DeepStar Six 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

DeepStar Six 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 19, 2025

Sean S. Cunningham's "DeepStar Six" (1989) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics James G. Chandler and Ash Hamilton; various archival interviews with cast and crew members; vintage promotional materials; and a lot more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

"Not all aliens come from space"

It is almost time to go back home. For nearly six months they have been on the bottom of the ocean assembling a giant rocket silo for the U.S. Navy and are ready to install the final components. They know the proper procedure and what every member of their team needs to do to get the job done right.

But on the day when they go to work to complete the installation a rushed decision is made to blast open an uncharted cavern next to the rocket silo and when the explosion collapses the ground, first causing powerful tremors and shortly after huge underground waves, they lose control of an expensive tracking machine with multiple cameras. Two technicians then enter the cavern to recover the machine and disappear without a trace.

Meanwhile, back on the main station, the damage from the explosion and the news about the missing technicians cause serious tension between their colleagues. A small rescue team then discovers that a big and remarkably fast creature has emerged from the cavern and is now determined to hunt down and crush the human visitors that have dared to disrupt its peace.

It is awfully easy to compare Sean S. Cunningham’s DeepStar Six to genre classics like The Abyss and Alien and then immediately write it off as a shameless copycat. After all, DeepStar Six is a hybrid project that definitely takes advantage of some standard genre tricks and its visual style seems quite familiar. But this film also does some serious heavy lifting to convince that it has an identity of its own and, believe it or not, it actually succeeds.

The first and most obvious clue that DeepStar Six was never meant to be a copycat is the quality of its production values. This wasn’t a cheap film, which is why even by modern standards, large portions of it still look very respectable. In fact, the bulk of the footage from the second half where the main station is seriously damaged reveals emphasis on detail that is quite impressive. (The same cannot be said about Leviathan, which is a genuine copycat with decisively unimpressive production values). It is also telling that the quality of the writing is very strong. Much of the technical information that is utilized to describe the nature of the dilemmas which the survivors face as the film progresses is impressively researched. Admittedly, some of the technical verbiage could be slightly overwhelming or perhaps even annoying to those expecting only a straightforward dose of underwater action, but it absolutely places the mayhem in a realistic context. On top of this, it is delivered with authority, which gives the film a certain type of depth that becomes an integral part of its identity. The casting choices are also good. No, we are not talking about A-list actors that would immediately attract and keep the attention of a wide range of viewers, but they are all professionals that maintain excellent chemistry while in front of the camera.

Old reviews loved to point out how the special effects weren’t as good as they should have been to make the film look impressive, but the truth is different. The film shows enough to make the reality of its characters appear authentic. In fact, some of the best footage in the entire film is the one where they are left to guess or play a waiting game with the alien creature, effectively forcing the suspense to flourish the right way.

The one element of the complete production that feels off is the music. Harry Manfredini’s score just does not have that truly intense, dark quality the film begs for.

DeepStar Six 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of DeepStar Six is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, The Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Screencaptures #1-30 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #32-39 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The combo pack introduces a new 4K makeover of DeepStar Six, sourced from the original camera negative and prepared on behalf of StudioCanal. In native 4K, the 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Vision. Also, I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

I did various comparisons with the previous presentation of the film from this Blu-ray release, produced by Kino Lorber in 2020. On my system, a lot of visuals had a fresher, more attractive appearance, revealing that the new presentation is sourced from a new master. This is an improvement that I expected to see. Furthermore, a lot of visuals conveyed a superior dynamic range, in native 4K and 1080p, which was particularly impressive during close-ups. In darker material, which is abundant and all over the film, there are meaningful improvements as well, particularly where there are various darker nuances and highlights. However, they are not always as easy to appreciate because in some of this material light can be restricted quite a bit. Color reproduction and balance are convincing. However, I must state that I prefer the appearance of the 4K visuals, and not only because of their expanded color palette. I tested various areas of the 1080p presentation, and in a couple of spots, color saturation revealed unusual inconsistencies. They are small, affecting mostly primary blue, but on the native 4K presentation, they are incredibly difficult to identify. Also, because there is so much dark material, I did numerous comparisons between the native 4K and 1080p presentations to see how the Dolby Vision grade handles the trickiest areas. I think that this Dolby Vision grade is one of the lightest I have ever encountered, which is a good thing because had it been even marginally stronger, it almost certainly would have flattened very large areas of the film. Someone must have been aware of this possibility because in many of these darker areas, the discrepancies in color reproduction between the native 4K and 1080p presentations are essentially meaningless. Of course, vivid colored lights, colored buttons, and monitors still have tiny bits of superior colors. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. However, I think that in native 4K and 1080p, some areas could have benefitted from additional encoding optimizations. Image stability is excellent. All in all, despite some inconsistencies that could have been avoided, this combo pack offers a stronger, more convincing organic presentation of DeepStar Six than the original Blu-ray release from 2020.

