Leviathan (1989)

Director: George Cosmatos

Starring: Peter Weller, Amanda Pays, Ernie Hudson, Daniel Stern, Hector Elizondo, Meg Foster

An American deep-sea mining colony stumbles upon a sunken Soviet vessel hiding a horrific secret.

1989 saw the release of two very similar underwater horrors: ‘Leviathan’ and ‘DeepStar Six’. Neither of them were good, but ‘Leviathan’ was by far much worse.

The dramatic opening scene is totally unconvincing and further ruined by overbearing, dramatic music. The way the crew interacts hardly convinces us they’ve been together for 87 days already. It feels as if they’ve only just met; the same way they are being introduced to us. The crew seem incredibly unprofessional and inexperienced for such a dangerous and specialized mission. The suspense is so forced, it’s laughable, and the dialogue is melodramatic.

After nearly 3 months of mining, they finally find the “mother load” three days before wrapping up their operation. Seriously? The film is a very bad underwater ‘Alien’ wannabe and a waste of an all-star cast. (Lisa Eilbacher in particular was exceptionally bad). I never want to see it again.