Leviathan Review - Off The Shelf Reviews

This week Gary and Jess review and discuss, Leviathan (1989) by Director, George P. Cosmatos. Starring, Peter Weller, Amanda Pays and Richard Crenna.
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[@fourthdrawerdown6297]

Ernie Hudsons character was two minutes away from retirement.

[@pinkacid]

Ernie Hudson earned his right to live, my biggest gripe with Leviathan!

[@paulhirst7602]

Peter (Robocop)Weller, Colonel Trautman from Rambo, Winston from Ghostbusters, Stan Winston special effects and a hot Amanda Pays, what more could you want.

[@bobbyshaddoe3004]

Paul Hirst I like the film. Its basically The Thing underwater with a little bit of Alien thrown in, but it manages to be somewhat its own entity largely cuz of the cast.

[@SethMcFartlane]

A good script.

[@Endzeitstille]

Meg Foster has the most fascinating eyes of any actress

[@ghostlightx9005]

These days she has the most fascinating skin of any actress as well.

[@Havoc800]

I find jess to be a nice addition. However, I can't wait to see Ian back with Gary.

[@solutionless123]

Did they ever make any reviews with all three?

[@seedhillbruisermusic7939]

Jess is great, no doubt about that. But I am beginning to miss Iain. One good thing this pandemic has done is give us Jess. I wouldn't have known about him without it. He's very cool and a great film reviewer.

[@silverscreenreviews8521]

Ian definetly works much better.

[@ghostlightx9005]

Agree. Iain's general bafflement, mis-reading and mis-understanding of what is going on in most movies he reviews brings another level of humour to it all.

[@allencampbell3350]

One of my all time faves. Gary, you're right when you say you thought the creature was killed by the hydraulic lift. The creature that shows up at the end was the Six-pack and Bowman creature they dumped earlier. It had Bowman's face on it with strands of long red hair. .

[@aleaanderson6600]

Daniel Sterns would be scared by another big spider the following year in "Home Alone"

[@HigHrvatski]

The Titanic wreck was discovered in 1985, so there was a lot of interest in the late 80's and early 90's in underwater science and all the tech like the submersibles were featured in National Geographic during that time. Hollywood thought they can cash in on that fad, making a shit tone of movies during that time period with only the Abyss by James Cameron (who is a fanboy of underwater science) making some kind of money and Leviathan that became a cult classic.

[@judsongaiden9878]

DeepStar Six and Endless Descent (aka 'The Rift') are just as good, just not as well known.

[@HigHrvatski]

@@judsongaiden9878 I like The Rift, but not a lot of people know about it.

[@judsongaiden9878]

@@HigHrvatski There are some pretty good reviews of it here on YT. Here's Brandon Tenold's review of it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGOwZnSembxnbLM

[@HigHrvatski]

@@judsongaiden9878 Already watch it, Im glad he liked it too.

[@williamhiers1280]

More than Alien or The Thing, Leviathan borrows (accidentally?) a lot from the 1983 novel Slimer. Written by John Brosnan and Leroy Kettle under the pseudonym Harry Adam Knight, the plot concerns a great white shark that's been genetically engineered to absorb the characteristics and intelligence of whatever it eats, as part of something called Phoenix. A lot is different between the two, but Slimer has the plot point of the consumed victims' minds still being alive in the creature's body, trapped, just as in Leviathan. One difference, though, is that, even if they die before getting eaten, their consciousnesses still survive, however fragmented, inside of it. So at least in Leviathan, if you die before the creature gets you, you won't be stuck alive as part of it. There's no such mercy in Slimer. One fun thing that Brosnan and Kettle did with this concept was that because the monster, nicknamed "Charlie," is still, at heart, just a shark - and intelligent one but still a shark - it has periods where it lapses into pure animalistic instinct, and during these periods, the minds of the consumed victims can assert control over the body and forcibly make it transform into them so that can warn other people, but Charlie always regains control (weirdly, even during his intelligent phases he only shapeshifts to impersonate someone and trick the heroes twice). The novel was adapted (somewhat faithfully) into the 1995 movie Proteus.

[@ShadowAlley]

I've always liked this movie!.. Alien and The Thing, underwater... how could you not?

[@SECRETARIATguy224]

Yes! A long-time guilty pleasure of mine. Cheerfully ridiculous, but fun, with all of the standard monster movie tropes. Great job!

