Into the Blue 2: The Reef DVD review

On April 21st, 2009, MGM Studios Home Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment released the Unrated DVD of Into the Blue 2: The Reef. The Stephen Herek-directed film is a follow-up to the 2005 original, Into the Blue, which starred Jessica Alba and Paul Walker.

Into the Blue 2 tells the story of scuba divers Sebastion (Chris Carmack) and Dani (Laura Vandervoort), a couple thrust into a risky situation, after they’re promised big money in exchange for leading dives along a treacherous Hawaiian reef. At the hands of dubious clients (played by Alias alumnus David Anders and Las Vegas alumni Marsha Thomason), the young couple is catapulted into extreme danger.

The storyline of Into the Blue 2 is similar to the original. In both chapters, a sexy young diving couple is approached by prospective clients looking for help in exchange for supposedly easy money. In both, the love of the couple for each other, is pitted against their desire to get ahead financially. As with the first film, the best aspects of the sequel are the attractive actors and the even more beautiful location cinematography.

The sequel however suffers from an even more sever lack of story-line than the first. It’s a bit more sensual, hence the ‘Unrated’ DVD edition. However, it is essentially a redo of Into the Blue, with less established actors. What the first film had going for it was quality acting of Paul Walker and the charisma of Jessica Alba. Chris Carmack and Laura Vandervoort have the charisma, but their lack of experience on the ‘big’ screen shows. The new protagonists add layers to the intensity of the film, but not much else. What seemed to help there is that the straight-to-DVD production didn’t suffer from the ratings board censors.

Essentially, if you enjoyed Into the Blue and like your films heavy on the heavy petting, you’ll enjoy Into the Blue 2: The Reef.

The Into The Blue 2: The Reef DVD is presented in widescreen with English Dolby Surround 5.1 sound.

Bonus content on the disc includes the entertaining featurette All Wet, which follows the cast, as they train for the movie’s underwater diving sequences; Run For Your Life, a featurette on the filming of the main chase scene through the streets of Hawaii; and a music video titled Back To The Beach.

The Into The Blue 2: The Reef DVD is presented in widescreen with English Dolby Surround 5.1 sound.

Director: Stephen Herek
Cast: Laura Vandervoort, Marsha Thomason, Audrina Patridge, David Anders, Chris Carmack, Mircea Monroe, Mark Kubr, Rand Holdren, Kamakani De Dely

Audrina Patridge, Chris Carmack, Laura Vandervoort and Marsha Thomason walked the ‘blue’ carpet for the premiere party celebration of the film recently.

The event was set against a flowing water step-and-repeat backdrop, and guests followed an ocean blue carpet and literally went Into The Blue through an actual waterfall curtain as they enter a sea-side lagoon with bikini-clad beach babes, coral reefs, tropical drinks and island cuisine.

Check out a few pictures below.