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40 reviews in total

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Extremely dumb but enjoyable, 28 August 2000

Author: obiwan-27 from New England

Casper Van Dien, last seen battling giant bugs in STARSHIP TROOPERS, now gets to take on sharks in the aptly named SHARK ATTACK. Once again it's the humans who are the *real* bad guys, and Van Dien soon finds himself in more trouble than he bargained for. The acting is pretty bad all around, although the mad scientist is amusing and has some good one-liners. The plot is fairly meaningless until the very end, when everything gets impossibly complicated. It's like a Bobbsey Twins mystery gone bad. Complementing the acting and plot portions of the film is second-rate documentary footage that the producers probably sneaked out of the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" reject bin. If you like BAD movies, you should enjoy this one. If you don't enjoy B movies, try JAWS instead.

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7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
This was quite bad, 29 July 2001

Author: Psycho Mantis from Hässelby, Sweden

Casper Van Dien breaks a new record in looking shabby in this movie, although he is supposed to be a marine biologist. If you can buy that, you will probably be able to handle the rest of the movie as well. "Shark Attack" tells the story of Van Dien going to South Africa (where just about everyone seem to be a hustler), to look for his missing friend. He finds out that his friend became shark food, and tries to find out why the sharks have started to behave so aggressively in this particular area. He gets help by another expert, Corinne, who loves to run around in her bikini while trying to solve the case.

If you are looking for really bad acting, check out "Shark Attack". You won´t believe your eyes. The effects are awfully lousy, unless you find rubber sharks convincing. The script contained so many old cliches that I lost count of them, and that is not too good. Right from the start it is quite obvious who is good and who is evil.

These kind of films can be so bad that they become entertaining, but "Shark Attack" is not fun at all. Man, I´d rather watch an episode of "Baywatch" than this kind of crap. Why somebody felt it was necessary to make a sequel to "Shark Attack" I have no idea.

* out of * * * * *

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Fun but flawed, 6 June 2008
Author: slayrrr666 (slayrrr666@yahoo.com) from Los Angeles, Ca

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Shark Attack" is a certainly fun if flawed killer shark movie.

**SPOILERS**

In Cape Amanzi, South Africa, Steven McKray, (Casper Van Dien) is astonished to learn of a series of shark attacks and goes to investigate. When Lawrence Rhodes, (Ernie Hudson) introduces him to old friend Dr. Miles Craven, (Bentley Mitchum) he tells him moire about the attacks, including the death of a friend. Meeting up with Corinne Desantis, (Jennifer McShane) the sister, they dive to find out that the sharks attracted to a specific area of the bay through an outside chemical hormone introduced into the sharks that drives them into a frenzy. When the thing is revealed to be about finding an oil reserve in the bay and using the attacks as cover to force the residents out of their land, they try to find the one responsible before more of the community is attacked by the sharks.

The Good News: This here wasn't that bad of a film. One of it's best aspects is that there's a lot of encounters with the sharks, and that leads to a lot of fun. The shark attacks, which don't have much of the time, do get really interesting when they occur, such as a thrilling encounter out at sea with a boat-full of partying residents that leaves a survivor with a serious leg bite. Other encounters, such as the one near the shipping wreck or in the bay near the lab has some more fun in store. One of the overall best scenes in the film is the lengthy cage-diving scene, which are incredible. Packed into a ten-minute sequence is a continuing series of scenes where they try out converters on the sharks, and it all leads to never-ending scenes of sharks banging into the cages with them trapped inside, making for a tense and uneasy encounter. The dives done into the waters are always uneasy, although the night-time ones are a little more-so for the inherent virtue of when the occur. The last big part of this is the great action that occurs in here, and there's a lot of it. There's two really fun chases, a multi-car chase through open-fields which includes a lot of gunfire, high-speed weaving, crashes and more, as well as a boat chase that is really exciting. Lots of objects get blown up and destroyed in both, making them even more fun. There's also the final raid on the villain's hideout, which is great. Packed with gunfights, fist-fights and brawling, lots of deaths and even more destruction that occurs, it's pretty exciting and ends with the helicopter scene, which is really fun and makes the film even better. All of these make the film what it is.

