Potential viewers should keep in mind that this film is over 40 years old, so yes there are aspects of the film that of course will seem dated. Nonetheless, this is an excellent adventure story geared toward the escapist in all of us. A young NYC couple embarks on an island holiday only to stumble into unexpected circumstances that leads to mystery and intrigue. Packed with scuba diving, undersea treasure hunting, & drug dealing villains all with the beautiful island of Bermuda as the backdrop for this Peter Benchley story. The strong cast is lead by handsome Nick Nolte & beautiful Jacqueline Bisset along with Robert Shaw and Louis Gossett Jr. The underwater cinematography is outstanding and still stands the test of time. I was 20 years old when I saw this film at my local theater in 1977. When I walked out, I was hooked on scuba diving and became certified to dive the following year and have continued to dive on a regular basis for more than 40 years! I even had the good fortune to dive the RMS Rhone shipwreck in the British Virgin Islands that was used as the set for many of the underwater sequences in this film.

I guess someone saw the big box office of Jaws and decided that Peter Benchley's new sea novel The Deep would be ideal if Robert Shaw got to star again. He's here again, this time as a historian of the sea and part time treasure hunter who's clued in by vacationing treasure seekers Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bissett about treasure in The Deep.But what exactly is the treasure? As it turns out a World War II era ship was sunk and landed on top of a Spanish galleon. Both have different kinds of treasure. If they can get to it maybe they'll find those gold and jewels and pieces of eight from the days of the Spanish Empire. But what's in the World War II warship is explosives but also medical supplies which include hundreds of ampules of morphine. The local criminal in Bermda Lou Gossett Jr. is already counting the profits. Shaw's not immune from the lure either.Putting the human players in second place is the underwater location photography and the sound which got an Oscar nomination.The humans do their best and The Deep is a good modern yarn of the sea.

A vacationing couple (Nick Nolte, Jacqueline Bisset) go diving for sunken treasure and find lost morphine shipment. Drug dealer Lou Gossett, Jr. and treasure hunter Robert Shaw become involved and things get dangerous for the couple. Not a horror movie, although the movie poster from the time certainly wants you to think that. I'm sure that was to capitalize off of the Jaws connection. There is one frightening scene where a moray eel attacks Nolte and another bizarre scene where Bisset is subjected to some kind of voodoo ritual. But really it's just a dramatic thriller with some nice underwater footage and a memorable opening with Jacqueline Bisset swimming underwater in a thin white t-shirt and bikini bottom. There's certainly nothing wrong with that. The performances are all good, with Robert Shaw unsurprisingly the best in the lot. The film is overlong and the final scene is so cheesy I defy you not to burst out laughing at it. Not very deep, but entertaining enough.

I don't know why IMDb is carrying such a negative review of this classic film on the front page. But I'm happy to note a lot of very positive reviews thereafter. Not much more I can add, but this is one of the classics of the golden era of film-making, without the CGI, hyped-up violence, obsessive sexuality and general lack of any kind of emotional depth of current popular cinema. While being in that category (popular cinema), this film is still great entertainment, often going pretty "deep". And there are of course the bonuses of the legendary Robert Shaw, the unforgettable beauty of Jacqueline Bisset, a young Nick Nolte full of promise, a wonderful score by John Barry, and plenty of evocative scenery, both below and above sea level.