David against the Goliath is a familiar theme, and timelessly so. In Peter Yates’ The Deep, it’s David after Goliath – an adventure that comes with the risk of losing one’s life but is worth it because it could make one wealthy.
The Deep stars Nick Nolte as David Sanders, a scuba diver who, along with his girlfriend Gail (Jacqueline Bisset), discovers lots of medicinal vials on the seafloor off Bermuda by the sunken ship Goliath from the Second World War time. The discovery attracts the attention of local drug lord Cloche (Louis Gossett Jr.), bringing the couple trouble that builds up along with the curiosity of discovering more around the Goliath.
The Deep is classic adventure and mystery that invites viewers to guess the history of the artifacts and medical vials found by the ill-fated ship. Cinematically, the movie stands above average with stunning underwater photography for its time. It’s the quality of filming that withstands the test of time.
For fans of riveting, sensational thrillers, this isn’t your kinda movie. The story develops slowly and the scenes of discovery maintain a balance between underwater diving shots and dialogue between the characters in the cabins. This balance also works parallel in the open view versus underwater action so claustrophobia doesn’t rule the story.
The IMDb page of the movie says the movie’s underwater scenes were filmed with 8,895 dives off the coast of Salt and Peter Islands in the British Virgin Islands. Goliath, the sunken ship featured in the movie, was actually R.M.S. Rhone, which sank in 1867. But much, if not most, of the box office success for this production came from aggressive marketing, notably one shot of Bisset in the wet white shirt that men couldn’t resist.
For fans of mystery, adventure, and yesteryear beauties in a revealing T-shirt, The Deep works well.
