As with the plot itself, the Blu-ray release of The Deep is kind of a tale of two films. The print is, for the most part, a clean one, and much of the definition and detail is good. However, and this is a major problem (though it may be one related to the film's shooting and not the Blu-ray), dark scenes lose all detail, becoming murky, muddy, at times almost indecipherable messes. The audio presentation is somewhat better, mainly due to its representation of scuba diving. There are definitely moments in the TrueHD 5.1 track where the audience actually gets the sense of being underwater via the muffled sounds that accompany such a trip.
The special features on the release of The Deep are rather weak. There is the aforementioned behind-the-scenes making of piece which seems to have simply been lifted from a television special and is narrated by Robert Shaw, and select scenes from a three hour special edition of the movie. The former is somewhat informative and interesting in bits and pieces, and the latter rather flabbergasting. With a runtime of just over two hours, one gets the sense that the film is about 15 or 20 minutes too long already, a three hour edition would have to significantly deepen some plots to make it worthwhile, but even that may be a tough sell. These select scenes are also odd in that while they are in high definition, one can't actually watch the entirety of the three hour special edition on this Blu-ray. Thus, if one loved the movie enough to spend the time with the special features, they will be instantly disappointed upon realizing that a special edition release seems to be just around the corner and the money spent on this Blu-ray was wasted.
Though it certainly has some very good moments, in the end, The Deep never quite shakes the feeling that it only exists to try and capitalize on the success of Jaws. Maybe that sense will be corrected if the three hour special edition gets released, we'll just have to wait and see.
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