Orca (1977)

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.

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.

Although warned about the dangers of hunting a killer whale a fisherman by the name of "Captain Nolan" (Richard Harris) disregards the warning and sets off with a small crew to capture one alive. Unfortunately, things don't turn out as planned and he ends up accidentally killing a pregnant female killer whale and its unborn offspring as well. Having witnessed their deaths, the male killer whale now wants vengeance. So he follows the boat back to its port and attempts to create enough havoc offshore to force Captain Nolan to come back to sea and settle the score once and for all. Now, while I certainly have no doubt that killer whales are quite intelligent, I have to admit that this particular movie went more than a bit overboard with this entire scenario. To that end, I thought that the talents of Charlotte Rampling (as "Rachel Bedford"), Bo Derek ("Annie") and the aforementioned Richard Harris were completely wasted by this ridiculous plot. I have rated the film accordingly.

"Orca" has a reputation of being nothing but an obvious rip off of "Jaws", and while there are similarities, this film is strong enough to stand on its own.Richard Harris(quite good) plays Captain Nolan, a fisherman/hunter who kills an Orca, unaware that it was pregnant, and traveling with its mate, who becomes enraged at the atrocity, and sets out on a campaign of vengeance against the crew, and the village harbor it is stationed at. Charlotte Rampling is also in the cast, who tries in vain to warn him on the danger.Exciting, well-directed, with beautiful underwater photography and moving music score, this film is a winner; if anything, the story follows "Death Wish" more than anything!