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Into the Blue 2 is directed by Stephen Herek, and stars
Chris Carmack, Laura Vandervoort, Marsha Thomason, David
Anders, Audrina Patridge, Mircea Monroe, Michael Graziadei,
Mark Kubr, and Rand Holdren. It is a direct-to-video sequel
to Into the Blue. ***
Into the Blue 2 features a group of young people, vacationing
and diving off the beaches of Hawaii, some of the most beautiful
and exotic locales on the face of the earth. It’s a terrific
vacation, until a treasure hunt goes horribly awry, and
the individuals end up crossing paths with terrorists. Will
they make it out of this experience alive? ***
I came into this movie not expecting much. Stephen
Herek (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Mighty Ducks)
has proven that he’s a good director, but he didn’t really
seem like the right man for this material. Not to mention
Into the Blue isn’t really the sort of movie that needed
a sequel, anyway (being that the original wasn’t necessarily
any masterpiece either.) Surprisingly, the sequel here isn’t
half bad. ***
Where this movie shines brightest is the cinematography.
Well-filmed in a gorgeous setting, every frame of this movie
jumps out at the viewer. They definitely had a good crew
filming this movie, and it looks much better than you’d
expect any direct-to-video film to. ***
The young cast members ain’t half bad either. Coming
into the movie, I hadn’t heard of any of these actors. But
they play these characters well and convincing. They’re
a believable group of young people, and long story short,
they did a good job with the material they were given. ***
It’s not a perfect movie – the whole terrorist subplot
is pretty cheesy, for instance. But for what it is, Into
the Blue is a terrific film, and comes recommended. ---
Image and Sound: This disc doesn’t disappoint. Film
on-location in some of the world’s most beautiful scenery,
this disc looks incredible. The colors are rich, the image
detailed, and the picture free of any negative distortion.
There aren’t many issues here, and what few there are will
probably go unnoticed. Sound is generally front-heavy, being
that it’s mostly a dialogue-driven film. All in all, a very
good transfer. ---
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