The most memorable movies that take place (mostly) underwater

Sure, she wanted to be part of our world, and for a minute, Ariel got just that. However, she’s a mermaid. A hefty portion of “The Little Mermaid” is spent in an underwater kingdom, chilling with Ariel, Sebastian, and Ursula. The Disney film has now been remade in that live-action way that they keep tinkering with their iconic vault, but don’t let that taint the original (which doesn’t actually include any…excited priests in the mix).

James Cameron loves the water. We’ll get to that later. First, though, there was “The Abyss.” The film is arguably the least successful one Big Jim ever made, but that speaks to his incredible career. Even “The Abyss” is remembered and significant. Maybe it got Cameron to think, “Next time, I’ll do it mostly on top of the water” and make “Titanic.”

It’s easy to make a movie that takes place underwater if it involves talking fish. This Pixar classic was a huge hit, focusing on a father fish looking for his lost son. It became the first Pixar movie to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars as well.

Many years after “Finding Nemo,” we got a sequel. This time, Ellen DeGeneres’ Dory, a forgetful fish who mostly served as comedic relief in the first film, is the one looking for her parents. While it didn’t quite hit as hard as “Finding Nemo,” the sequel was generally well received and ended up making over a billion dollars worldwide, and it’s still in the top-10 among animated films all time in terms of box office.

We were skeptical about “Aquaman.” DC movies are spotty, and, well, the Aquaman jokes have been abundant over the years. However, the movie was bonkers in the right way. There’s a kaiju and Patrick Wilson declares himself “Ocean Master.” We had fun, though once again we are skeptical about the sequel.

Did you miss “Luca?” That’s OK. The Pixar film came out in 2021, a weird time for film. Also, “Encanto” came out for Disney the same year. That being said, “Luca” got good reviews, and it focuses on a young sea monster who can assume human form on land, which he does to hang for a summer.

If survival horror films don’t stress you out, “47 Meters Down” could be a gripping watch for you. Two sisters (one played by Mandy Moore!) go cage diving, but when the winch breaks, the cage plummets some amount of meters down. Maybe 43 or so? Now, the girls have to escape, and naturally, sharks are circling. We’re sweating just thinking about it.

It’s right there in the theme song. SpongeBob SquarePants lives in a pineapple under the sea. His whole world is underwater, even the burger joint he works at. Arguably Nickelodeon’s biggest hit, the show has spawned a few movies now, but this was the first of the bunch.

Disney had to sweat out the early 2000s. They had a surprise hit in “Lilo & Stitch,” but they also had “Treasure Planet,” “Brother Bear,” and also “Atlantis: The Lost Empire.” The film used CGI more than any previous Disney animated feature, but it largely flopped. It got mixed reviews and was trounced by “Shrek,” which led Disney to cancel a planned spinoff series and a couple of theme park attractions.

Is there enough underwater stuff in “The Way of Water” to include it? Well, consider it a shout-out to Cameron’s documentaries about exploring the deep sea. Or, consider it acknowledgment of Big Jim putting his money where his mouth is and doing it again with an “Avatar” film. Skepticism was super high for “The Way of Water,” and even Cameron was like “If this movie doesn’t clear two billion it’s going to lose money.” Ultimately, it made $2.319 billion, so mission accomplished. The water-heavy feature is the third-highest-grossing movie of all time, just ahead of “Titanic” in fourth and a couple spots behind “Avatar.” So yeah, Cameron has directed three of the four highest-grossing movies ever.

We move to submarine territory! When we think submarine movie, first and foremost we think of “The Hunt for Red October.” Based on a Tom Clancy novel, this is the first Jack Ryan film. Alec Baldwin played Ryan in this one, opposite Sean Connery as a Soviet sub captain whose plans are mysterious. It’s a cold war thriller released at the end of the cold war, and a big hit that speaks to the era well.

If you like a critical darling of a submarine film, there’s “Das Boot.” This German film is a quintessential submarine drama. Even though it is a German movie, Wolfgang Petersen was nominated for Best Director by the Oscars. There are a couple of versions out there. The theatrical release is 149 minutes, which is hefty. However, Petersen’s director’s cut came out in 1997 and it’s…208 minutes. Yeah, it’s a long movie, but a good one, and deeply immersed in life on a German submarine.

Harrison Ford would eventually play Jack Ryan in two films, but he missed out on “Hunt for Red October.” Well, this was his chance to star in a submarine thriller. Personally, we think “K-19: The Widowmaker” is underrated as a fun pull for a movie title. Also, notably, it’s directed by Kathryn Bigelow, whose next film would come out six years later: “The Hurt Locker.”

Tony Scott directing a film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer? That sounds like a recipe for lunacy. So how do you do that on a submarine? Well, “Crimson Tide” pulled it off. Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington star in this drama that uses the claustrophobia of a submarine to pull off a tense standoff. Oh, and Quentin Tarantino did uncredited script work, so this was truly a collection of off-the-wall ‘90s film dudes getting after it.

How about a bit of submarine-based comedy? Look, we aren’t saying “Down Periscope” is good, but if you were old enough to like comedy but not old enough to be discerning in 1996 then it probably hit with you. Kelsey Grammer, riding the Frasier Crane wave, got to star. In fact, this film has quite the cast. This movie has Harry Dean Stanton, Rip Torn, and  Bruce Dern in it. How many backstage fights do you think there were making “Down Periscope?”

“The Meg” delivered what we wanted. Is it good? Not classically so. Is it fun? Absolutely. “The Meg” is about a giant shark, and then (spoiler) an even-more giant shark. It’s basically Jason Statham fighting a shark, and that rules. There’s also a lot of rescue diving and underwater adventure, plus high-tech submarine action, in the mix. We expect more of the same from the sequel.