| Leviathan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster byJohn Alvin | |
| Directed by | George P. Cosmatos[1] |
| Written by | |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Alex Thomson |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | MGM/UA Communications Co. (United States) Filmauro (Italy) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 103 minutes[1] |
| Countries | United States Italy[2][3] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $21 million[4] |
| Box office | $19 million (US/Italy) |
Leviathan is a 1989science fictionhorror film directed byGeorge P. Cosmatos and written byDavid Webb Peoples andJeb Stuart. An international co-production of the United States and Italy, it starsPeter Weller,Richard Crenna,Ernie Hudson,Amanda Pays andDaniel Stern as the crew of an underwater geological facility stalked and killed by a hideousmutant creature. Its creature effects were designed byAcademy Award-winningspecial effects artistStan Winston.
Leviathan was released around the same time as other, similarly themed "underwater"science fiction andhorror films includingThe Abyss andDeepStar Six (both 1989), and received generally negative reviews from critics, who cited numerous similarities to films such asAlien (1979) andThe Thing (1982).
Ms. Martin, the CEO of Tri-Oceanic Corp., hiresgeologist Steven Beck to supervise an undersea mining operation for three months. The crew consists of members Glen "Doc" Thompson, Elizabeth "Willie" Williams, Buzz "Sixpack" Parrish, Justin Jones, Tony DeJesus Rodero, Bridget Bowman and G.P. Cobb. While working outside their deep-sea station in a pressure suit, Sixpack discovers aSoviet shipwreck,Leviathan. The crew salvages a safe fromLeviathan, finding records detailing the deaths of several crew members as well as a video log from the captain. Sixpack also finds a flask of vodka which he shares with Bowman. Doc and Beck review the captain's video, which describes puzzling medical problems amongst his crew. They also discover thatLeviathan wasscuttled.
The following morning, Sixpack feels sick and Doc discovers lesions along his back. Sixpack dies a few hours later, but Doc and Beck keep it quiet to avoid a panic. Doc checks the crew to confirm no one else is showing Sixpack's symptoms but does not have the chance to examine Bowman. While Beck and Doc confer with Martin on the surface, Bowman begins feeling ill. She finds Sixpack's corpse, which is mutating and growing. When Bowman's hair starts falling out, she realizes the same thing is happening to her. Beck and Doc request emergency evacuation, but Martin reports a severe storm on the surface that will delay evacuation for twelve hours.
Doc finds that Bowman has committed suicide. Her body is taken to the station'ssick bay, where it merges with Sixpack's. When Doc and Beck discover the mutating bodies, they decide to dump both in the ocean. Just as they are about to "flush" the cadavers, the body bag begins squirming. Believing someone inside may be alive, the crew opens it. The creature inside claws Cobb before they eject it. The team realizes thatLeviathan was experimenting on its unwitting crew with mutagens containingpiscine DNA. The mutagen was mixed with thevodka that the crew, and later Sixpack and Bowman, drank. The ship was scuttled when the experiment spiraled out of control.
A tentacle was severed when the corpses were ejected; it mutates into alamprey-like creature that attacks DeJesus in the kitchen. Jones seals the kitchen's pressure doors and goes for help. He asks Cobb to watch the door, but when he searches for a weapon, the creature assimilates DeJesus and rips its way out of the kitchen. It then grows tentacles that attack the crew.
The creature attacks the medical bay, devouring blood and plasma from the cooler. This inspires Beck to use a pint of his blood to attract the monster, then attempt to flush it the same way they did with the Sixpack and Bowman creature. Doc ejects the escape pods so that no one can escape and risk bringing the mutagen to the surface. Beck consults with Martin for emergency evacuation. Martin assures them that they will not be left behind, but that she cannot carry out the rescue because of a hurricane.
