I love this movie! Sure it's basically a Jaws rip-off with a killer whale replacing the shark, but in this film the animal isn't really the villain, the stupid humans do it way better. Orca here has a real good reason to hate men and wanna kill 'em all, but he only focuses his deep sea rage on the asshole fisherman, played by Richard Harris, that killed his mate and unborn baby whale kid. The 1st 20 minutes of this film is pretty damn brutal, especially for animal lovers. Harris, doing his worst Quint impression, thinks he can make some dough by catching a killer whale. The shit hits fan though when the harpoon misses the mark and kills the female orca instead of the male. Rather than be taken in, the lady swims into the boats prop, killing her self. After bringing the dead whale aboard, the baby whale is still born right on deck in front of Orca's eyes. Harris spray-washes the dead baby over board and really pisses whale kind off. From here out, its reverse Moby Dick as Orca systematically destroys any and everything to draw the fisherman back out to sea to get his revenge. Orca picks off the crew, boats, houses, hell, he damn near destroys a whole fishing village to get to this cat. Bo Derek plays the captain's love interest and should be duly noted for her deer-in-the -headlights acting style. Orca gets lucky enough to eat Bo, something many of us have wanted to do since Bolero. He only bites off a leg, but hell I 'd take that any day. Orca leads the captain way up north to the arctic sea before finally taking care of business and killing the asshole off. The film has some pretty gruesome moments both animal and human. The way the movie is filmed from the whale's point of view makes it seem more powerful and realistic. The fact that a real whale is the star helps draw you in also. Harris over acts to the hilt, so it's funny as hell sometimes. Still, this film has a sad tone and the music will leave a cold feeling in your heart when all is said and done. The film proves once again that man is the cruelest animal of all.
I love this movie! Sure it's basically a Jaws rip-off with a killer whale replacing the shark, but in this film the animal isn't really the villain, the stupid humans do it way better. Orca here has a real good reason to hate men and wanna kill 'em all, but he only focuses his deep sea rage on the asshole fisherman, played by Richard Harris, that killed his mate and unborn baby whale kid. The 1st 20 minutes of this film is pretty damn brutal, especially for animal lovers. Harris, doing his worst Quint impression, thinks he can make some dough by catching a killer whale. The shit hits fan though when the harpoon misses the mark and kills the female orca instead of the male. Rather than be taken in, the lady swims into the boats prop, killing her self. After bringing the dead whale aboard, the baby whale is still born right on deck in front of Orca's eyes. Harris spray-washes the dead baby over board and really pisses whale kind off. From here out, its reverse Moby Dick as Orca systematically destroys any and everything to draw the fisherman back out to sea to get his revenge. Orca picks off the crew, boats, houses, hell, he damn near destroys a whole fishing village to get to this cat. Bo Derek plays the captain's love interest and should be duly noted for her deer-in-the -headlights acting style. Orca gets lucky enough to eat Bo, something many of us have wanted to do since Bolero. He only bites off a leg, but hell I 'd take that any day. Orca leads the captain way up north to the arctic sea before finally taking care of business and killing the asshole off. The film has some pretty gruesome moments both animal and human. The way the movie is filmed from the whale's point of view makes it seem more powerful and realistic. The fact that a real whale is the star helps draw you in also. Harris over acts to the hilt, so it's funny as hell sometimes. Still, this film has a sad tone and the music will leave a cold feeling in your heart when all is said and done. The film proves once again that man is the cruelest animal of all.
