THE LAST SHARK
"I don't care what it did! I've never been known to quit. South Bay's having its regatta."
Availability: Not available on an official DVD release.
Beverage: A Great White Shark Attack and Land Shark
Ingredients:
- 3 oz light rum
- 3/4 oz raspberry liqueur
- 3 tbsp coconut milk
- 3 tbsp crushed pineapple
Method:
Put rum, coconut milk and pineapple into a bar blender with about 2 cups of ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a coupe glass. Pour raspberry liqueur over top.
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Hello, movie fans. Tonight's film is the 1981 'Jaws' rip-off, 'The Last Shark', otherwise known as 'Great White'. It's directed by Enzo G. Castellari, whose work I've covered several time in the past month. 'The Last Shark' is a blatant attempt to cash in on the success of 'Jaws'; and cash in, it did. The film brought in over $18 million in the U.S. during the first month of its release. Unhappy with the success, Universal Pictures sued Film Ventures International to have the North American release blocked. The studio won, Film Ventures International went bankrupt and 'The Last Shark' was never again released in any format in North America. Thank God(zilla) for bootlegs and DVD-Rs.
'The Last Shark' is often considered better than any of the 'Jaws' sequels. Ironically, the shark's death is very similar to the death of the great white in later-released 'Jaws 3'; and the roar of the shark was an idea stolen in 'Jaws: The Revenge'.
The film begins with wind-surfing and an awesome '80s rock song. After the wind-surfer dies, the authorities begin to suspect the culprit to be a shark. With a town regatta approaching, the mayor refuses to close the beaches; so they use shark-proof nets as a caution. Unfortunately, the great white makes it through the netting and starts killing people. While in the process of its assault, the great white manages to rocket-propel boats and surfers about twenty feet in the air. Luckily, the news station is on hand to capture the violence, which includes airing stock footage; to which the news producer says, "nobody will know the difference". James Franciscus and Vic Morrow play the two leads, a journalist and a shark angler. The duo, who will surely go down in history as one of the greatest duos of all-time, begins to hunt the shark, hoping to end its terrifying reign on South Bay. This, of course, leads to an epic battle and a fantastically entertaining ending.
'The Last Shark', like much of Enzo G. Castellari's work, employs the use of miniatures -- especially when filming the helicopter crash, and most underwater-attack scenes with the shark. Despite the film having one of the worst endings -- scored with an ominous, existentialist track -- 'The Last Shark' has great scenery and hilarious effects.
On my scale:
Overall Enjoyment ----14
Redeeming Qualities---17
Rewatchability---------6
Fun/Special Effects----9
Directing/Quality------6
Plot/Storyline----------4
Pacing-----------------5
Dialogue/Acting-------5
TOTAL---------------66
Go to retrovisionfilms.com if you're interested in buying a very good version of the film. 'The Last Shark' is another good effort from Enzo G. Castellari. I hate labeling enjoyable films as rip-offs;so instead, I'll say it's an homage. If you like shark movies, this is one you must see. The effects are so campy, you can't help but be entertained. I'm proud of my film collection; and owning quality DVDs like this make me feel as though my library has some real worth. I've seen a lot of 'Jaws' homages, and most of them are absolutely terrible; but not 'The Last Shark'. This is a truly underrated film, worthy of an official release.
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