Deep Blue Sea Special – Ranking The Door Scenes in Deep Blue Sea

I love Deep Blue Sea, and think it is a perfect popcorn film that features creative deaths, lots of surprises, and the best kitchen fight ever (that isn’t in The Raid 2 or Sudden Death). It makes me happy that Wired, Bloody Disgusting, and Deep Blue Sea – The Podcast, have been praising its brilliance lately. After watching the film again, and realizing that the characters spend over eight minutes opening and closing doors, it felt right to rank every moment that features a door opening or closing. Some of the best moments in the film feature doors, and after watching DBS for the 700th time, I decided to log every moment, and rank them in a very subjective manner.

Here’s the cast for reference.

• Saffron Burrows as Dr. Susan McCallister
• Thomas Jane as Carter Blake
• LL Cool J as Sherman “Preacher” Dudley
• Jacqueline McKenzie as Janice “Jan” Higgins
• Michael Rapaport as Tom Scoggins
• Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Jim Whitlock
• Aida Turturro as Brenda Kerns
• Samuel L. Jackson as Russell Franklin

39. Sherman “Preacher” Dudley takes his cake out of the oven, and kicks the oven door shut (it’s slick) – I have this in last place because it always reminds me of the deleted subplot involving Preacher and Tom Scoggins arguing over cake. I want a world that features LL Cool J and Michael Rapaport arguing about cake. 

38. Scoggins opens up some closet doors looking for batteries for his flashlights. 

37. Carter Blake opens up a medicine cabinet door to grab some gauze for his burnt arm. It’s industrious, but not memorable. 

36. McAlester opens up her lab door after she kills the shark. The scene works well because of the urgency of Carter Blake and the shocked look on McAlester’s face.

35. Random extras open up a gate to get to the boat that’s taking them away from the Aquatica for the weekend. It’s A+ plus extra work because they weren’t walking like extras normally do in movies (like they’ve lost all motor functions). 

34. Janice Higgins opens a door to greet McAlester and Russell Franklin. It’s a totally fine moment.

33. Preacher enters the kitchen via the swinging doors while being chased by the shark. There’s nothing wrong with this scene, it’s just that opening a door in water is kinda boring as it closes slowly (more on this later).

32. Carter opens up the Wet Lab door and swims in. I’d rank this higher, but since the door was already open, and all he had to do was open it more, I couldn’t justify a higher ranking.

31. Carter opens a chain link fence door to check out the tiger shark that was just delivered. The Walt Conti designed sharks are amazing btw. 

30. An extra closes the plane door after Susan McAlester exits it – The door close is solid, there’s just nothing spectacular about it. 

29. McAlester opens the metal fence door – It’s kinda cool because it shows there is a lock on the door, and thus the place is kind of like a prison (Alcatraz floats).

28. The crew walk into Janice’s room – This is interesting because we actually get to see someone’s living quarters. She has a fish tank, I feel bad for the fish…. 

27. The crew enter the wet entry (before Russell is killed) – I enjoy the casualness of the door opening. 

26. The elevator door closes after they attach Jim to the helicopter – It’s a good shot, I like the use of the widescreen aspect ratio. However, after the crew got wiped out by water (on set accident), the door closing is anticlimactic.

25. Opening of the door to avoid the flooding from the wet lab – This happens after the shark bashes the giant glass with Jim. It’s a good moment, but I’m 175% certain the water would’ve rushed in faster.

24. The makeshift rope is pulled inside the door, and it’s closed – This moment is memorable because of how long the makeshift rope is. Preacher must’ve taken a long time to make it. Also, the shark could’ve killed everyone during the construction of the rope, and chose not to so it could continue to herd the humans. Also, later on, Carter doesn’t even bother using the rope.

23. Carter, McAlester and Preacher enter the escape hatch room. I love the spinning handle on the door. 

22. Elevator door opens, and McAester slowly walks out when she’s called to the surface level – I like the “scary” vibe and camerawork. 

21. McAlester locks herself in her office while looking for her research. I like the idea of her locking herself in her office – while the shark is waiting for her.

20. The Wet Entry doors open and Carter jumps into the water. Dude is a maniac.

19. Russell sees the Wet Lab for the first time – It’s a nice door opening that leads to some wonder.

18. Janice closes the fence door and it locks – I love the look that Russell Franklin gives the locked fence door. Do they think the sharks could walk out of the place? Are the locks there to prevent pirates from entering?

17. The remaining survivors open the Wet Entry door after Russell Franklin is eaten. I love the delayed water explosion. 

16. Preacher, McAlester and Blake swim though the escape hatch to face the sharks (1:20 in clip) – It’s suspenseful, but it’s overshadowed by Preacher’s prayer. You barely remember that a door was opened. 

15. Dr. McAlester exits a helicopter on her way to talk to Russell Franklin. I love a confident helicopter exit. Also, she doesn’t bother closing the door – it’s a boss move.

14. Carter pries open the door to level 2 to prevent the elevator shaft from flooding (:30 in clip).  I love a scene involving a door being pried open. Bonus points for the following moments when the shark doesn’t even try to eat him, because he’s needed to open more doors.

13. The Gen 2 shark knocks open the door to the elevator shaft (Beginning of clip). I love the shark vision leading up to the door smash. 

12. Preacher exits the flooded kitchen door, then says “You ate my bird.” (1:45 in clip) – The door opening isn’t exciting, however, the shark explosion is fun.

11. Preacher escapes through the top oven door (1:20 in clip) – It’s a lot of fun watching the chef escape the oven (that the shark turned on).

10. The extras leave the Aquatica and get on a boat – I like how they hold the door open for each other. It’s a pleasant moment. Are they dancing on the boat because they are a fun crew, or are they happy that they are leaving?

9. McAlester opens up her locker door, and the shark learns where she gets her research – This is important later on, when the shark is waiting for her.

8. The crew take Whitlock up to the surface, and there is a massive storm. I like seeing all the waves blasting around them. 

7. The shark has Carter open a door after Scoggins is eaten. It’s neat seeing Carter’s head fly back and as he is sucked into the other corridor. The sharks are so smart.

6. The group uses teamwork to get out of the wet lab after it is flooded (2:18 in clip – you’ll also see a great Carter Blake slip). It’s nice seeing everyone work together. 

5. McAlester opens up her locker door, grabs her research, and the shark attacks. I love that the shark was sitting in her room, waiting for her to grab her research.

4. Carter opens up the pen door so he can dart the Gen. 2 shark (:30 in clip). It’s freaky watching him swim out into the dark water. It’s neat knowing that the Gen. 2 shark allowed Carter to dart it. 

3. You think that another shark is trying to bash its way into the elevator shaft, BUT, it’s Preacher coming to save the day. It’s a nice moment.

2. Preacher opens up and closes the oven door when he’s trying to escape the shark. I love the idea of him climbing into the oven, when he’s a chef. It’s such a great visual.1. The Gen. 2 shark sneaks into the flooded kitchen (:20 in clip) while Preacher is climbing on some cabinets. This isn’t exactly exciting, I just love how stealthy the shark is. It makes me laugh.

1. The Gen. 2 shark sneaks into the flooded kitchen (:20 in clip) while Preacher is climbing on some cabinets. This isn’t exactly exciting, I just love how stealthy the shark is. It makes me laugh.

There you have it! Every door closing and opening moment in Deep Blue Sea ranked. Make sure to lisen to Deep Blue Sea – The Podcast, and read everything we’ve ever written about the film.