joebondo I'm not going to go off the deep end like some other reviewers and say that Orca is a better film than Jaws. It's not. Jaws is a timeless classic and I think one of the best films of all time (whenever a film changes the way you think or live that means an impression has really been made and how many people avoid swimming in shark waters after this? Many!). The 2 films are quite different in many ways, the main one being that the shark in Jaws is a mindless eating machine on a rampage whereas the killer whale in Orca actually has emotions & intelligence, just like a human. Of all the Jaws "ripoffs", Orca is without a doubt the best, even though I hate calling it a ripoff but it is.The score is fantastic and very sad. The special effects were excellent in a time when CG didn't exist. Richard Harris was brilliant as Nolan and very credible at that. I thought the plot was unique, revenge seeking mammal vs man. When the Jaws franchise tried something similar in Jaws 4 the revenge, it failed miserably.This movie is entertaining and a little different than the rest. Although the plot may not be deemed credible by some, the rest of the movie is and if you "lose yourself" to the movie and just let yourself be entertained for a couple hours, you might just like it.

warejohnm Orca is one of a spate of films in the mid-1970s in which human- animal interactions turn deadly (Jaws (1975), Grizzly (1976), Orca (1977), and Jaws 2 (1978)). While it's hard to imagine anyone seeking out Orca these days unless they have an interest in the history of the genres the film fits into, Orca offers a good example of the formula: anthropomorphizing animals, locating in nature an ethic against which to measure human action, and balancing experiential knowledge, scientific knowledge, and knowledge from indigenous people. While the plot is thin, the film is mercifully short and punctuated with just enough thought in the script and just enough attention to camera-work and editing to keep it watchable. For example, Captain Nolan asks a priest, "Can you commit a sin against an animal?" and Umilak says at one point, "Even our gods dance to a new song." In other words, the film touches on an ethics of human/animal relations and avoids representing native people as frozen in time (though it's not without other stereotypes). In terms of editing and camera-work, you could easily use this film to demonstrate different shots, elements of lighting, and use of music. Despite what you can find in it, the film always teeters and often slips into the ridiculous, particularly when it comes to violent images such as the fetus scene or the scenes of crew members getting eaten while dangling from parts of the boat like SeaWorld trainers.

TxMike We managed to find this on the Movies! channel. In a nutshell I'd say the concept is excellent, probably rates an 8 or so, but the execution leaves much to be desired, probably a 4 or 5. So a rating of 5 or 6 is about right.The concept examines the idea of humans killing intelligent animals and where do we draw the line? Set in a NE Canadian fishing village, Richard Harris is Captain Nolan. He is on his fishing boat and apparently hunting a great white shark. But as the shark is getting near their boat it is mysteriously attacked, hurtled into the air, and killed. It was the Killer Whale, the Orca.Then they get the idea that they could capture an Orca and sell it to an aquarium, but somehow when they encounter an large pod of them, they shoot, barely wounding a dominant male, but killing a female. They hoist her aboard but as she is calling out and dying, a developing Orca fetus slips out. The Captain is distraught over what he did, but was trying to put it out of his mind when incidents started happening back at the port. The male Orca had the intelligence to know what had happened, who was responsible, and was systematically finding ways to destroy boats and buildings. He did not relent until he got his man, the Captain, who utters this line, "A revengeful Orca."Still young and pretty was Charlotte Rampling as Rachel Bedford, the Captain's girlfriend of sorts. And the 20-ish Bo Derek in her first movie, right before she made "10", as Annie. Mostly she added eye candy to the filming. SPOILERS: When the Captain fully accepted that the Orca would not relent until they faced off, he piloted his boat to the spot where he had killed the female. They played a cat-n-mouse game as the Orca led them north, into iceberg infested waters. In a show of extreme skill of planning, the Orca got the Captain stranded on an ice float, and after tilting the ice float to get the Captain to slide towards him, the Orca propelled him onto the ice to his death.

Wuchak RELEASED IN 1977 and directed by Michael Anderson, "Orca" stars Richard Harris as a Newfoundland fisherman trying to make some big money by capturing a killer whale for a marine park. Unfortunately he ends up horribly botching the job, which incurs the vengeful wrath of the father killer whale.Coming out two years after the blockbuster "Jaws," this is sort of a knockoff, but it's too different in story/tone to be cheap imitation, although there are obvious similarities: The last third of the film involves a boat crew sailing out to sea to take on the oceanic antagonist; and another scene where an individual slides down a leaning platform toward the marine creature. In any case, "Orca" may not be technically as good as "Jaws" but it certainly has its unique attractions.The story is a maritime tragedy and utterly serious in tone with no lightness to be seen, like in "Piranha" (1978). The melodramatic plot basically inverts Melville's "Moby Dick" wherein in the whale takes the place of bitter Ahab. The score by Ennio Morricone (e.g. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") is equal-parts beautiful, touching and haunting. Also, the casting is great: Harris is perfect as the aging sea salt, Charlotte Rampling is super sharp & intellectual as the cetacean biologist, Will Sampson ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest") is great (and clichéd) as the Indian sage with his wise, foreboding words and Bo Derek is, well, you know.In addition, the Newfoundland locations are fabulous and, at about an hour and a half, the film is short and sweet; so there's not much filler. That said, people suffering ADHD might complain that the pace is a little slow at times.A couple of notable scenes come to mind: The unsettling sequence where Orca's mate aborts her calf while strung up on the vessel; and the one where Orca causes mass destruction in the village at night whereupon Nolan (Harris) gazes at the havoc while the whale jumps in and out of the water in elation.Let me close by emphasizing that "Orca" is NOT a Grade B creature-on-the-loose flick (e.g. 2000's "Crocodile"); it's a serious and moving tragedy.THE FILM RUNS 92 minutes. WRITERS: Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Donati and Robert Towne, based on Arthur Herzog's novel.GRADE: B+