Orca was actually written before Jaws.........it excells
One of the most overlooked films in history, Bo Dereks debut, come on. When they kill the mother orca and she gives birth on deck, why hose it off? Throw that little guy in a pan and fry him, good tasting meal, idiots. Some trivia, the orca actually attacked Richard Harris and told him to lay off the Old Spice Cologne. Richard did, he switched to Elizabeth perfume. Not good with the orca, he dies. Armani cologne dopes. If you look close at the end you can see the mechanical penis on the orca, Richard has it lodged in his rear. Serious, worst movie in history, why am I writing a review? I don't want little children to see this and be scared at Sea World.
ALL'S WHALE THAT ENDS WHALE
Whereas the more superior film JAWS was a true "horror" adventure, ORCA is more of a "message" film----don't mess with Mother Nature and her more intelligent creatures. In this one, feisty fisherman Richard Harris accidentally kills a female killer whale and its unborn baby, sending the male whale into a vengeful rampage. You may side with the whale since Harris' character is not that likeable. Charlotte Rampling is fine as the marine biologist who warns Harris not to mess with the whales; Will Sampson is a Native American fisherman who joins the quest; Bo Derek made her film debut as the young girl/crew member who gets a close up meeting with the whale; and Keenan Wynn, Robert Carradine and Peter Hooten fill out the cast. The movie sometimes plays like a National Geographic special, but some of the photography is beautiful and the finale in the ice-ridden northern Atlantic is quite chilling. Not as bad as many critics would lead you to believe.
This Is Not A Rip-off of "Jaws" and "Moby Dick"!
Fisherman Richard Harris ignores the warnings of whale expert Charlotte Rampling and attempts to capture a killer whale, the idea being to make a mint by selling it to an aquarium. Everything goes horribly wrong, and he accidentally kills a pregnant female (the scene is pretty damn gruesome). The whale's mate mounts a vendetta against Harris. It attacks boats and causes huge fires, turning the town against him, and then lures him out for a final confrontation.
The sound is mono, and a pretty rough mono at that, for 1977. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen picture will reveal a whole new film to those who have only ever seen this on TV or on VHS. Numerous widescreen compositions would have been ruined by fullscreen cropping.
The Jaws steals are obvious, with Rampling filling in for Richard Dreyfuss (though looking a hell of a lot icily gorgeous than he did) and Harris playing a more melancholy version of Robert Shaw. See, it turns out Harris knows exactly how the whale feels, since he lost his own wife and child to a drunk driver, and he really doesn't want to fight. Obviously, the plot is extremely preposterous, but is lots of fun for precisely that reason. Other joys are all the whale- caused destruction, and the sight of a pre-10 Bo Derek having her leg graphically bitten off. Dismissed upon its release in 1977 (and it IS a silly film), Orca now looks pretty good when compared to the countless other Jaws carbon copies and inferior sequels.
Good, campy fun today, and there are a couple of undeniably effective scenes. Go ahead. Indulge.
I can't believe *this* movie is available on dvd, when countless others I have dreamed of, longed for, hoped for, etc...sit in VHS bins just aching for a dvd release. Such is life I suppose. Truly no accounting for the decisions of studio execs, nor taste. At any rate, I remember watching this movie decades ago, on KTVU Channel 2 in SF, California. I always thought it was so funny when, between commercials, the announcer would say, "We now return to 'Sssssss.'" The movie itself, kinda creepy in a really bad movie sense. But even then, the effects and "horror" of it were just awful. It was just an all-around bad movie, badly done, and even didn't have the camp factor going for it. You want camp? Go for John Waters. Otherwise, avoid this.
Roger Corman produced this shameless Jaws rip-off at the height of the "nature gone wild" boom of American cinema and struck B-movie gold. Scripted by John Sayles and directed by Joe Dante, this tongue-in-cheek thriller stars Bradford Dillman (doing his best Rip Torn impression) as an antisocial mountain man and Heather Menzies as a rookie detective who race a school of mutant piranha downriver. Dante and Sayles provide the requisite blood and gore for this drive-in meat market: a kids' summer camp and a waterfront amusement park await the little beasties. Along the way, riverside retiree Keenan Wynn gets his ankles stripped clean, camp counselor Paul Bartel is chomped on the cheek by a hungry little bugger who takes to the air, and hordes of unlucky bathers are caught in ... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bradford Dillman - Heather Menzies Director(s): Joe Dante DVD Release Date: Released the 24 October 2000 This item is currently not available.
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Actually found out the grizzly was a costume worn by Bob Barker. He needed the money with the lawsuit from one of his beauties on the Price is Right. Bob does good when he blows up, thats what I think of his show..crap. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Christopher George - Andrew Prine Director(s): William Girdler DVD Release Date: Released the 02 December 1998 Special Order
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Ushering in the age of the inferior sequel, Jaws 2 was essentially a license to print money. Indeed, the film did very well despite blatantly replicating the plot of Steven Spielberg's original, though to lesser effect. Roy Scheider returns as Martin Brody, sheriff of the small island town of Amity. Just as the beachside resort is rebounding from the previous movie's shark attacks, another great white is snacking on divers and water-skiers. Naturally, the town fathers don't want to confront reality and choose to proceed with a lucrative sailing regatta, resulting in a grisly loss of life. Besides the fact that director Jeannot Szwarc takes an impersonal, workaday approach to the film, Jaws 2 manages to be both stylistically flat and openly cynical about its commercial... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Roy Scheider - Lorraine Gary - Murray Hamilton Director(s): Jeannot Szwarc DVD Release Date: Released the 22 May 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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THIS IS A REALLY COOL MOVIE FOR THOSE OF US WHO APPRECIATE THIS SORT OF MOVIE. ITS FINALLY ON DVD AND IS BEING RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER. THIS MOVIE DEFINITELY HAS ITS MOMENTS. ITS WORTH CHECKING OUT THIS FLICK!! WATCH IT!!!!ENJOY!!!! More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bradford Dillman - Joanna Miles Director(s): Jeannot Szwarc DVD Release Date: 14 September 2004
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