Orca - The Killer Whale
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Movie Reviews of Orca - The Killer Whale
Movie Review: MAGNIFICENT
Summary: 5 Stars
Yeah, I know, "Orca" is sort of a "Jaws" rip-off (coming out in 1977, two years later); I admit it may not technically be as good as "Jaws" but I personally consider it on a par with that more popular pic. Actually, despite the obvious similarities, "Orca" has a very different vibe than "Jaws."
THE STORY: Richard Harris stars as a New Foundland fisherman trying to make some big money by capturing a killer whale for Seaworld (or some such park). Unfortunately he ends up horribly botching the job -- killing a female killer whale AND her poor unborn calf. The rest of the film involves Orca's vengeful wrath on Harris and the seaport community where he lives.
WHAT WORKS: First of all, the story is utterly serious in tone -- there's no camp to be seen; secondly, the score by Ennio Morricone ("The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") is equal-parts beautiful, touching and haunting; thirdly, the casting is great: Harris is perfect as the aging sea salt, Charlotte Rampling is super sharp & intellectual as the cetacean biologist, Will Sampson ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest") is great (and cliched) as the Indian sage with his wise, foreboding words and Bo Derek is, well, you know.
In addition, the New Foundland locations are fabulous and, at an hour and a half, the film is short and sweet (as I wish more flicks would be) so there's not much filler.
The scene wherein Orca's mate aborts her calf aboard Harris' boat is truly unsettling, to say the least. It goes without saying that you'll be rooting for Orca the whole flick.
There's a very memorable scene wherein Orca causes mass destruction in the village at night (explosions, etc.); Harris looks upon the great havoc as Orca victoriously jumps in and out of the water in utter elation. I caught this ONE scene on TV years ago, before ever seeing the movie, and it just stuck with me. It's a very powerful, well-done sequence (even believable).
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: In my mind there's very little that DOESN'T work in this film, but fans of, say, "Armegeddon" might complain that the pace is a little slow at times; others may criticize the melodramatics.
CONCLUSION: This is NOT a Grade B creature-on-the-loose flick (e.g. "Piranha" or "Crocodile"); it's serious, moving and top-of-the-line all the way. If what I've described sounds like your cup of tea, don't miss out on "Orca"!
Movie Review: A fluke of luck
Summary: 5 Stars
I happened across this film on AMC. I think it only satisfies one of those initials, but "Orca" is better than "Jaws." The movie helpfully makes this point by starting with a scene of a Killer Whale beating the snot out of a Great White Shark. This is the most subtle part of the movie.
(Of course, "Jaws 2" had the last laugh by showing a bite-mangled Killer Whale. I won't hold my breath to see the rebuttal in "Orca 2.")
Richard Harris plays a fisherman who leaves Ireland after his family is killed by a careless driver. If they'd chosen to film that scene, Matthew Broderick could have been in it.
Charlotte Rampling, who wears more makeup than a Tom Savini victim, plays a cetacean biologist. This means she blathers on about how smart Orca is, etc. Like most of the minor characters, her motivation constantly wavers, and she doesn't really seem to be all that helpful. Maybe they wanted her for star-power (*snicker*).
Nolan, the fisherman, accidentally kills Orca's mate and their unborn calf. Enraged that his son will never get to star in a "Free Willy" sequel, Orca declares vengeance on Nolan. Since whales don't speak English, this declaration consists of Orca glaring, splashing, and making hooting noises with his blowhole.
Orca's campaign of revenge also sets him apart from other marine predators. Jaws is only able to threaten a town economically; Orca can actually blow stuff up and knock over seaside houses. Orca is also remarkably adept at jumping out of the water to bite people while they're on boats. This happens three times, in fact.
He seems content to let Bo Derek off with a warning; instead of killing her, he bites her leg off. Fortunately, it grows back in time for "10."
The special effects are incredible, since there aren't any. For Orca scenes, the editor has helpfully spliced in footage of real Killer Whales swimming in a tank at Sea World, which is convincing until you see the bottom. Also, in captivity, Killer Whales' dorsal fins tend to droop, so don't expect a whole lot of continuity in Orca's appearance.
Fortunately for us all, "Orca" has been immortalized on DVD. I'm sure you'll wear the bumps off the disc, watching it over and over again.
