Beast of War

I really dug into Beast of War and felt that raw edge of wartime fear right from the boot camp scenes, where the young soldiers' nerves and sweat made their vulnerability hit home hard-it captured that post-enlistment haze so authentically, leaving me tense and empathetic. The survival kicks in brutally after the ship sinks, blending WWII peril with heart-pounding shark attacks that had me gripping my seat, thrilled by the desperate raft fights and oceanic dread. Sure, the ending felt too predictable and cliched, pulling me out of the immersion a bit, but overall, I see it as a solid, rewatchable gem that nails gritty horror with heart-7/10 for keeping me hooked on those primal stakes.

This is not great movie. Dialogue is poor and acting is standard. This is obviously a production with a modest budget and it is painfully clear that the shots at 'sea' were actually shot in a studio pool somewhere. However.... I will always give kudos to film makers who employ practical effects. I am always more willing to suspend my disbelief when production have gone to these efforts.

The shark looks decent. Gnarly, frightening and not completely unrealistic. Most of the shots of the shark are in slow motion and I don't blame them for that. This shark obviously took a huge part of the budget and let's face it, is the main reason anyone is watching so why not rinse those scenes.

It's not got too much else going for it but there aren't a whole lot of great shark movies after all. There's a bit of standard character play; a hero carrying past trauma, a douche bag with a redemption. Nothing really to surprise anyone.

All that said, I'd much rather a mid movie with a practical shark than a mid movie with a CGI shark.

Were this a 1970s movie, it would be a cult classic. But it isn't, and therefore it is an "almost there", in need of a couple of million more on a shark. But it does have its moments, and for the budget, some pretty decent cast. Well, mostly anyways. I guess in about 25 years someone will say the equivalent of "hey, Siri, polish that and play it for me" and have a good time.

Granted its nothing not seen before,or done very siimilar, and no (to me at least) well known names, however it's well acted considering the cliche spiel they had to utter, it was enjoyable to watch, they did'nt feel the need to make the shark jawsesque or bigger, and although seemed to have the best bits of similar films/stories it was still very watchable, and at no time did i think 'wish i had'nt bothered as its well made, nicely acted, and overall enjoyable-gave it a 7 for being very pleasently surprised how much enoyed it :)

Straight after leaving boot camp, a group of Australian soldiers traveling on a submarine is hit by explosives. Survivors scramble aboard a raft but face a desperate battle to stay alive as a great white shark senses blood.

It's going to get rinsed; that's obvious, but for what it's worth, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Compared to the vast majority of shark films, this one was pretty decent.

It has several tense moments and lots of shark action. It's quite a bloodthirsty movie; that shark is one hungry mama. It features a good mix of characters, and the acting is good. Mark Coles Smith was the standout, I thought.

It has a B-movie vibe, but it's fairly well made. Sensibly, the production team opted to keep actual shots of the shark to a minimum; we get some dimly lit shots of it, plus a few decent close-ups.

Don't get me wrong; it's flawed and patchy here and there, but overall, it's worth seeing, if like me you love shark movies, you'll know how bad most are, give this one a chance.

7/10.