Although the name of this film sounds more like a bad case of nausea, Deep Rising is a blend of both science fiction and horror. It’s certainly not the finest example of this type of film, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually very entertaining.

Deep Rising is an effective film because it is exciting – all too often, similar films will spend a long time building up to the action or will dwell heavily on a love interest. Deep Rising is full of action almost from the moment the film starts. However, Deep Rising is also surprisingly horrific – without giving too much away, a lot of people get killed in this movie and the title of my opinion may give you some indication as to the exact method with which they are despatched. The most horrific scenes don’t occur until the film is more than half way through but the effects are extremely graphic and genuinely quite stomach-churning. Needless to say, the action is all ridiculously over-the-top, but I really didn’t care – it looked good, and if you want a logical, realistic film then I’m guessing that you wouldn’t watch this anyway! The finest sequence for me was a breathtaking high speed chase through the stricken cruise liner at the climax of the film.

I have read elsewhere that the film was completely devoid of humour – a statement with which I disagree completely. This film does have a tongue-in-cheek edge to it – it’s rather like a cross between Titanic, Aliens and The Towering Inferno – and some of the dialogue and interaction is genuinely quite witty.

The bad guys aren’t much better – the leader of the pirates is the usual hard-faced fearsome oriental in a polo-neck sweater. He leads a mismatched band of men who come across like a bag of pick and mix morons. Most nationalities are portrayed poorly - Australian (thick and ill-mannered); English (sly and unpleasant); African (tribal with attitude) – the cliches just keep on coming. That aside, as the band of pirates are the film’s main “menu” it is infinitely entertaining watching them get picked off one by one.
This is one of those films that you know is very silly, and completely implausible, but it doesn’t stop still long enough for you to analyse it very closely. It’s a shame that the cast were so poor – but it’s the monsters that steal this show without a doubt – and you don’t really want to spend a lot of money on a cast that has a life expectancy of about twenty minutes after all!