I just picked something at random from the library when I was there last. This is pretty normal for me. I saw this, and I was in the mood for trashy fun (which is pretty normal for me) and I picked it up expecting something really bad: we're talking no budget, Italian and dubbed, badly paced, and with a whole lot of dialogue filler.
Let's just say that with Orca I was pleasantly surprised! I went into this, and first it was the cast. Charlotte Rampling and Bo Derek give a tough competition for which one is looking more beautiful (although for me, it's Rampling any day). Will Sampson, Robert Carradine, and Richard Harris also star. What a great cast!
Then it's the titular Orca. Intercutting from footage of two real orcas and some animatronics built for the movie, they made the creatures in this look goddamn amazing! I was stunned at how good they looked, and also how much we saw them. As one will probably know if they've done any research at all, in Jaws we hardly saw the shark. When we did see the shark, it was mostly near the end, and let's be honest - it didn't look all that great. The orca in this movie looked so real that animal rights activists were rallying against the filmmakers when the saw the thing being transported. Of course, in closeups and especially the recurring ones of the orca's eye, it doesn't look too hot though.
Tightly paced, good dialogue, and creating a genuine feeling of suspension, this movie had a lot going for it. One thing I realized when I was watching it was simply this....get ready to kill me.... I have never really thought that Jaws deserved all the praise it got. I've never been a "Jaws" guy. It's fine. It has a great balance of character development and tension, but I've always felt there was too much time with the guys and not enough with the shark. When I was watching this, I tried to think about what it was about Jaws I didn't care for, and why, for me, this would be a better film.
I think it all comes down to horror, thriller, and aesthetic feel. Jaws is a great character story with a shark in it. This is a shark story that has decent characters in it, but it is first and foremost a horror film. It goes for the gruesome more, and for me that's what I want. As far as actors go, I'd say these two movies are very close, although I do like Roy Scheider a lot. When it comes to music, the epic John Williams is actually quite well met by Ennio Morricone. What can I say, they didn't skimp on this one, and it's a very worthy "copycat".
Sometimes the B grade movies everyone forgets about or assumes are shitty are quite good. I was going to write a review of Luigi Cozzi's Contamination. I didn't feel like it, but it's the same thing. People might think it's just a cheesy Alien rip off, but it too is amazing and a lot of fun. I give Orca a great 4 star rating.
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