Leviathan

In the Atlantic Ocean, 16,000 feet deep, the Tri Oceanic Mining Corporation keeps a eight-men crew with the mission of extracting silver and other precious metals. The geologist and leader Steven Beck (Peter Weller) works with Dr. Glen 'Doc' Thompson (Richard Crenna) managing the miners astronaut wannabe Elizabeth 'Willie' Williams (Amanda Pays), the prankster Buzz 'Sixpack' Parrish (Daniel Stern), Justin Jones (Ernie Hudson), Tony 'DeJesus' Rodero (Michael Carmine), Bridget Bowman (Lisa Eilbacher) and G. P. Cobb (Hector Elizondo). He is also the liaison with the Tri Oceanic executive Ms. Martin (Meg Foster). In their next to last day, Willie and Sixpack are assigned to work outside the base and Sixpack falls in a hole. Willie seeks him out and finds a Russian vessel named Leviathan. Sixpack finds a safe inside the vessel and brings it to their base. They find money, vodka, a videotape and documents and Beck keeps the content of the safe. However Sixpack steals a bottle of vodka and drinks with Bowman. Meanwhile Beck and Doc watch the videotape and the Russian Captain explains a problem that killed his crew. On the next morning, Sixpack does not feel well and stays in the sickbay. Soon Doc learns that his patient has a genetic mutation. When Bowman shows the same symptoms, Beck asks Ms. Martin to rescue them. But there is a hurricane on the surface and the rescuing mission is not possible. "Leviathan" is an Alien rip-off underwater, but it is nostalgic to see this movie in the present days to admire the excellent cast in the late 80's. The lovely Amanda Pays shines with her beauty and is always good to see the eyes of Meg Foster. Peter "Robocop" Weller, Richard Creena and Hector Elizondo, all of them in good shape, is another attraction. Another good point is the special effect with the monsters, usual in the 80's and 90's and different from the exaggeration of the CGI in the present days. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Leviathan" Note: On 11 July 2023, I saw this film again.

source: Leviathan

An interesting case for sci-fi fans and a missed opportunity for the director, having a generally decent cast, a sufficient budget and a story, let's say 'not overused enough for that time'. The totally obvious Alien rip-off is technically surprisingly well executed and pleases with almost top notch set designs and very good creature effects. Now that all this didn't make an absolutely satisfying, or actually even really good sci-fi movie can be blamed on the lack of tight pacing in the script, occasionally bad editing or I guess generally the rather inconsistent lead of George P. Cosmatos, resulting uncalled-for moments of amateur filmmaking entering into a movie otherwise to be taken serious. These then start accumulating and gradually getting out of control as the movie gains speed (among others resulting conversations on the subjects of popcorn and puzzles) and then ultimately explode into a 5 minute orgy of total C-Movie crap, actually even added after the anyways forgettable climax of the movie (how the hell did that happen by the way?). Otherwise, we can say, that the first 2/3rd of the movie is pretty okay, not counting a few minor downers and then gradually messes up in the finale. In the end you decide weather it was worth watching or not. Though for genre fans I guess this is absolutely obligatory.

Of the three aliens underwater movies of 1989 this one is certainly the best . THE ABYSS might be slightly more remembered but that's possibly down to James Cameron as director and it was also the film that brought us CGI which changed the face of Hollywood but not necessarily for the better . DEEPSTAR SIX felt like each of its three acts belonged in different movie genres and at least LEVIATHAN sets its stall out from the start that it's going to be a straightforward horror movie set under the ocean None of the films did much at the box office that year but watching the movies more than 20 years later this is the most enjoyable one . Interstingly cast would probably have the bigger names of the three movies with Murphy from ROBOCOP , the black guy from GHOSTBUSTERS , John Rambo's commanding officer and the posh chick from MAX HEADROOM. in a film directed by the same guy who directed RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART 2 and the screenwriter of BLADE RUNNER so it's not really a film that has to sell itself down to the plot Perhaps this is just as well because as so many people have said this is like a cross between ALIEN and THE THING . Definite B movie material but if you dig a little deeper you'll notice that it contains a somewhat prophetic criticism of corporate capitalism ( As did ROBOCOP ) and perhaps a dated subtext involving AIDS . It seems somewhat ridiculous now but at the end of the 1980s television would broadcast adverts warning people of the very public danger of AIDS while some so called experts predicted the decimation of the world population before the end of the century due to the disease . In some ways the film also owes a bit to the body horror of David Cronenberg As it stands LEVIATHAN is a tense and exciting B movie set beneath the waves and beautifully shot and avoids the cliché of having the token black guy getting killed first. One wonders though how different things might have worked out for Hollywood if George P Cosmatos had directed THE ABYSS while James Cameron had directed this film . Would we have got a film industry that was too reliant on CGI . One wonders

