Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Underwater Blu-ray Movie Review

The Alien-ist.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 16, 2020

For reasons which are frankly not entirely clear to me, I have long been fielding questions from interested readers as to if I know whether or not James Cameron’s 1989 opus The Abyss is due anytime soon on Blu-ray (and, more recently, 4K UHD). The short answer to those queries has been and continues to be "not really", but there have been repeated hints dropped through the years that Cameron and his team have indeed been intent on finishing a high definition master for The Abyss. In that regard, HBO has reportedly starting streaming the film in high definition beginning last year, which has only sent some fans into overdrive wondering if and when an actual disc might be available. As of the writing of this review, that eventuality is still a pipe (periscope?) dream, but the studio formerly known as 20th Century Fox (which released The Abyss theatrically decades ago) has come to a certain kind of rescue by offering Underwater, which is rather like The Abyss in at least a few ways, not the least of which is its, yes, underwater setting. Underwater isn't content to crib from only a noted James Cameron endeavor, however, and so the film also has several aspects that will certainly remind some (many?) viewers of another science fiction tinged classic with a kind of claustrophobic feel, Ridley Scott's Alien.

And in fact star Kristen Stewart is in full “Sigourney Weaver as Ripley” mode here, with a close cropped hairdo and costuming which later morphs into some equally Ripley-esque underwear, as an engineer named Norah Price, who works on a deep sea drilling operation called Kepler. The film shorthands things by offering a series of supposed newspaper clippings that waft by under the opening credits, little snippets that announce that a Tian Corporation has built a massive undersea drilling operation (Kepler is just one part of it), and that strange sightings have been reported (cue spooky music and sound effects, which is exactly what this film does). Kepler is in fact located in the Mariana Trench, the deepest oceanic valley in the world, where considering the high tech facility is tasked with drilling even deeper, might mean this film could have easily been retitled Journey to the Center of the Earth.

The film opens with some brief voiceover by Norah which documents her "been there, seen that" personality, while also quickly disclosing that she's a kind, caring individual because she rescues a spider stuck in a bathrrom sink. Soon enough, however, some kind of cacophonous event breeches the hull of Kepler, putting Norah into crisis management mode arguably before she’s been properly introduced. Norah quickly finds a control room and another worker named Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), and is able to get some safety doors closed, but not before having to sacrifice a couple of people who couldn't run to the haven fast enough.

Suffice it to say that Norah and Rodrigo eventually team up with a coterie of other survivors, including (in no particular order) Paul (T.J. Miller), a friend of Norah's who always carries around a stuffed animal (this is the sort of thing that can suffice as "character development" in Underwater ); Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), the Kepler's commanding officer who stayed behind after trying to get at least some of his crew into "escape pods"; and the prerequisite quasi-couple of the story, Emily (Jessica Henwick), a biologist, and Liam (John Gallagher, Jr.), an engineer. Also suffice it to say that some of these characters might be called "red shirts" if any shirts were visible beneath the pressure suits the characters don for much of the film, since Captain Lucien thinks the only way for them to get to the surface is to walk aross the ocean floor to get to a structure called Roebuck.

Of course it turns out that there’s more than just a natural phenomenon like an earthquake that is making things go bump in the deep water night, and Underwater slowly (perhaps too slowly) but surely reveals that there’s a veritable horde of nasty nemeses lurking in the murky depths. Along the way, various characters meet their fates, with more supposed “character development” offered when, for example, a survivor finds pictures of one of the victims with various family members.

A lot of Underwater is resolutely silly, but there’s no denying the claustrophobic atmosphere the film creates. Some of the making of featurettes get into the technical aspects of getting “up close and personal” with various characters, so much so that the viewer seems to be inside the helmets the characters wear as part of their pressurized quasi-space suits. Performances are generally fine as well, though Miller, obviously added for some questionable comedy relief, may seem like more of a distraction than an aid to the proceedings.

While the making of featurette devoted to creature design refers to some of the “smaller” villains as clingers, and the “boss” creature (you knew there had to be a “boss” creature, didn’t you?) as a behemoth, it’s notable that in this same featurette director William Eubank briefly refers to some “Lovecraftian” qualities the film possesses. In that regard, enterprising Googlers should be able to easily find an interview with Eubank where he goes even further and suggests that the huge beast seen briefly (and through pretty opaque water) in the film’s climax is an iconic creation of the famed horror and fantasy writer.

My colleague Brian Orndorf liked Underwater considerably less than I did. You can read's Brian's thoughts here.

Underwater Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Underwater is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment* with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The film's closing credits feature the Alexa 65 logo, and the IMDb reports that this was finished at a 4K DI. This presentation does offer some relatively remarkable detail at times, at least given surroundings that are often supposedly taking place in inky black waters (the making of featurettes disclose some of the digital magic employed to create this illusion). That said, detail levels are all over the map here depending on conditions, and also depending on how much "jiggly cam" hand held material director William Eubank and director of photography Bojan Bazelli proffer. A glut of extreme close-ups helps to elevate fine detail, even in some otherwise fairly dark moments. The palette is often skewed toward cool blues and slate grays in some of the non-water sequences. There is some pretty prevalent if minor banding on display throughout this presentation. The film opens with a rather long tracking shot which details what I assume is supposed to be the elevator tunnel leading miles down to Kepler, and with various light sources emanating from the tunnel, you can see little "ripples" in hues emanating out from the center of the frame. The same sort of thing happens recurrently in a lot of the water sequences when, for example, someone's helmet flashlight tips toward the camera.

*I just reviewed The Call of the Wild 4K, which was the first "20th Century Studios" film in my personal review queue, courtesy of the acquisition and rebranding of 20th Century Fox by Disney/Buena Vista. I'm assuming this film will probably be the last "official" 20th Century Fox Release I'll be doing.

Underwater Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Underwater features an effective DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track that may admittedly rely on any number of monster movie clichés, but which provides near constant immersion (no pun intended, considering the film's title and locale). From the opening moments which blend washes of LFE with equally low end scoring, the surround channels are engaged, with the subwoofer quite frequently very active. The repeated cthonic (pun definitely intended) "thunks" that rattle various temporary sanctuaries the characters get to also reverberate with significant force. Dialogue is delivered cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation (Cassel has a bit of an accent, of course, but I had no problem understanding him).

Underwater Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Extended/Deleted Scenes (1080p; 14:48) feature optional commentary by William Eubank, Jared Purrington and Phil Gawthorne.


• Real Bunny Montage (1080p; 3:25) also features an optional commentary by William Eubank, Jared Purrington and Phil Gawthorne.


• Making Underwater offers featurettes focused on the following elements:

  Design (1080p; 17:54)

  
  

  Production (1080p; 19:50)

  
  

  Creatures & Visual Effects (1080p; 19:56)

• Audio Commentary by William Eubank, Jared Purrington and Phil Gawthorne


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:20)

Underwater Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Have you seen Underwater before? Probably. There's no denying some of the more derivative aspects of this film, but if you simply concede that particular issue, the film does offer some anxious moments and features some generally well done special effects. I personally could have done with considerably less T.J. Miller here, but that of course will be a matter of taste for everyone. This is no undiscovered masterpiece, but fans of Stewart in particular may want to check this out. Technical merits are generally solid and supplemental material very enjoyable for those who are considering a purchase.