Disc Review ~ Leviathan (1989)

What was it about 1989 that made it such a popular year to go under the sea? Film fans love to dissect the ‘big three’ underwater movies that opened during the last year of the ’80s, but I’m amazed that we leave out a significant player in this discussion. Let’s take one last gulp of air and dive in, shall we?

First, we’ll leave out the real barnacles of the genre, The Evil Below, Lords of the Deep, and The Rift (aka Endless Descent), because they stink.  I’m a massive fan of everything underwater involving sea life, but even I must admit these negatives belong in Davy Jones’s locker. Revisiting a few recently was no fun; spare yourself the torture and don’t even attempt the challenge. Instead, let’s focus on the big three and close with the one we don’t ever talk about along with them. Here’s how our trilogy of watery wonders arrived: DeepStar Six (released in January), Leviathan (released in March), and The Abyss (released in August). Each explored unique narratives, with DeepStar Six, a pure creature feature from the creators of Friday the 13th, and James Cameron’s The Abyss, coming across as a cautionary metaphor targeting the environment, war, and interpersonal relationships.

Leviathan blends the sci-fi and horror genres, unapologetically emphasizing body horror and a more in-your-face approach to terror. Filmed in Italy at the famed Cinecittà Studios, the small cast and director George P. Cosmatos worked for three months with an impressive crew to produce a respectable film that often gets tossed aside like it is second-rate. While Leviathan and DeepStar Six don’t come close to the quality of Cameron’s grand spectacle (The Abyss is one of my all-time favorite films), they are entirely different experiences that appeal to audiences who might not have a lot of crossover with The Abyss.

If you’ve seen Alien, you might recognize the outline of the script from David Peoples (Blade Runner) and Jeb Stuart (Die Hard): On a mining base in the murky depths of the ocean, a crew stumbles on the wreck of a Soviet ship, the Leviathan. Inadvertently bringing back a mysterious flask containing genetic material they think is contraband, one member of the group falls victim to a horrific transformation that releases a terrifying mutation into their midst. As the genetic anomaly adapts with relentless precision, with their numbers swiftly dwindling and their corridors becoming a hiding place for a deadly creature, can the survivors make it to the surface without falling victim to an entity that absorbs knowledge with each new kill?

As director Ridley Scott did with Alien, Cosmatos has assembled an ace group of actors that work well together to convince the viewer they are an established team. I’m not saying that Peter Weller (RoboCop) is entirely formidable as the assured leader of the bunch, but he’s convincingly in charge of people such as Richard Crenna (Body Heat) as a doctor with a troubled past who has wound up at this base not entirely by accident. I’ll never forget Amanda Pays from the mid-90s show The Flash, and if she initially presents as an Ellen Ripley-type, the script frustratingly puts her in the damsel in distress mode too quickly. Rounding out the cast are invaluable character actors Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, Michael Carmine, Lisa Eilbacher, and Héctor Elizondo, all terrific actors who bring their A-game to this B-movie. Growing up, I also loved Meg Foster as a chilly executive communicating with Weller’s character from the topside. Originally written as a man, Foster plays the part beautifully and gets one of the film’s best moments.

In 1989, Cosmatos was known in the industry for directing explosive action films like Rambo: First Blood Part II, Cobra, and later, Tombstone.  He was an excellent choice to direct Leviathan because he understands how to execute action in a confined space and trusts his actors to balance action with characters built from the ground up.  This gives Leviathan a slight edge over its closest competitor of 1989, DeepStar Six. Both feature similar plotlines of creatures picking off crew members one by one. In this film, you understand who these people were before their unfortunate demise.

I’ve seen Leviathan countless times on VHS (I loved those old MGM/UA silver labels!), on DVD, and on BluRay (the edition from Shout! Factory was packed with extras), and now Kino Lorber has picked up the license and released a UHD of the recent 4K restoration. Having been familiar with the film for years, I can honestly say it has never looked better than what the folks at Kino Lorber have put out. The meticulous process of restoring the film allows the fine details of production designer Ron Cobb (who also worked on The Abyss and The Rift) to pop, with the upgraded picture looking clean from debris and grain. It’s not entirely smoothed out to look waxy or artificially enhanced, but it feels like the best version of the movie you would have sat down for in 1989.

An elevated sound design not only improves Jerry Goldsmith‘s clanging score but gives the claustrophobia of Alex Thomson’s (High Spirits) cinematography an extra boost, merging the audio and visual experience into something extraordinary. Along with bringing out enriching elements of the image, this restored version brings into better focus the practical effects from the team at Stan Winston studio. Unfortunately, that means we see the film’s weakest point, the bizarre beast, in greater detail, but on the flip side, being able to marvel at the craftsmanship employed by that group is more than worth any chuckles the creature might entice.

It’s been a handful of years since I last saw Leviathan, but I was amazed at how good this looks; even the underwater sequences (most filmed “dry for wet” and some in slow motion) look completely convincing, whereas in the past I found them to be strangely flat. Now, you can see deeper into the shadows in all its slimy goodness. The film complements DeepStar Six quite nicely (also, conveniently available from Kino Lorber here), and if you wanted to double creature feature it, all the better! Do pick up the new 4KUHD from Kino Lorber; it comes with many of the same extras from the Shout! Factory release on a separate BluRay, a slipcover, and a reversible cover with alternate poster art.

Oh…and the other 1989 underwater movie we never talk about? It was released in August and made more money than all the movies mentioned here combined… Disney’s The Little Mermaid.