An underwater mining station with a diverse crew discovers a sunken Russian ship, which they loot. Among the loot is an organism that takes over the people exposed to it, one by one. It raids the blood supply, it absorbs its victims, and in one case it tears itself out of the guy's chest. The remaining three crew members search the station for the slimy monster, wielding ungainly looking flame throwers. But there's no stopping the thing. Three of the crew -- Weller, Pays, and Hudson -- escape and rise to the surface as the station implodes behind them but the monster has followed them to the surface. It eats Hudson and as it tries to gulp down Weller, he throws a flare into its mouth and shouts a wisecrack, something like "Bon Appetit." Boom! A Coast Guard helicopter ferries them to safety. It's not "Alien". It's a shameless ripoff of "Alien," done more confusingly and less artfully. There is little of the tension in the original and this production adds nothing in the way of innovation. "Alien" at least got rid of the stereotype of the sterile environment. It had rusty cargo hold, swinging chains, and unfriendly maze-like interiors. This movie has the same sort of sets but it breaks no new ground. Come to think of it, though, there may be nothing new here but it's NOT all stolen from "Alien." Weller's final wisecrack is from "Jaws." Steal only from the most commercial successes. The acting is okay. I've always kind of liked Peter Weller. His acting style is "cool" but intense, and he has an appointment at Syracuse University teaching Ancient Civilizations. You have to admire that kind of versatility in an individual. William Blake and Marcus Aurelius are among other admirables. I admire Ernie Hudson, too. He was my co-star in "Weeds." But his role here is tightly bound up with the character and it has no spark. Oh, well, I guess I admire Amanda Pays too, but for entirely different reasons. She's an actress of modest talent but precise and conventional beauty. Makes one wonder where that beauty comes from. Genes, of course, but why does it take the shape it does? A few millimeters less or extra, here or there, and the beauty becomes base. Anyway, if you like "Alien" you might like this, but less so.

The movie is an obvious Alien copy, only that it's settings have changed from outer space to under water. In my opinion, '80s was the decade of low for good sci-fi movies. There were many really bad B sci-fi made during that time. But this is one of the few well made movies from that era. If you're going to be cooped up in a small area, you might as well be with sexy good looking people like they did in this movie. I liked the scene where "doc" just went right into the shower stall where Bowman was taking the shower, just saying "Bowman, it's doc". Doctor's privilege ? I don't have much bad things to say about this movie except that in my opinion, they spoiled the movie at the last scene where the creature comes to the surface. The creature looked so fake that I think it destroyed the good image of the movie. So asides from the ending, the movie was very well made, and was entertaining to watch.

I remember watching some talk show where the host and another character went deep sea diving and mentioned a movie that had deep sea diving where they all die at the end. I recalled it as The Deep, so I saw that movie at Wal-Mart for 10 bucks, so I bought it and found a rather dull wreck-diving movie. So I asked my dad "What's the movie where they all die at the end?" he said "Leviathan I think." So years went by, I am once again at Wal-Mart and saw this film for 6 bucks and it immediately reminded me of that conversation. So I read the synopsis, saw that it had Peter Weller and Ernie Hudson, directed by George P. Cosmatos who directed one of the greatest westerns ever made; Tombstone. As well as this being a deep sea horror film, very few of those exist so I was intrigued. What I got was a movie that was so blatantly ripping off 3 other movies it was nearly insulting. I can forgive a movie that has lame special effects because it's old, but this was made in 1989, that's not that old! The first creature we see, is seen scuttling across the floor, however it's 8 legs didn't move at all. Alien was made 10 years before and it's special effects still stand up against most of today's films! The movie takes most of its "inspiration" from Alien, including some almost frame for frame identical shots. They even have the only black character as the mechanic. (Yaphet Kotto as Parker anyone?)Lets see who else we can compare to...Peter Weller as Tom Skerrit's character Dallas. Richard Crenna as Ian Holm's mysterious scientist character Ash, also combined with A. Wilford Brimley's character from The Thing in terms of cutting off the crew from being rescued...the list goes on. There's the flamethrowers of course, from both movies yet they do almost nothing against a SEA creature that's soaking wet! MY GOD! Who'd a thunk it!? Not to mention the flamethrowers "jam" when sticking it directly under pouring water to shoot the creature. The creature gestates inside people (alien) but then takes over and molds their cells together (The Thing) The one thing that impressed me is that at the very end of the film the last 3 survivors (it was obvious at that point that this movie was already too predictable and I knew my dad was mistaken and they wouldn't all die) One of the survivors was Ernie Hudson! I thought to myself "My god! Out of all the clichés in the movie, they didn't buy into one of the most common ones, the token black guy getting killed!" Then of course in the last 2 minutes of the movie the creature comes out of the water and instead of swimming towards the helicopter that landed in the water to rescue them, Ernie Hudson swims TOWARDS the creature in order to allow the others time to escape! The movie's one redeeming feature was flushed down the toilet. If you haven't seen any of the aforementioned movies (The Abyss, Alien, The Thing) you might enjoy this movie. I understand that not all movies can have the budget or script strength of those films, but...there could at least be effort. All in all, I'm not angry I bought it for 6 bucks but it won't be one I'll watch again any time soon.

