Orca - The Killer Whale
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Movie Reviews of Orca - The Killer Whale
Movie Review: One of the greats
Summary: 4 Stars
Now here is one of the ultimate stories of revenge. This film was created in 1977 and especially with that in mind still holds some of the better cinematograpghy as well as editing. The writing for this film is also done on a very professional level. I remember seeing this as a little kid and the orca took on a scarier form than even that of the shark, talking about "Jaws" here. This is a must see for any film lover.Movie Review: Orca, the killing whale
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed the movie. I thought the movie was a dolby digital and it says that it's a dolby gigital on the case. When playing the movie it was a 2-channel sound. that was a bit disappointing. There were no features about the movie. I believe such movies should have some features.Movie Review: Orca Killer Whale
Summary: 4 Stars
Brilliant. One of the best sea / ocean horror movies of that time. Richard Harris is brilliant and the special effects are great. A must have if you loved the Jaws movies. XXXXMovie Review: Vengence is a dish best served...wet...
Summary: 3 Stars
They killed his wife...they killed his child...they took everything away from him and replaced it with a thirst for justice...a thirst for revenge...sounds like a set up for the 1974 Charles Bronson film Death Wish...but it's not...it's actually for Orca (1977) aka Orca: The Killer Whale. Now one can say Orca is a completely original film and has nothing to do with the De Laurentiis group (Dino was the executive producer) trying to capitalize on the phenomenal success of the Spielberg film Jaws (1975), the first film to break the 100 million dollar mark, but they would be wrong. Spielberg's popular and wildly successful giant shark film spawned legions of copycats, all eager to suckle on the cash teat, including films that featured wanton whales (this one), ornery octopuses (okay, it's octopi), savage squids, beastly bigfoots, antagonistic arachnids, barbarous bears and just about any other kind of creature that walks, crawls, swims, or slimes its' way across God's green Earth that you can imagine.
Orca, directed by Michael Anderson, who had just come off directing the sci-fi classic Logan's Run (1976) features Richard (A Man Called Horse) Harris, and perennial 70's film star Charlotte Rampling. Also appearing are Will Sampson (the big Indian from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), popular character actor Keenan Wynn, Robert Carradine, and in her first on screen appearance, Bo Derek. As the film opens, we see many good-looking underwater shots of killer whales swimming around, and we see two people, presumably scientists, Rachel (Rampling) and Ken (Carradine), doing some sort of scientific research involving the whales. We also meet Captain Nolan (Harris), and his crew, as they're trying to capture a great white shark in order to sell it to an aquarium for great profit. In an effort to show just how much tougher and impressive killer whales are than great white sharks (and a hollow attempt at one-upmanship with the Jaws film), we witness, along with Captain Nolan, a spectacular attack on a great white by a killer whale. This encourages Nolan to change his goal to giving up on sharks and focus on capturing a killer whale, a decision he will end up regretting. His attempt turns out badly, as the whale he captures, not only a female, but also a pregnant female, dies in a very bloody fashion. Now, we soon learn that the whales, being highly intelligent mammals, not only mate for life, but that they also have a capacity for revenge that meets, maybe even exceeds, that of humans. As Nolan begins to realize the consequences of his actions, regret and remorse creep into his consciousness, and tries to come to terms with what he's done. Thus begins a slow and deliberate attempt by the whale to draw Nolan out to sea, so that it may give the once haughty captain his comeuppance.
I did like certain things about this film. I thought the underwater shots of the whales were done well, and exhibited a calm gracefulness that certainly goes against the whale's size and weight. The story was pretty interesting, and, even though it's riding the coat tails of a much more popular and famous film, as a great number did, it stood out against most of those as being a better overall movie. Also, I did like Ennio Morricone's very ethereal musical score throughout the film, as it especially accompanied the underwater scenes well. What I didn't care for in the film was the entire `eco' conscious theme ingrained into the story, a popular cause de jour that was prevalent throughout the late 70's. I've never advocated the mass slaughter of any species, but to constantly have the notion that all men are evil and destructive thrown continually in my face didn't endear the film to me all that much (maybe I exaggerate, but it did feel that way at times). The message came across rather heavy-handed and patronizing at times, as I felt like a little kid being lectured by his parents. I love it when Hollywood tries to teach as well as entertain (remember kids, just because it's on the screen does not mean it has to be true). The character development in this story seemed weak, especially the element where Nolan `identifies' with the whale (beware, as a severe case of eye-rolling will ensue). I did feel Nolan floundering back and forth, wrestling with the little voice in his head to be very human. Rampling's character lacked any development whatsoever, and was only presented as a means to an end, to provide scientific information to Nolan. There was a glimmer of her character being a romantic interest to Nolan, but that was never pursued. Sampson's character of Umilak, a Native American of the area, appears only to provide Nolan with the spiritual and mystical aspects of the whale, and nothing else. The other characters? Well, you can call them whale fodder, as that was all they were good for...there are a couple of scenes in the film, as others have mentioned, that may not be suitable for young viewers. I got the feeling two forces were at work in this film, one trying to get across the gentle and warm aspects of the whales, and another intent on trying to include spectacular elements along the lines of those within the Jaws film. These two ideas seemed to work against each other, creating an odd dichotomy.
