Revealing mistake: As soon as the three survivors are coming out of the lab through the hatch underwater, they all signal each other to rise to the top. Look at Saffron Burrows, her cheeks are full of air and you can almost see the surface above her head. You can also see the exact same shot when she is about to be eaten by the last shark. And what's with that hand gesture - to cut or for the shark to stop? (01:26:30 - 01:33:10)
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Renny Harlin
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Jane, Stellan Skarsgard, Michael Rapaport, Saffron Burrows, Jacqueline McKenzie
The sharks were herding the people through Aquatica to sink it so that they could escape. This is because the top eight feet of the fences are not titanium. Susan, Preach and Carter then attempt to kill the Gen II Mako. It eats Susan and almost escapes, but Preach blows it up just in time. He and Carter are the only survivors.
Demonhunter
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Suggested correction: Her cheeks are like that because when we all take in a big breath of air and hold it so not to breathe, that's what happens. The hand gestures when she goes in the water is so the blood can mix with the water so the shark can smell it.
The hand gesture the entry is referring to is just before she is eaten by the shark, the actress waves her hand across her neck area, allegedly to indicate to the director that she was running out of air.
I think she is giving the shark a sign... like stop or don't attack or something like that. So I think she is giving the shark a sign because right after she does that the shark stops swimming towards her.
Maybe in the context of the film you could argue that, but for scenes in which actors are performing underwater, they use that gesture to let the director know they are running out of air.
If you look EXTREMELY closely in one shot with the girl at a close distance and the shark far away you can tell the girl is actually computer animated. So I think she is giving the shark a sign cuz right after she does that the shark stops swimming towards her. But I could be wrong... that's just what I think.
Yes, Saffron Burrows' character, Dr. Susan McAlester, used the hand gesture to lure the shark by mixing her blood in the water, rather than signalling that she was out of air. While she was holding her breath with puffy cheeks, this action demonstrated her intelligence and scientific understanding of shark behaviour. Her strategy aimed to draw the shark closer, allowing her colleagues a chance to kill it, even though it ultimately led to her tragic fate of being eaten.
Tom Scoggins: They're big, real big.
Carter Blake: What's that?
Tom Scoggins: The size of your brass balls!
Trivia: In both Jaws and Deep Blue Sea there is a scene involving a license plate. In Jaws it is removed from the belly of the dead tiger shark. In Deep Blue Sea it is removed from the teeth of a tiger shark. Not only are both sharks the same kind but both plates are from Louisiana. The license plate number is the same in both films: 007 o 981 Exp 72-73.
Question: I know that Susan was originally supposed to survive and kill the last shark but the test audience greatly disapproved of this. Why did the test audience hate the original ending? And why is this ending unavailable to watch?
Answer: They viewed her as a villain because it was her research that backfired and caused all of the chaos, even though none of it was intentional and it was a mistake. But audiences can be ruthless and unforgiving at times. However, the ending did feel like a cheap cop-out that created more plot holes. And many do feel she should have survived and completed her character arc. I don't know why they never offered the ending as a bonus feature on the DVD, but fans started a petition on the Change site calling for Warner to release the original ending. Thomas Jane is on board as well, as he's promoting it on his Instagram account. So that's probably the best way to get Warner's attention if you want to see the original ending.
Answer: Audiences viewed Susan as a villain of sorts, because all the mayhem and deaths in the film are a direct result of her breaching protocol, so they decided to rewrite the ending to have her die. As for why it's unavailable to view, perhaps the filmmakers didn't think people would be interested in seeing it.
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