Honestly, that's the line that seems to be running through Richard Crenna's mind throughout this flick. As if he can't imagine why he is in this pic. Basically, Leviathan is probably the best of the '89 glut of aqua-horror-action movies. It's made on a decent budget (unlike DeepStar Six) and doesn't have bloated pretensions of greatness (unlike The Abyss). It's got a decent cast (hey, Hector Elizondo is a class act!) who seem to know they're not making a classic here, but are willing to give it their all for what is basically a cheesy horror flick. The plot also seems to at least bother to explain itself (unlike DeepStar Six, there' s an explanation for the monster). The cast is likeable (Peter Weller's another can't-miss sort of actor). I wouldn't give it high marks, but it's competently done.

Spoilers... The crew of an underwater research lab fall victim to a mysterious genetic mutation after two of its members drink a tainted bottle of liquor taken from a russian shipwreck. One by one, the crew are "contaminated" when they encounter the ever mutating monster derived from improperly disposed of bodies of the original two infected crew members. Once a member of the crew is attacked, they become part of the monster. Perhaps ironically, the film itself is a bit of a hybrid mutation, borrowing story elements from the Alien film and its genre, as well as "The Thing", especially John Carpenter's version. Like Alien, the creature stalks those inside the underwater complex through its maze of dimly lit, high-tech looking corridors, crawl spaces and labs. When the crew learns of a bogus cover story about their supposed deaths in the news, they realize the corporation they work for has lied to them about a rescue (the good doctor has supplied them with enough info) and struggle to survive while look for a way out. The characters are believable enough, especially Richard Crenna who does a good job playing the role of crew doctor who begins to unravel what's going on. The creature effects are very well done and they're shown just enough (until the laughably predictable ending with its [intentionally?] humorous borrowing from Jaws ) to build terror. There is a sub-genre of underwater movies just like this one, but for some reason none seem as tightly wound and enjoyable as Leviathan. Perhaps because of the cast (and there are two beautiful actresses in this one) or the sfx, none linger in the mind like this one did. A fun rental for a rainy day.

Leviathan is directed by George P. Cosmatos and then screenplay is written by David Webb Peoples & Jeb Stuart from Peoples' own story. It stars Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, Michael Carmine, Lisa Eilbacher, Hector Elizondo & Meg Foster. Let me start off by saying that the rating I have given is purely for personal reasons, I love daft creature features and rate them accordingly. Artistically the film scores about the average mark of 5/10, the acting, story and effects really don't demand much better unless you have got a soft spot for the genre. Tagged as Alien underwater, the film was always going to struggle to live up to that particular tag for sure, but yes, in structure that is what we get. A group of deep-sea miners come across a wrecked soviet ship and after plundering what they can they end up with more than they bargained for. Enter the plot of deep-sea miners under attack from a very bad and creepy monster. Will they survive? How did it happen? And on it goes to a joyously (unintentionally) funny finale. The film crams as many creature feature clichés in as it can get away with, and sure enough the boo jump scare moments are not in short supply. The cast are all in on the joke (I'm pretty sure they are), so all in all you get a flipping great genre entry that isn't demanding much of the viewer, that is if you are so inclined to check the brain at the door first. So enjoy a B lister that has no pretensions other than to homage and entertain those of a certain persuasion. Quite a cast of pro actors assembled as well. 7/10