The Bad News: There was a couple of problems to this that hold it down somewhat. The main feat is that the sharks, for all their encounters, are rarely mentioned in the middle segment of the film and fade into the background during these scenes, focusing more on the false lead of the cancer study that soon turns into the oil scam. During this, the sharks are absent as it's all done on land, leaving it to be relatively dull for lengthy portions while there's no shark action, leaving them with little time in their own film, as the longest stretch is the cage-diving sequence. Outside of that, the attacks are over quite early, which is another flaw. The sharks are very easily able to be repelled or escaped, and from the knowledge that they're engineered to be angry and better killers, they have very little actual deaths that they're responsible for. Most of the attacks shown in the film are escaped, which compared to the ones that were mentioned as fatalities before is a little strange. It makes them seem like far less reliable killers since the victims know are able to get away when before they couldn't, and that's not what you want in a creature feature. That's the most detrimental feature of the film, the lowering of the shark's capabilities in a far-more reduced manner than they should to accommodate the plot. The last flaw is the shark effects, which, as to be expected, is terribly uneven. Thankfully, no CGI is present but there is the matter of the real shark stock footage that is used for most of the scenes. They're fine if never once able to keep a constant perspective, either changing in size from scene-to-scene or even species as well. The other part is that the mechanical ones look rather nice but are too stiff, rarely moving and used mostly just to make sure that something is there. It's obvious to pick these out and they lower the scene somewhat. Otherwise, these are the film's problems.

The Final Verdict: With a couple of good points and some detrimental flaws to it, this one ends up being rather fun with some problems. Give it a shot if you enjoy action-packed killer shark films, a fan of the genre or find these kinds of creature features interesting, otherwise there's better ones out there.

Rated R: Violence and Language

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Technically I can't comment on this film...., 31 May 2004
Author: alex (negativec07) from Plymouth, England

....as my DVD player stopped playing it after about an hour. I am in no doubt however it was doing me a favour, saving me before my brain had totally rotted. Luckily I did get to see the car chase, which contains quite possibly the worst editing I have ever seen in my life (the police are driving and old Alfa Romeo 33, which suddenly changes to a mark 1 Ford Sierra, then back to an Alfa, then crashes as a Sierra! Do these people even watch the film when they've finished making it? The cars don't even look remotely similar!)

But I digress. As you've probably worked out by now I hate this film. Even if it has got Ernie Hudson in it (who will always be a God in my eyes for appearing in Ghostbusters.) Most of the movie has nothing to do with sharks, just corrupt cops. I guess they'd run out of money by this point so you get the good old 'z-list actor throwing themselves around in the water whilst someone lets off red food dye' trick. Unless your life depends on it, do not watch this film. And even then only do if you've got a lot to live for.....

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Somebody Is Spiking The Sharks, 12 April 2010

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Scientist Cordell McQueen is killed in South Africa in an attack by a shark, the very thing he's gone there to investigate. A cryptic message left on his colleague Casper Van Dien's answering machine sends Van Dien and McQueen's sister Jenny McShane are off to South Africa to investigate.

What they find when they reach the coastal village where the attack occurred is a town ready to die. The resort that Ernie Hudson operates has no tourists and the fisherman don't go out at all because they're afraid of the water. Over the past few years there's been an unaccounted for spike in the number of shark attacks. The only thing operating is a scientific research institute where another colleague Bentley C. Mitchum is conducting research into a cancer cure.

Of course all this ties together with Mitchum conducting some really ghoulish experiments and Hudson playing everyone for suckers. Mitchum maybe thinking of a Nobel Prize for Medicine, but Hudson's got a far more practical motive for his actions.

Shark Attack is your average action adventure film with the cast all fitting nicely into their roles. One thing I would have done was cut Mitchum's death scene, just have him die with no last words. That particular piece of dialog was truly atrocious. Someone should have sicced one of those spiked up sharks on the writers.

