Wow! Such a good movie.

A Disappointing Continuation

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

This film was made during a time when Orca whales were not too well studied and known about. That being said, it puts a whole different sense of fear into the one watching the film. I'll call this the "boat scene" when a key point in the movie occurs, which is one of the most disturbing scenes in any film I have ever seen. It leaves you with a feeling of sorrow and pity for the antagonist (or protagonist?) and can only imagine the pain he must be feeling. The movie is so complex in its situations that it leaves the viewer with mixed feelings on who the overall winner should be. It remains one of the best marine horror movies in my book. I definitely recommend it.

According to this rather silly Jaws-inspired movie, killer whales (or 'orca') are intelligent, monogamous, great parents, and have an instinct for vengeance, making them not too dissimilar to humans. Except, of course, that they're much bigger. And wetter.Salty sea-dog Captain Nolan (Richard Harris) learns all about the orca's vengeful nature when he accidentally kills a pregnant female killer whale, incurring the wrath of its mate. This being a smart beast, it follows the captain wherever he goes, eats his crew whenever the opportunity arises, makes him a pariah in the small fishing town where he currently lives (by sinking boats and severing the fuel supply), and lures him out to sea for a showdown in the icy waters of the north.Nowhere near as expertly executed as Jaws, lacking that film's tension, scares and unforgettable performances, Orca is preposterous nonsense that is talky and uneventful for much of the running time, and suffers from a preachy eco-thriller plot that has the viewer empathise with the whale (thereby diluting the horror). On the plus side, the film benefits from wonderful photography of its ocean dwellers and a lush score from Ennnio Morricone. Oh, and Bo Derek has her leg bitten off, which is fun.4.5/10, rounded down to 4 for that terrible closing song.

I'm not going to go off the deep end like some other reviewers and say that Orca is a better film than Jaws. It's not. Jaws is a timeless classic and I think one of the best films of all time (whenever a film changes the way you think or live that means an impression has really been made and how many people avoid swimming in shark waters after this? Many!). The 2 films are quite different in many ways, the main one being that the shark in Jaws is a mindless eating machine on a rampage whereas the killer whale in Orca actually has emotions & intelligence, just like a human. Of all the Jaws "ripoffs", Orca is without a doubt the best, even though I hate calling it a ripoff but it is.The score is fantastic and very sad. The special effects were excellent in a time when CG didn't exist. Richard Harris was brilliant as Nolan and very credible at that. I thought the plot was unique, revenge seeking mammal vs man. When the Jaws franchise tried something similar in Jaws 4 the revenge, it failed miserably.This movie is entertaining and a little different than the rest. Although the plot may not be deemed credible by some, the rest of the movie is and if you "lose yourself" to the movie and just let yourself be entertained for a couple hours, you might just like it.

This is one of the those movies I've only watched once, and I was a little kid when I saw it on TV with my parents. In this movie, a killer whale seeks revenge against Captain Nolan (Richard Harris) after witnessing his mate and child's death, going on a rampage in the fishermen's harbor.I don't remember much from this movie, except for the fact that there were a lot of havoc caused by the whale and the human characters attempting to catch the beast from his rampage. This made the movie suspenseful and, while I was not a horror movie fan back then, I was pretty engaged by what I was watching.I was able to sense the whale's fierceness, yet tragic life throughout the story. Unlike many viewers, I didn't see this as a Jaws rip-off movie, but a dramatic and somewhat emotional movie involving a killer whale's heartfelt clash with humans. ***spoiler ahead*** At the end, as I watched the whale descend in the ocean, I remembered feeling a little melancholic by the entire movie. ***spoiler ends***Not better than most of the Jaws movies, but it's OK to watch at least once.Grade C+