing on Quint), his performance still manages to be larger than life - the delightful glue that keeps this movie together. What an amazing run he had over the last five years of his life, highlighted by THE STING in '73, THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3 in '74, JAWS in '75, BLACK Sunday in '76 and THE DEEP in '77. Amazing.

3) A 32 year old Jacqueline Bisset. As a 13 year old boy, I can assure you that she made a pretty indelible impression on me.

4) The great supporting turns from Eli Wallach and Lou Gossett, Jr.

I could go on but suffice it to say that watching this movie from time to time is sorta like taking a warm bath in the dead of winter. It's one of those movies that somehow never gets stale and always manages to entertain despite its shortcomings.