Cobb's injuries worsen, causing him to mutate and infect Doc. Williams escapes as Beck and Jones try trapping the creature. They escape to another part of the station. The crew tries accessing weather information through the computer, but it is blocked. Williams asks the computer for a financial report from the company and they discover that Tri-Oceanic Corporation has declared them dead, labeling it an accident.
The creature damages vital systems, causing the pressure to drop and an implosion to occur. They decide to use their dive suits to escape. The creature attacks them, but is crushed by the lift as Beck escapes. They make it to the surface, which is calm and sunny. As they are met by a Coast Guard helicopter, the first mutant surfaces nearby and tries to take Jones. Jones keeps it from escaping at the cost of his own life and Beck throws a demolition charge into the creature's mouth, causing it to explode.
After they are dropped off on a Tri-Oceanic oil drilling platform, the two survivors are greeted by Martin. Martin tells them she believed they would make it, smiling and asking how Beck feels. Beck punches Martin in the face and answers, "Better. A lot better."
Leviathan was directed byGeorge P. Cosmatos, who had previously directed theSylvester Stallone-starring action filmsRambo: First Blood Part II andCobra.[5] The screenplay was written byDavid Webb Peoples (Blade Runner) andJeb Stuart (Die Hard).[5]Oscar-nominated andBSC Award-winning cinematographerAlex Thomson served as the film'sdirector of photography. Four-timeOscar-winning visual effects designerStan Winston was responsible for the creature effects.[6]
| Leviathan | |
|---|---|
| Film score by | |
| Released | 17 April 1989 (1989-04-17)[7] |
| Recorded | 1989 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Length | 39:42[8] |
The score to the film was written by veteran composerJerry Goldsmith, conducting The Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra at Forum Studio. Goldsmith used a number of creative ways to identify the score to the film, such as incorporating the use of recorded whale sounds into the music during the opening credits. The soundtrack was released throughVarèse Sarabande in 1989 and features eleven tracks of score with a running time just under forty minutes.[9]
The film opened on March 17, 1989, in 1,393 theaters and earned $5,029,164 over its opening weekend, placing second.[10] It went on to gross $15,704,614 in the United States and Canada.[10] In Italy, it grossed $3.2 million.[11]
The film was received poorly by critics and currently has a 23% rating onRotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 4.70 out of 10. The site's critics consensus reads, "A deep-sea thriller with an unusually strong cast and potent ideas,Leviathan quickly plunges into an abyss of weak thrills and lame kills."[12] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 12 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[13]
Writing forThe New York Times,Janet Maslin was reserved in her praise and wrote that it "compares favorably with the other recent aquatic horror filmDeepstar Six but probably not with anything else"[1] and that "The latter half of the film is one long feeding frenzy, guided by a familiar horror-film principle: survival of the best-looking."[1] Movie critic for theChicago Tribune,Dave Kehr, criticized the movie, writing "In the dumb fun department,Leviathan is the movie of the moment-a lively, well-made schlock thriller that will doubtlessly be forgotten in two weeks."[14] Regarding the film's writing he wrote, "The script has been attributed to David Peoples and Jeb Stuart (Die Hard), but it plays more like a collection of random pages fromAlien,The Thing,Outland andRun Silent, Run Deep."
On theirSiskel & Ebert series,Roger Ebert gave the film a thumbs up as a moderately effective, if clichéd, thriller, while his colleagueGene Siskel gave it a thumbs down, calling it a ripoff of several films that have come before it but nonetheless highlighting performances byPeter Weller andAmanda Pays.[14]
Leviathan was first released to DVD on September 29, 1998.[15] Sean Carlson ofIGN compared the DVD release ofLeviathan to that ofDeepStar Six, giving the DVD 8 of 10 stars, praising the video quality but criticizing the audio and mentioning the only extra was the film's trailer.[16] The film was released on Blu-ray byScream Factory in August 2014.[17]
Kino Lorber announced in May 2022 that they would give the film a restoration and release it onUltra HD Blu-ray.[18]
