Movie reviews: Orca the Killer Whale
Jaws with a killer whale.
When a fisherman named Nolan (Richard Harris) kills its mate and unborn calf, a male killer whale seeks vengeance. The killer whale's trail of vengeance takes it from Nolan's fishing village right up to the frozen seas of the Arctic.
Well, this is the first in a series of Jaws knock offs that I have to watch. I have quite a few more yet to watch. This one was pretty good. Obviously not as good as its more famous predecessor, but pretty good all the same. Don't get this movie for your kids thinking that its a fun family movie in the vein of Free Willy This is nothing like that movie, unless I missed the part where Willy went mental and started biting off people's legs.
The stock footage that was used to fill in between the animatronic shots was very impressive. It was filmed by the same people that did the shots of the wild sharks in Jaws.
There was a moment early in the movie when a great white shark stalks some divers, but the killer whale intervenes and kills the shark in what might have been a shot at Jaws. As I mentioned in my review of the Jaws movies, Jaws 2 shot back when the characters found the remains of a killer whale that had been killed by a shark. This movie is more real to life as killer whales have been witnessed hunting great whites in the wild.
There was a bit of unnecessary gore when the captured female miscarried its calf. It was obviously added just for shock value. Apart from that, there wasn't too much blood and guts.
There was a novelization of the movie that went into more detail about the killer whale's motivation. In the book the whale went insane with rage. The movie only hints at this, but then again setting a whole waterfront ablaze isn't exactly rational killer whale behavior.
I felt that Nolan's death was a little anti-climactic. I was expecting him to end up as food, but the killer whale just slapped him around with its tail a bit.
Here's a few interesting facts for you... The climax of the movie in the Arctic was actually filmed in Malta. No, really. Richard Harris also insisted on doing his own stunts during his fight with the killer whale at the end and nearly died several times. You have to admire the man's guts.
The movie was accompanied by a rather haunting score by Ennio Morricone, the same fellow behind the music of The Good the Bad and the Ugly. It was very clear that we were supposed to sympathize with the killer whale. The main theme is marvelously moving, but it is ruined over the end credits by some terrible singing. Here's the video, but be warned when you watch it as you may want to remove any pets from the room.
Three pointy hats.
Next time: The Outlaw Josey Wales
When a fisherman named Nolan (Richard Harris) kills its mate and unborn calf, a male killer whale seeks vengeance. The killer whale's trail of vengeance takes it from Nolan's fishing village right up to the frozen seas of the Arctic.
Well, this is the first in a series of Jaws knock offs that I have to watch. I have quite a few more yet to watch. This one was pretty good. Obviously not as good as its more famous predecessor, but pretty good all the same. Don't get this movie for your kids thinking that its a fun family movie in the vein of Free Willy This is nothing like that movie, unless I missed the part where Willy went mental and started biting off people's legs.
The stock footage that was used to fill in between the animatronic shots was very impressive. It was filmed by the same people that did the shots of the wild sharks in Jaws.
There was a moment early in the movie when a great white shark stalks some divers, but the killer whale intervenes and kills the shark in what might have been a shot at Jaws. As I mentioned in my review of the Jaws movies, Jaws 2 shot back when the characters found the remains of a killer whale that had been killed by a shark. This movie is more real to life as killer whales have been witnessed hunting great whites in the wild.
There was a bit of unnecessary gore when the captured female miscarried its calf. It was obviously added just for shock value. Apart from that, there wasn't too much blood and guts.
There was a novelization of the movie that went into more detail about the killer whale's motivation. In the book the whale went insane with rage. The movie only hints at this, but then again setting a whole waterfront ablaze isn't exactly rational killer whale behavior.
I felt that Nolan's death was a little anti-climactic. I was expecting him to end up as food, but the killer whale just slapped him around with its tail a bit.
Here's a few interesting facts for you... The climax of the movie in the Arctic was actually filmed in Malta. No, really. Richard Harris also insisted on doing his own stunts during his fight with the killer whale at the end and nearly died several times. You have to admire the man's guts.
The movie was accompanied by a rather haunting score by Ennio Morricone, the same fellow behind the music of The Good the Bad and the Ugly. It was very clear that we were supposed to sympathize with the killer whale. The main theme is marvelously moving, but it is ruined over the end credits by some terrible singing. Here's the video, but be warned when you watch it as you may want to remove any pets from the room.
Click to viewThree pointy hats.
Next time: The Outlaw Josey Wales