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4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Shark Attack? Where's the sharks?, 23 September 2006

Author: gothicgoblin1334 from Paris, France

What a pointless film about genetically mutated sharks. First of all, there are barely any sharks and this film and the gore is crappy low-budget like the ONE shark that comes in at the end. Otherwise, it's a really sh-tty, bad, low budget, typically modern, horror film that makes real good cinematic horror genius like Mario Bava role in their graves. How could there be a big scam for this made-for-TV movie? Yes, this is a made-for-TV crap-shack which you know, knowing this is a made for TV film that there's not going to be much good quality. If you want a shark movie, go watch "Jaws" or even "The Deep" but not Shark Attack. Because despite the title, it's a poor excuse to make money off the SCI-FI channel.

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4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Painfully bad, 5 August 1999
Author: Pat-88

The worst shark movie ever made. Yeah even better than those two god-awful Jaws sequels: Jaws 3D & Jaws The Revenge. Check this out: Some people trying to catch a huge white shark at a small lake. That's odd, they usually appear in the ocean. If anyone have seen a shark in a river or lake before, please tell me.

If you thought the shark looks fake in Jaws. This shark looks so fake, your eyes will pop out. Did I already mention you about the bad acting? Pretty lousy, you ask me. Don't watch it. It's not worth your time. I am really sorry that I've wasted my time on this stupid movie.

No Stars

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Really quite appalling, 16 September 2011

Author: TheLittleSongbird from United Kingdom

I will get this off my chest, I don't like these Shark Attack movies, they are cheap and cheesy, but for some strange reason there is some novelty value to be had. The first Shark Attack is not as bad its sequels, 3 is the worst of the series in my opinion, but that's not saying it. It suffers from all the problems of its successors and some. The editing and effects are cheap, the sharks aren't menacing at all, are underused and their attacks are seriously devoid of tension, suspense, excitement and heart. The story is drawn out with the middle dragging badly as well as side-lining the sharks, and predictable too with no scene coming of any big surprise and you do for example have an inkling of how it's going to end. The script is cheesy complete with sluggish pacing and clichéd characters, while the direction is inept and the acting really quite dire with nobody standing out. In conclusion, appalling, but a film to revel in how awful it is. 1/10 Bethany Cox

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The dawn of a new shark film franchise, 9 July 2011

Author: Chris. from Australia

One of the first in the shark movie renaissance, which spawned a dozen or so sequels and rip-offs, this South African inspired crime caper is less than deserving of its parental status. Some effective (if sparse) attack scenes are woven into the fabric of a dreary drug cartel storyline, in which enemies and threats are summarily executed by way of genetically enhanced (what else) sharks, common to the waters off the South African coast. Former "Ghostbuster" Ernie Hudson pops up periodically as the corrupt police chief in cahoots with Bentley Mitchum (Robert's grand-son via son and former actor Chris), who creates havoc with his chemistry kit, turning the local sharks into hormone enriched machines with appetites to match.

Action man Van Dien is the mild mannered marine biologist investigating the goings on with the local marine ecology, and the mysterious disappearance of his friend and peer, last seen documenting the strange phenomena. Lush, deep colour tones in the photography offer a stylish, realistic appearance above ground, whereas underwater the action is limited to tired stock footage.

While it's the first in a franchise of profitable "Shark Attack" movies, there's nothing more than timing and the catchy title to mark the mediocre debut. The subsequent resurgence of shark fanaticism that gripped the direct-to-DVD market since the turn of the century, is traceable to this otherwise unremarkable pot-boiler, and that's its only claim to fame.

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A list of things more fun than Shark Attack, 5 October 2010

Author: Bezenby from United Kingdom

1. Not watching Shark Attack 2. Looking through a book of carpet samples. 3. Finding your first grey pubic hair. 4. Toilet training a two year old, and finding a brown present in their room. 5. Talking to someone about how they like their eggs. 6. Wondering whether or not to buy a melon, then deciding against it. 7. Waiting in a post office queue, then being informed by the pensioner in front of you that there is nothing worse than waiting in a post office queue. 8. Being beaten around the head by an angry mob in a market in Sarayevo 9. Using the IMDb message board to waffle on about some subject no one cares about. 10. Being sent into battle during the Somme.

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