[@Para2normal]

I understand Jess's cynicism about the tube worms 9:20 but they do actually exist, they look to me as if they are modelled on the giant tube worms recently discovered (at the time of the film) living around Hydrothermal vents. The Worms are really important because they were the first life forms to be discovered on the planet that did not use sunlight as the root of their food.

[@Grandmastergav86]

Enjoyed this one a lot. The cast really elevates it IMO.

[@takayasu2009]

I love ‘Leviathan’. Btw, have you seen ‘Sphere’ with Dustin Hoffman?

[@judsongaiden9878]

The reason there are two monsters is because the leg split off and became another monster. That's the one that got crushed. The one that got exploded was the one that was made up of Sixpack and Bowman. 36:11 If he'd used proper technique, he wouldn't have hurt his hand. 41:30 See also 'Lily C.A.T.' (1987), one of the best body horror animes ever.

[@zombiejlt1]

Definitely agree about LILY C.A.T. I know it's a combination of ALIEN and THE THING but I can't help but love it because of that. And it is am 80s anime which makes it nostalgic and enjoyable as a popcorn movie. Still have my VHS copy.

[@judsongaiden9878]

@@zombiejlt1 Wish I had a VHS player that actually worked.

[@zombiejlt1]

@@judsongaiden9878 I bought a VCR and DVD combo at Target in addition to the VCR I kept over the years. Any place that sells electronics you might luck out. If you have ZIA Records in your area, they sell used ones.

[@judsongaiden9878]

@@zombiejlt1 I bought a combo like that once, but the VCR half didn't work. I've bought VCRs from thrift stores too, but none of them work either. Maybe I should get Jay and Mike to fix one of them! XD

[@mattmidgley4275]

Great as always guys, that’s why I love this channel we don’t get a review of the flavour of the week like so many other reviewers but movies I either haven’t heard of something I haven’t watched in years, great again Jess I hope you stick around buddy and cheers Gary. OTSR 🤙🤙

[@MrLorenzovanmatterho]

For a moment I thought "Wow, Ian looks so different without his beard!"

[@0verd0semedia]

I agree with almost all of your commentary. This film is DEFINITELY a redesign of Alien and The Thing; the casting was integral to any success the movie had, and Ernie Hudson should've been the heroic survivor. Okay, maybe you didn't say that last thing, but I did, because, YES. I don't know if they killed him off because he was the most likeable, watchable character, or because he was black (fitting into that trope in a horror movie, he would've likely been the first to die), but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE that Beck punches that crazily blue eyed lady in the face. If I were him, I'd feel better, too!😎 Nice review. Been missing these. Seems like you've only been talking about video games for months. One last thing... I'd love to see a review of the John Hughes films, in order. Not everything he collaborated on, though. Just what he wrote and directed, i.e., Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, etc., etc.,... You get the picture. Now, go off and MAKE IT SO!😉

[@alexanderarkum4793]

Ernie Hudson is black?????

[@0verd0semedia]

HAHAHAHAHA

[@thomasromano1417]

YES!!! So glad you guys covered this one! Absolutely love it, super under rated. Great atmosphere and effects

[@Thena_the_Grey]

One of my favourites! This and Deep Star 6 on VHS was were it was at. Love your guy's channel and reviews!

[@christophercattie]

The doctor was pulling their leg with knowing the languages. He follows it up with something along the lines of "would you believe I had a Russian Grandmother?"

[@mondomacabromajor5731]

Leviathan is a great underwater creature film with a homage to The Thing ... a total guilty pleasure...

[@hypnocilicdreams]

"Say Ahh, Motherf***er!!!" Love that cheesy but classic line from Weller before he kills the monster. Kind of feel like it was directly lifted from the end of Jaws II, when Chief Brody says "Open wide! Say ahh!" before the shark fatally chomps down on the power cable. I think my comment was initially deleted, or at least, it disappeared. The only possible reason I can surmise for that is that I failed to censor my use of the word "motherf***er". If that's the case, I apologise, & have included appropriately placed asterisks in the re-post of my comment. I must admit, it didn't occur to me that it would be a problem, as it's not uncommon for you to regularly feature swearing in your videos. Who knows... maybe I'm mistaken & my comment disappeared due to youtube glitch gremlins at work.

