Day: August 9, 1972

A U.S. Navy nuclear sub, following an unusual sonar echo deep in the Atlantic, suffers an unexplained power loss that leaves it powerless to avoid a collision with the wall of a sub-oceanic trench. The sub plummets into depths it was never meant to descend, takes on water, and the crew is killed. The Navy commandeers a deep-ocean oil exploration rig operated by Benthic Oil, trying to beat a hurricane to the coordinates of the downed sub. Ed “Bud” Brigman, in charge of the Deep Core underwater platform, is less than thrilled when he learns that he and his crew will be taking orders from the Navy for a rescue operation, but he’s even less pleased when his ex-wife Lindsey joins the Navy SEALs who are paying a visit to Deep Core. The cocksure leader of the SEALs, Lt. Coffey, suffers from high-pressure nervousness syndrome as a result of the dive to reach Deep Core, and slowly loses control, growing violent and paranoid. Upon reaching the submarine, Coffey finally reveals that the vessel was carrying hundreds of megatons of nuclear weapons, giving Deep Core’s divers cause for concern – especially when they find that something other than the dead crew inhabits this part of the ocean. Another power loss occurs, and one of Bud’s crew sees something so startling that it renders him comatose. Lindsey also sees something, but she is unable to describe or explain it.

Unknown to Deep Core’s divers, Coffey has been ordered to recover one of the sub’s nuclear warheads, believing that whatever the diving team saw must have been a Soviet submarine. On the surface, international tensions are reaching a boiling point as Soviet and American military forces brave the hurricane to form a line of scrimmage that could explode into World War III. And worse yet, the huge crane which connects Benthic Explorer to Deep Core is torn away from the Explorer and crashes down into the 20,000 foot deep trench, dragging Deep Core right along with it. The platform comes to a shattering stop on a ledge halfway down the trench, out of contact with the surface, short on oxygen and power, and with no hope of rescue. The increasingly delusional Coffey intends to use his salvaged nuclear warhead to attack whatever has been causing the power losses.

When the unknown force proves itself fully capable of boarding Deep Core without harming any of the crew, they begin to wonder which is the greatest threat – an unknown life form buried in the depths of the Atlantic, or the human impulse for violent acts against anything or anyone unfamiliar?

screenplay by James Cameron
story by James Cameron
directed by James Cameron
music by Alan Silvestri / additional music by Robert Garrett

Cast: Ed Harris (Ed Brigman), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Lindsey Brigman), Michael Biehn (Lt. Coffey), Leo Burmester (Catfish De Vries), Todd Graff (Alan “Hippy” Carnes), John Bedford Lloyd (Jammer Willis), J.C. Quinn (“Sonny” Dawson), Kimberly (Lisa “One Night” Standing), Captain Kidd Brewer Jr. (Lew Finler), George Robert Klek (Wihite), Christopher Murphy (Schoenick), Adam Nelson (Ensign Monk), Richard Walock (Dwight Perry), Jimmie Ray Weeks (Leland McBride), J. Kenneth Campbell (DeMarco), Ken Jenkins (Gerard Kirkhill), Chris Elliott (Bendix), Peter Ratray (Captain), Michael Beach (Barnes), Brad Sullivan (Executive), Frank Lloyd (Navigator), Phillip Darlington (Crew Member), Joseph Nemec III (Crew Member), Joe Farago (Anchorman), William Wisher (Bill Tyler), Marcus Mukai (Anchorman #2), Wendy Gordon (Anchorwoman), Paul Cross (Young woman), Thomas Duffy (Construction worker), Chris Anastasio (Truck driver), Emily Yancy (Woman reporter), Michael Chapman (Dr. Berg), Tom Isbell (Wave reporter), Super Sea Rover (Big Geek), Mini Rover Mark II (Little Geek)

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green