Films like ORCA, help me appreciate JAWS even more than I already do. If you think about it, the basic story for JAWS was pretty simple: one individual shark (who happens to be very large) starts feeding on humans near a quiet fishing village/tourist destination...the humans fight back. Bam! That's all you need. Unfortunately, the people behind ORCA decided that it's be a good idea to add a deeper psychological aspect to the story...guess what? Nobody cares! Audiences want to see sharks, whales, alligators, giant hamsters, wookalars, whatever gnawing on people and people fighting back...NOT a pregnant whale being chopped up and hoisted out of the ocean as it's giving birth and then the newborn being murdered!!! That whole scene was just terrible, I hated it. I was definitely on the side of the whale after that!
Misguided story aside, ORCA is okay...for a lower budget 1970's ripoff flick. The pace moves along quickly enough, but the whole thing just looked like a movie. The majority of the shots of the whales either looked fake as fuck or like shots of whales in captivity. Passable acting from a cast that is too good for this script, depressing beginning and ending, topless scuba diver, lame kills, questionable scenes early on of live sharks that might or might not have been animal cruelty.
I didn't hate ORCA, but I damn sure never want to see it again. If you need me, I just be in my room watching JAWS again or maybe even THE GREAT ALLIGATOR or THE LAST SHARK.