[@OffTheShelfReviews]

Glitch gremlins - must have been. We rarely censor swearing hahaha

[@hypnocilicdreams]

@@OffTheShelfReviews Hahaha, I thought so! Thanks for helping me understand

[@england88me]

"Well the story follows" I liked that man, not wasted on us, beautiful

[@miikasuominen3845]

You have a phone somewhere, giving interference to sound ;) Not a killer, but with headphones, one can occasionally hear when it's connecting to network xD

[@OffTheShelfReviews]

We have sourced and fixed the problem, it may pop now and then though. Living in a shared house during a lockdown has resulted in multiple mobile phones being on in the house. Sorry for the audio interference.

[@miikasuominen3845]

@@OffTheShelfReviews No big worries, that's why there were smilies ;)

[@jammyfuk8394]

Wow bit of a Mandela effect with this one, feel like I already watched Gary and Ian review it.....

[@monkey5459]

Great episode guys! Well thought out, structured, balanced and intelligent review. I enjoyed the trivia and the great chemistry between the pair of you 👍

[@AubreyTheKing]

Good movie. It's been forever since I've seen Leviathan. But what I really do remember is the awesome hands on practical effects off the creature! I swear I miss these effects so much! When the thing was actually there, instead of CGI mess! Good review you guys! :)

[@carlredbird3054]

This movie is awesome... So much better than boring a** abyss😂 Also best ending ever with hot boss lady 💪

[@botaylor3695]

Yay, we're in for a treat!

[@dedicatedgamer2500]

I have just found your channel and am so very glad. Excellent discussions. I have A LOT of catching up to do.

[@tormundgiantsbane6133]

Another fantastic and well structured review. I haven’t seen Leviathan but enjoyed this all the same. Keep up the good work Gary and keep giving us more of Jess 👍🏽

[@christopherswankie3244]

40 minutes on, what has recently become, one of my favourite films! Bliss. Thanks guys.

[@Phantasmlovecraft]

watched this for the first time recently! I dug it! Greetings from Las Vegas, NV! great video!

[@Coldwater-sw6me]

Just a little note at 9:10 these worms are pretty much copy’s of real ones, just waaaaay bigger.

[@Jay-mu4xl]

Awesome review! Thank god its Thursday! Shoutout to Jess doing awesome as usual holding up the fort for Iain, not an easy seat to fill, really like ya Jess! Thanks again all at otsr! 👍

[@davidpadilla3025]

Hey brothers, your fan from Spanish Harlem in NYC. This is definitely one of my guilty pleasures right here. Another good Peter Weller movie for me besides RoboCop are The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai and a sleeper called Screamers. Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@edisonlima4647]

At the ending the monster was standing OVER the water for some reason?

[@warhawkbm]

The Final Creature... is from the Fused Bodies of the first two, you see it float off and you see the girls face on its back during one of the fast cuts. There is no one monster

[@robertallen2109]

Haven't seen this in forever. Those futuristic flamethrowers

[@DavyDredd14]

Jess would have been ideal to play a 'Zombie' in one of George A Romero's 'Dead' Films.

[@MrLorenzovanmatterho]

Thought the same. Or Dr They in the X-files.

[@Private-Hudson]

Great review as always guy's about a brilliant film for the time.

[@misterwillguitar]

Gary's fave Jones scene is pure dolemite!

[@Thememester6500]

I hate / love talking about this movie , i hate talking about it cus everytime they say its a different movie like "oh u mean the abyss" no trust me its not the abyss😂. But when someone knows about it i have great convos

[@TomTom.o.]

This movie fucking fucked up my 9 year old mind in 89'. I love my parents all the more for that!!!

[@Piecar]

Crenna's character makes a joke about knowing 17 languages "...including a smattering of Swahili !" He immediately confesses that he knows some Russian because of a Russian grandma. He doesn't speak all those languages. I actually use his line from this movie from time to time.

[@nickmattio3397]

Why do I always think this movie was made in ‘86 along with Aliens but on half the budget

[@shadowleon659]

A criminally underrated gem of a science fiction horror film. Its basically The Thing meets Alien.