The transfer to DVD provided here in wide screen format looks very good, despite minor wear, due to age, to the source material. There are no special features available, not even a trailer, but that was hardly surprising to me, as Paramount Home Video, when it comes to DVD releases, lacks not only in their output, but also in understanding the value of the inclusion of extras. All in all, a lack-luster release of a better than average film that owes its' existence to another, much more popular, much more successful, and a much better all around film.
Cookieman108
Movie Review: Four Stars? I Don't Think So...But Still...
Summary: 3 Stars
Wow, it amazes me how many glowing reviews this film is getting here at Amazon.com...which I'm venturing to guess are probably the ONLY glowing reviews it's ever gotten in the years since its release. This movie, of course, is the illegitimate offspring of a movie that spawned legions of illegitimate offspring - Steven Spielberg's "Jaws", of course. And with the exception of Sir Steven's shark tale, killer-sea-creature movies often tread that fine line between between Grade-A cheese and being Grade-F rubbish best used as a drink coaster (even the exponentially-wretched "Jaws" sequels). Fortunately, in his insatiable quest to try and top "Jaws" at the box office - which, judging by his "King Kong" remake, "The White Buffalo", and this movie, at least kept him working - producer Dino DeLaurentiis managed to get enough sincerity imbued into this film that it does get some distance from the likes of, say, "Jaws: The Revenge" - even if it's not much of a distance.
The bare-bones premise, of course, is standard for these killer-sea-creature flicks - sea creature attacks people - but the screenwriters manage to wrap an interesting, if not necessarily scientifically-accurate, concept around it. Richard Harris plays the Robert Shaw wannabe Nolan, who, along with the crew of the fishing vessel Bumpo, are in the middle of sharkin' when they run across lovely Charlotte Rampling in the obligatory role of the brainiac who tries to convince the shark hunter that sea creatures are people, too. This, of course, is interrupted when Rampling's gawky sidekick, future Tri-Lamb Robert Carradine, falls out of the boat and is ten seconds away from becoming Shark Snausages when BLAMMO! The 25-foot-long Great White Shark (comprised of stock footage, a fakey fin and an obvious juvenile slam at "Jaws" - 'My sea monster's better than your sea monster, nyah nyah!') gets rammed clean out of the water in a bloody death-froth by Our Hero...and I don't mean Nolan.
Yes, in a surprisingly inventive twist on the genre, the monster is the sympathetic character of the piece. And of course, it becomes clear early on that Our Hero is going to be gnoshing on some human eye candy as the story progresses into a profit-minded attempt by the crew of the Bumpo to capture Our Hero that results in a nick in his dorsal fin and the unnerving skewering of Our Hero's Mate. This scene is followed up by some wonderfully gory shots of attempted orca suicide by Our Hero's Mate and - here's one for the kids! - a WHALE ABORTION. Yeah, you read that right. Forgive the spoiling, but as an afficionado of bad-yet-strangely-amusing movies, I feel it is my obligation as a viewer to inform the public. As if you wouldn't be able to tell this movie was made in the late '70s as it were.
What follows, naturally, is whale vengeance of the highest cheese order as one by one, the crew of the Bumpo are given an exceptionally close look at Our Hero's pearly whites, accompanied by further cameo appearances by Charlotte Rampling as she attempts to exude sex appeal while delivering Star Trek-level exposition with that smoky voice of hers and utter grievances about orcas' capacity for vengeance (which I was taught was a distinctly human trait...oh well, that's thirteen years of basic learning down the drain).
Then there's poor Will Sampson, stuck in the token role of the wise old Indian yet again, spinning yarns about whale-gods of vengeance or some such nonsense that's intended primarily to spook Nolan into getting off his drunken butt and going out to face Our Hero before he sinks an entire fleet of fishing boats and scares away all the fish that the villagers are dependent on for their livelihood (one of the funniest developments in the movie has all the townsfolk in Nolan's seaside digs pitching together to repair his boat, all for the express purpose of getting him out of their faces).
The rest of the cast gives largely unconvincing yet wonderfully hammy performances - which, given how obvious it is early on that most of them become Purina Orca Chow, can be easily excused. Among the condemned are Keenan Wynn (who also appeared in another great "Jaws" knockoff, "Pirahna") and, for some reason, Bo Derek, who contributes absolutely nothing productive to the movie or to the development of the plot and the other characters (this before "10" hit theaters).
Still, despite itself, "Orca" has some genuine entertainment value. At the very least, it does have more heart than any killer-sea-creature movie out there (in fact, I daresay it's comparable to that of "Jaws") and you actually feel for Our Hero, even as he's chewing up yet another dummy stand-in. Our Hero is brought to life using the standard effects for their time: live footage combined with the occasional 'aquamatronic' orca for shots involving the actors. Fortunately, like Bruce the Shark in "Jaws", the faux orca never appears on screen long enough to make its phoniness stand out too much.
The bottom line: "Orca" is not what I call a film for all to enjoy, yet it has its moments. If you're in the mood for something cheesy, check it out.