Movie Review: Orca
Published August 14, 2006
Orca is a great film as long as the killer whale is on a rampage — in particular, I will long cherish the scene where he sets the town on fire, a feat he celebrates with a glorious leap into the air. Many of the killer whales were obviously filmed in an aquarium and matted into the Newfoundland scenes, but considering that the movie is 29 years old, I'll give it a pass. (The flying scenes in the original Superman look pretty shabby now, too.) The scenes where the whale isn't around, where Harris tries to overcome his guilt and Rampling acts really, really stuffy, are best fast-forwarded through. Sadly, the movie really goes off the rails in its last half hour, when Harris passes up the opportunity to just shoot the damn whale so he can follow it hundreds of miles north, so he can apologize to the whale. Or kill it. It's never really clear, to be honest. (Rampling's awkward voice-overs betray some serious problems with the screenplay.)
Still, if you're in the mood for a nice big hunk of '70s cheese, you could do much worse. As several other critics have noted, the producers of Jaws later ripped off the plot of this famous Jaws rip-off for Jaws: The Revenge. Maybe someday, if we're lucky, we'll get Jaws vs. Orca, produced by Michael Bay. My money is on the whale.
Trivia note: there's a B&B called the "Orca Inn" in Petty Harbour.
- Movie Review: Orca
- Published: August 14, 2006
- Type: Review
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Drama, Video: Action
- Writer: Damian Penny
- Damian Penny's BC Writer page
- Damian Penny's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
The problem with many critical reviews I have seen on the Internet pertaining to the film JAWS by Spielberg is that some do not realize that the movie was not hatched by screenplay out of the air. This film was based on an original bestselling novel by Peter Benchley and the Director was thus bound generally to the theme.
Now that aside, the original book was NOT about a large great white shark terrorizing a coastal town as most people believe. The movie was in fact about a large great white shark "possessed by the devil" terrorizing this coastal town. This is not going to hit you between the eyes as you read the book but you will grasp it as you "read between the lines" if you are perceptive.
When captured for the big screen the nuances and suggestions of a demonic shark were obviously too difficult at the time to translate into film. They barely completed the film as it was let alone many of the undercurrents of the book that seem to have been surgically removed from the screenplay. This is not a criticism of Spielberg by any means. Making this film was a massive task and clearly by historical standards it is one of the best films.
All I can say is that if you read a negative review about the film JAWS you must wonder if the critic actually took the time to read the book and see what the heck was intended by the author in the first place.
Also if people knew what the original book was really about, there may not be as much hatred for sharks out there. After all how comfortable would we feel to be around "people" that might be demonically possessed? Forget the demon sharks.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/51570)
Just the other day my grandma was telling me to watch for this movie; it looks like I can buy it online. I guess it was one of the last movies she saw with my grandpa (he died in 1981).