DeepStar Six 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

Because the original Blu-ray release of DeepStar Six had only a 2.0 track, I decided to revisit the entire film with the 5.1 track. The action material undoubtedly benefits from the 5.1 treatment. However, as I suspected, it expands the dynamic field only during the action material, where there are some opportunities for a 5.1 track to do some meaningful things. In other areas, I don't think that there are any meaningful upgrades. I expected this to be the case too because the 2.0 track from the previous Blu-ray release was very solid. (The new 5.1 track is available on the 4K Blu-ray and the Blu-ray).

DeepStar Six 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - this exclusive new audio was recorded by critics James G. Chandler and Ash Hamilton from Horror-Fix.com's. The commentators spend a great deal of time discussing the stylistic appearance of DeepStar Six (and specifically the smart use of 'industrial details', like computerized lights and metal backgrounds), the special effects (and how appropriate they are for various real compression and decompression issues ocean divers face), the great cast that was assembled for the film, and action material. The commentators also explain why they consider DeepStar Six to be a better, more effective film than Leviathan.

• Audio Commentary Two - in this audio commentary, screenwriters Lewis Abernathy and Geoff Miller discuss the production history of DeepStar Six, its narrative and visual style, the special effects, some of the humorous situations in the film, etc.

• Audio Commentary Three - in this audio commentary, director Sean S. Cunningham and visual effects supervisor James Isaac go down memory lane and explain what it was like to work on and put together DeepStar Six.

• Isolated Score/Commentary - presented here are isolated score selections with an archival audio commentary by composer Harry Manfredini with isolated score.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - this exclusive new audio was recorded by critics James G. Chandler and Ash Hamilton from Horror-Fix.com's. The commentators spend a great deal of time discussing the stylistic appearance of DeepStar Six (and specifically the smart use of 'industrial details', like computerized lights and metal backgrounds), the special effects (and how appropriate they are for various real compression and decompression issues ocean divers face), the great cast that was assembled for the film, and action material. The commentators also explain why they consider DeepStar Six to be a better, more effective film than Leviathan.

• Audio Commentary Two - in this audio commentary, screenwriters Lewis Abernathy and Geoff Miller discuss the production history of DeepStar Six, its narrative and visual style, the special effects, some of the humorous situations in the film, etc.

• Audio Commentary Three - in this audio commentary, director Sean S. Cunningham and visual effects supervisor James Isaac go down memory lane and explain what it was like to work on and put together DeepStar Six.

• Isolated Score/Commentary - presented here are isolated score selections with an archival audio commentary by composer Harry Manfredini with isolated score.

• From the Deep - in this archival program, special effects/make-up designer Mark Shostrom, creature supervisor Greg Nicotero, and creature artist Robert Kurtzman explain precisely how they created and used the alien creature in DeepStar Six and share information about their time in the film industry. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• The Survivors - in this archival program, actors Greg Evigan and Nancy Everhard recall what it was like to work on DeepStar Six and share information about the evolution of their careers. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• Water Damage - in this archival program, stunt coordinator Kane Hodder discusses his professional relationship with director Sean S. Cunningham and his contribution to DeepStar Six. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• Original EPK - a press kit with clips from cast and crew interviews. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Extended Vintage Interview Clips - cast and crew members discuss their involvement with DeepStar Six. In English, not subtitled. (9 min).

• Behind the Scenes Featurette - an archival featurette with raw footage from the shooting of DeepStar Six. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Image Gallery - a collection of production and promotional stills for DeepStar Six. With music. (17 min).

• Trailer - vintage trailer for DeepStar Six. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• TV Spot - vintage TV Spot for DeepStar Six. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Additional Trailers - presented here are trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. Leviathan
  2. Deep Rising
  3. Below

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art for DeepStar Six.

DeepStar Six 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

All of the mom-and-pop video stores that I used to visit had big posters of DeepStar Six. It was one of those genre films the owners simply loved to promote. I have always had a soft spot for it, and absolutely cannot even begin to agree that it is the copycat some old reviews have described. I get a Hardware vibe from it, but as you know well by now it fits somewhere between Leviathan and Deep Rising.

This combo pack introduces a nice new 4K makeover of DeepStar Six on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray, with a new 5.1 track, and a large selection of bonus features. This is it. It is the end of the line for DeepStar Six, so if you are a fan of it, or a collector who often feels nostalgic about the '80s and the wonderful genre films it gave us, grab your copy. DeepStar Six was one of the decade's great cinematic surprises. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.