Movie Review: REPENT!!! FOOLS!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
PLEASE, ORCA IS A BRILLIANT FILM ADN IT ISN'T A JAWS OR MOBY (...) RIPOFF. SOME HAVE COMPARED IT TO DEATHWISH, BUT THAT AIN'T RIGHT EITHER. THIS IS MUCH OLDER AND DEEPER, A CLASSICAL, OR PERHAPS SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY. THE ORCA IS OUR TRAGIC HERO, OBVIOUSLY, AND HIS TRAGIC FLAW IS THAT HIS WIFE IS A STUPID DILLHOLE WHO KILLS HERSELF BY RAMMING HER HEAD INTO A PROPERLLER FOR NO APPARENT REASON. IN THIS WAY HE'S LIKE MACBETH. I URGE YOU TO THINK OF THE ORCA AS MACBETH. THAT MAKES MS.ORCA LADY MACBETH, OBVOIUSLY, AND THE RICHARD HARRIS CHARACTER INTO MACDUFF. OR PERHAPS ANTIGONE. I THINK I'VE GOT IT, THIS MOVIE IS A JOINT ADAPTATION OF MACBETH AND ANTIGONE. AS SUCH IT HAS A DEPTH AND POINGNANCY UNHEARD OF IN MOST MODERN FILM. AND THE CHARLOTTE RAMPLING CHARACTER IS A MIXTURE OF REGAN AND JULIET, SO NOW I THINK THERE'S EVEN MORE TO THIS THAN THOSE FIRST TWO PLAYS. I'VE ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE. ALSO, I THINK THE ORCA MAY BE A SLAM AGAINST MOBY (...), AS THEY HAVE A VENGEFUL WHALE RATHER THAN A VENGEFUL MAN. IT REALLY MAKES YOU THINK. ALSO, I THINK MS.ORCA IS ALSO PARTIALLY INSPIRED BY THAT ONE METAMORPHOSIS OF OVID WHERE THE WIFE GETS KILLED WHEN SHE'S PREGNANT AND THE CANTERBUY TALE INSPIRED BY THAT STORY AS WELL. I COULD GGO ON AND ON. ANYWAY, NO MATTER THE GENEAOLOGY, THE ORCA IS BY FAR THE BEST PROTAGONIST IN ALL FILM. IT'S ESPECIALLY SAD CAUSE HE BLAMES HIMSELF FOR HIS WIVES DEATH, EVEN THOUGH IT ISN'T REALLY HIS FAULT. AND HE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE ANY DIALOGUE, YET HE CONVEYS THIS FACT. SOME OF YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN THIS ASPECT OF IT, BUT IT'S THERE. YOU JUST WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION. ALSO, THE FACT THAT THE WHALE WASN'T EVEN NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTOR IS A COMPLETE TRAVESTY. PERHAPS THEY SPLIT THE VOTES BETWEEEN HIM AND HARRISE, BUT EVEN DOING THAT THEY BOTH JUST SHOULDA BEEN NOMINATED. ALSO, IF YOU DIDN'T CRY AT THE END OF THIS MOVIE, YOU JUST TOTALLY FAKED IT AND WOULDN'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS GET INVOLVED. YOU TOTALLY WANTED TO CRY. YOU CAN'T DENY THE SHEER POWER OF THE WHALE. ALSO, THE SCENE WHERE THE IKCY BABY ORCA GETS SPONTANEOUSLY ABORTED IS THE MOST SADDEST, TRAGIC SCENE EVER IN ANYTHING. I DIDN'T LAUGH AT ALL DURING THAT SCENE. NOT ONCE. AND NEITHER DID YOU.Movie Review: NOT a Jaws rip off!
Summary: 5 Stars
The first thing I usually see written about this movie is, its a Jaws rip off. Anyone who says that, can't have actually seen this movie or at the very least, understood it.
Jaws was about a group of men hunting down a killer man-eating shark. The shark had no emotional goal other than to keep from getting hunger pains. When he came after the men, he was coming after them to eat them for food, not vengeance. All the vengeance stuff came in the sequels. But for Jaws alone, it was just a bottomless pit with teeth. Jaws was the villain. In the end, Jaws was a FUN movie to watch. You were happy at the end that Brody blew it up. Happy he survived.
Orca on the other hand is about man's greed and the lives it affects. You have a man who decides, its good money to catch a whale and sell it. But he catches a pregnant female. I was only about 8 when I saw this movie. I saw Jaws before it and I liked monster movies, I figured this would be the same. However, watching the mother whale miscarry, her fetal calf hitting the deck with all the blood and the screaming, I know then...this movie was f'ed up. But I watched it through anyways. Found out quickly, the orca wasn't the villain in this picture. He didn't want to eat anyone. He just wanted a life for a life. And so the rest of the movie is spent watching the orca try to get Harris. And in the end, when he does, you aren't cheering like you were in Jaws. Its bittersweet. The killer of his mate and calf is dead, but he's alone still.
So when someone says this is a Jaws rip off...they have about the brain capacity of Jaws himself. This was more a Jaws cash in. It after all did come out on the tail of Jaws, certainly. It was trying to cash in on Jaws' success. But IMO, Orca was a superior story because it made the orca a character, rather than a tool. You understood his pain and hatred. Where as Jaws, just bit a lot.
Also something else should be noted here, that is often underrated about Orca...the music. Haunting, gorgeous. The theme is just amazing.
Was this some award winning blockbuster? No, but it was a beautiful movie that deserves a look.
Movie Review: Vengeance is mine sayeth the Orca
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1846, J. Richardson & J.E. Gray coined the generic term "killer whale" for the species of whale we know as Orca. Sailors used to refer to them as "whale killers" because they often witnessed the Orca attacking other large cetaceans.
But in this movie, you won't find any of that going on. Oh no. Our friend has developed a distinct taste for human flesh, not to consume but to maim. This movie is all about pure vengeance, and after it's all said and done, it feels good, both for the whale and viewer. In fact, the resolution of the story completes the viewer.
I know this comment may irritate certain people but for a supposed copy cat of Jaws, I feel this film exceeds what Spielberg attempted to do with his shark film. There's a profound emotional current which drives the story forward, which was lacking in Jaws.
When I watched the film, I almost felt as if the sirens themselves were using the Orca as a medium to communicate their song of death and destruction to the fishermen.
It really is a first-rate story and one that should not be missed.
The DVD is lacking in extras and even a trailer, unfortunately. There's noticeable grain throughout the movie which shows restoration wasn't a high priority when they encoded this film. At least it's widescreen, though. Don't get me wrong; I don't want you to think it a terrible print because it's not. I just feel they could've done a better job. Perhaps the Blu-Ray version, if it ever comes out, will be super crisp.
Don't rent this one. Buy it and own it.