50 years after its release, 1975’s Jaws continues to define its genre. We’ve gotten many more entries in that “aquatic predator” realm over the decades but none rate on a par with Jaws.

Nonetheless, filmmakers continue to explore the “shark attack” theme, and 1999’s Deep Blue Sea gave us another take on the topic. Directed by Renny Harlin, this effort follows the Aliens route as it beefs up the menace.

Instead of just one shark - as found in Jaws - Sea provides a slew of toothy beasties. We also find super-sharks whose brain development has been amped up in an effort to develop a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Unfortunately for the human denizens of the research facility, the critters seem to be a little too smart. Just like the raptors in Jurassic Park, they’re coming to devour as many scientists as possible.

Despite its extensive backstory about research and whatnot, the plot to Sea becomes nothing more substantial than “run from sharks, try to avoid death”. Jaws featured a stronger backbone as it explored the impact upon a small vacation community when a shark made meals of the tourists.

Oh well - not every flick can be as rich as Jaws, and there’s something to be said for fun and exciting “popcorn” movies, which is why Jurassic Park worked. Unfortunately, Sea fails to offer much more than a handful of minor jolts.

As a director, Harlin rarely produces true atrocities, but he never makes anything genuinely terrific either. I usually find his movies to offer general entertainment but there’s something vaguely off-putting about them, as they seem mechanical and lack much spirit or zest.

The same feelings hold true for Sea, though on the surface, there appears to be a lot to like about it. The action comes at us relentlessly, and the pacing ramps up the thrills in an appropriate manner.

The production values appear fairly solid. Although the CGI sharks show their age at times, the movie features them in a way that usually hides the seams, so they tend to look surprisingly good more than 25 years later.

And yet there still seems to be something missing from Sea. It doesn’t help that virtually all of the characters appear to be generic cut-outs with almost no personality of their own.

Sea actually features a fairly solid cast. We find a host of familiar faces here who provide a diverse and experienced group that helps make the story a bit more compelling.

Unfortunately, the characters seem so bland that none of the performers can do much with them. Stellan Skarsgård probably succeeds best of the bunch, but he gets so little screen time that he fails to make much of an impression.

Jackson offers a welcome presence. Unfortunately, he also finds himself saddled with a lackluster character who gets little room to develop.

As far as shark movies go, Deep Blue Sea remains middle of the pack. It gives us enough thrills to remain reasonably entertaining across its 105 minutes, but it never threatens to elevate above that level of semi-mediocrity.

Deep Blue Sea appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Overall this became a solid presentation.

Sharpness seemed largely positive. Some light softness impacted occasional wide shots, but the majority of the movie boasted strong delineation.

The image lacked shimmering or jaggies, and no edge haloes appeared. Grain felt natural and the print came with no defects.

The flick’s palette leaned toward a lot of amber/orange with large dollops of blue/teal as well. Though uninventive, the hues worked as intended and demonstrated good range.

Blacks felt dark and dense, while shadows appeared smooth and concise. This wound up as a high-quality scan.

Downcoverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack also fared well. The soundfield offered a good sense of the action, especially during the various shark attack scenes.

Those allowed for various elements to spread around the room and present a nice impression of movement and impact. Music added good impact and the track melded together in a satisfying manner.

Audio quality worked fine. Speech appeared natural and concise.

Music appeared full and rich, while effects were accurate and dynamic. This wound up as a very positive soundtrack.

The Arrow Blu-ray comes with a mix of extras, and these begin with three separate audio commentaries. Found on the 1999 DVD, the first comes from director Renny Harlin and actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Both were recorded separately and the results were edited together for this look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, music and audio, effects, stunts and action.

Overall, this became a fairly engaging track. Jackson gives us the most entertaining remarks, as he discusses a slew of topics.

From the origins of his involvement in the flick to his takes on the cast members, Jackson keeps his side of things light and funny. He also makes sure that we learn some good facts about the making of the film.

Unfortunately, Harlin dominates the commentary for reasons that are obvious to anyone who’s seen the film. Renny’s remarks are much drier and more technical than were Sam’s, so the track starts to drag somewhat after Jackson’s departure.

Nonetheless, Harlin offers enough useful information about the effects and other aspects of the process to make the full commentary worth a listen. The track deserves your attention if just to hear Jackson’s frequent joking slams about Michael Rapaport.

Both of the other commentaries come new to the Arrow release. Screenwriter Duncan Kennedy delivers a running, screen-specific look at the project’s origins and development, story/characters, the evolution of the script, influences and inspirations, and some filmmaking notes.

Inevitably, Kennedy focuses mainly on his work, and he gives us a greta view of the different iterations of the screenplay. Kennedy provides a brisk and informative chat that touches on an array of domains and keeps us engaged at all times.

For the final commentary, we hear from critic Rebeka McKendry. She brings a running, screen-specific view of the aquatic predator genre as well as aspects of the film and her thoughts about it.

This mostly means McKendry veers heavily toward an appreciation of Deep Blue Sea more than an analysis of the film. McKendry fails to give us insights about the movie, as she tends to come across as an overly excited fan more than an objective critic.

Also from the old DVD, we find two featurettes. Entitled When Sharks Attack!, the first program lasts 15 minutes, seven seconds as it provides remarks from Harlin, Jackson, water and dive safety Damian Fitzpatrick, underwater director of photography Pete Romano, shark effects supervisor Walt Conti, producers Akiva Goldsman and Alan Riche, visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun, composer Trevor Rabin, and actors Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Michael Rapaport, Jacqueline McKenzie, and LL Cool J.

The actors provide their reactions to working with various forms of sharks - real and artificial - and we also learn a little about different technical aspects of bringing the piece to life. It breezes through the topics too quickly and superficially, but it covers a little of everything and offers a fairly decent feature.

Next up comes the eight-minute, 19-second The Sharks of the Deep Blue Sea. This one includes comments from Harlin, Okus, Riche, Conti, McKenzie, and actor Stellan Skarsgard.

“Sharks” strongly resembles the prior piece - they share some redundant material - but it focuses more closely upon the creation of the film’s effects. We hear more about how the artificial beasts were made and we see some good shots of the effects in action. Ultimately, it’s another superficial but moderately interesting program.

The next two featurettes debut on the Arrow release. From the Frying Pan Into the Studio Tanks spans 25 minutes, eight seconds and offers a chat with production designer William Sandell.

He looks at aspects of his career in general as well as his efforts on Sea. Sandell brings us a good discussion of his work.

Beneath the Surface lasts 19 minutes, 30 seconds. It brings a “visual essay” from film critic Trace Thurman.

Here Thurman digs into the movie via interpretation and introspective paths. I think he gives this cheesy flick far too much intellectual credence and the “psychological depth” he claims here prompts eye-rolling.

Five Deleted Scenes fill a total of eight minutes, two seconds. All of the clips offer character-related material and develop the personalities a little better. No, the roles aren’t made clear and engaging, but every little bit helps.

We can view the scenes with or without commentary from Harlin. The director provides a good discussion of the reasons for the omissions, so his comments are useful.

Along with the film’s trailer, we end with two image galleries: “Posters & Stills” (28 frames) and “Production Art & Design” (21). Both add some value.

As with most Renny Harlin flicks, Deep Blue Sea provides a decent and occasionally fun tale that fails to become consistently engaging and stimulating. You’ll get some cheap thrills from it but nothing about it comes across as rich or rewarding. The Blu-ray provides solid picture and audio along with a generally positive roster of supplements. I’ve seen worse shark movies but Sea never becomes memorable.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of DEEP BLUE SEA