Orca

First off, i saw this film over a decade ago, so don't expect a full autopsy on how 70's the film was, or the plot holes. Looking back at these reviews, i must say that my memory of the plot is pretty good. Personally, when i saw this film I thought it to be pretty intense. The plot was not entirely bad. Sure it was inplausible that richard harris picked on the one genius killer whale in the whole atlantic. But am i to believe that non-human animals don't have emotions that include vengeance? No, i don't believe that at all. We hairless primates should learn not to ascribe any moderately complex emotion solely under the category "human".

To me, the real strength of this film was its allegory to the destruction of nature. I don't think it entirely inplausible that the writer wanted to symbolize the strife between man's greed, and the annhilation of this planet's animals and ecosystems. The point could have been, that our own planet at some critical point might strike out at us.

And come on you guys, after watching "JAWS" you want killer animal flicks that conform to modern day science? You're telling me that great whites do, in fact, stalk tourist filled beaches as if they were seal colonies? Now look who's living in the 70's.....

peace.

The very beginning of this movie displays the peace, beauty, and greatness of Killer Whales. A person is saved from the jaws of a shark, by the mercy and strength of one of these whales. The event is witnessed by an ocean hunter, who decides to change his choice of prey to these great beasts. He eventually harpoons one allright, but what he thought would be a simple kill turns out to be something closer to murder! This is a "ONE OF A KIND" movie, that I think delivers "not bad" , for its' time. Unusually, artistic soundtrack. A must see for movie lovers.

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've seen this movie at least a dozen times since it's release. The first time I saw it, I was very young, perhaps 8 or 9, and while I found it upsetting and sad at parts, as an adult I can look back and say it speaks so much more to me than say, "Free Willy." The movie follows the events in a fisherman's life following the capture of a killer whale. On the surface, it can appear grim and gory, but underneath there is a stirring tale about a man who has lost everything he held dear, has given up all feeling because of past events and leads an almost hostile towards life existence and then gradually comes to understand that because he was hurt, does not give him an excuse not to feel. Yes, the premise does dabble in the fantasy world, however the point isn't whether this could happen but the growth of the central character. Not once have I been able to watch this movie and not been moved by it.

Well, here's an interesting twist: in this revenge film, it's not a human but a whale wreaking havoc after a seaman killed its mate and unborn baby. Orca goes after those responsible.

Yes, it's a bit far-fetched making a whale almost human-like but most revenge films are satisfying so the filmmakers figured, what the heck, let's cash in on the popular theme. It's also the decade of "Jaws," so I guess man-eating sea creatures were "in." Actually, it wasn't 'Jaws," but it wasn't bad, either. It was a pretty interesting film.

Notes on the movie: the scene where the baby comes out of the mother is NOT pleasant to watch......Richard Harris and Charlotte Rampling star, but a young Bo Derek is here, too, in a supporting role.

I watched this twice and that was enough.