[@JoeyD_3636_]

I worked late tonight and look here a vid from my guys across the pond. ✊🏿🖤

[@chaoscommentary2179]

So the thing is my favorite movie and some friends told me that If I like the thing I would like leviathan because it’s the thing under water. I saw it and I liked it

[@christermyrberg3661]

It would great to see videos for John Carpenter's Elvis & Escape From New York/L.A. 😎

[@user-ly9wr8wj5s]

You forgot The little mermaid

[@popey129]

Good review. The film is close to alien status.

[@user-lb9xw4xf2q]

The company is totally NOT Weyland-Yutani.

[@Krylovix]

Such a fantastic film!!

[@chrisperrien7055]

I'd say it is as good as the Abyss , neither are great films, both good though. Both got some plot holes and malfunctions, The biggest being the Hurricane and the monster getting to the surface here and the nuke bomb/seal team in the Abyss. Movie is definitely The Thing/Alien underwater. as the Abyss is kina Close Encounters underwater.

[@ThunderingJove]

Good video!

[@animaldays2]

Nice Shirt, Gary!

[@rodgrodg1059]

I legit just watched this film last week for the first time! Not great but had a lot of potential!

[@irishvader2193]

You should do deep star six

[@NostalgiaBrit]

For a while, in my youth, when I didn't know any better, I actually preferred this film over The Thing! 😳

[@mecrumbly429___4]

and you watched both of these films in your youth...

[@egapekim]

Great review, cool movie 👍

[@David-xc5pg]

Yeah we all know what you meant by what the best moment at the end was 😉👊

[@kylecurry577]

Other guilty pleasure of mine. A very watchable sci-fi horror movie. Great cast , decent story even though obviously ...it’s a “Alien “ & “The Thing” rip off. Good SFX. Cult classic. Admittedly I didn’t care for the ending Or the end credit music... a little too happy for this type of film, but c’est la vie.

[@MP-kw5ud]

Arkham Horror: Dream Eaters on the shelf, nice!

[@johnashley327]

This wasn't bad. Watched it a couple weeks ago.

[@matt1023]

Gary with the cool shirt!

[@ryandowney8743]

You should check out UNDERWATER from earlier this year. I liked that one a lot.

[@anthonyhudak9363]

Been waiting for this for a while. Any plans to look at King Kong?

[@AdrianMendoza23]

Great review of a forgotten film

[@barricade1391]

Yay my weekly hit is here!

[@christopherhudspeth6823]

KEVIN SMITH!

[@mecrumbly429___4]

why don't you cover DeepStar six?

[@vatoloco6738]

Do the cheesy movie Troll..? 😆

[@profounce2468]

Where's Ian?

[@birtangooner4730]

👍🎬🎥👊

[@jasondouglas152]

This may be the biggest " Alien " ripoff.

[@pinkacid]

Nah, Titan Find aka Creature is the biggest ripoff- I recommend it, lot of fun ^.^

[@SketchEtcher]

I’ll just say it, Leviathon is better than The Abyss. I wish Cameron would’ve done this script instead.

[@pinkacid]

I’ll take Leviathan and Deep Star Six over the pretentious snore fest that is The Abyss- these films weren’t original by most standards, but they sure were fun and memorable with their monsters, sets, music and most of all cast! Xx EDIT: Did you know Peter *Optimus Prime* Cullen narrated the trailer?

[@NoBody-ft3cq]

Good one bros

[@williamhiers1280]

I disagree with the idea of one-word titles. With a few exceptions, I'm frankly tired of them. If nothing else, Leviathan works as a double meaning. It's the name of the sunken ship, but it can also refer to the monster.

[@jagofjokester1127]

Why not contaminate the water source too

[@anthonycarr22]

Wheres Ian?

[@PondoSinatra680]

I think he’s been isolated.

[@anthonycarr22]

@@PondoSinatra680 oh, that's not good.

[@binnybros]

We’re in lockdown

[@pdgf]

You should edit and cut your movies to digestible length...10-15 minutes. 40 minutes is agony!

[@pdgf]

@Lebo leigh Leigh sounds like you're the one who whines whines whines and being a drama queen with this violent reaction like you flipped and had a breakdown like Howard Beale. LOL

[@mattmidgley4275]

Well I won’t have temper tantrum ( I’m a grown ass man) but 10-15 mins- fook that.

[@pdgf]

@@mattmidgley4275 good for you! Lol

[@wcdbzsam4840]

Plenty of other reviewers do videos around that runtime.

[@pdgf]

@@wcdbzsam4840 that's not the point 😁