Jackson Booth-Millard Two years before the atrocious Sharknado series started, there came this cheaply made and bound-to-be awful straight-to-DVD shark movie, the title made it obvious what to expect, and I had my assumptions of how ridiculous it would be. Basically an oil drilling accident occurs, and beneath the ocean a gigantic primordial shark is released, the shark has evolved due to toxic elements released. The shark has also gained the ability to walk on land, it has developed bulletproof skin and jump high heights in the air, and it is on its way to cause terror in the beaches of Los Angeles, during the summer season when a bikini contest is taking place. Marine biologist Dr. Katherine "Kat" Carmichael (Sarah Lieving) hires drunk captain Skipper Chuck (Tim Abell) to drive her to the oil rig owned by Traymore Industries to investigate the accident, later the sole survivor from the accident mentions the harmful chemicals used to bore through rocks and a shark pulled down the rig. While the super shark attacks a US Navy submarine, and kills the winner and runner- up of the bikini contest, as well as the photographer, Carmichael and Skipper have sees the creature for themselves, they find that it is attracted to radio waves and can disrupt radio reception. Carmichael is fired from her job for harassing oil company executives, she accepts a suitcase full of money to go away, which she accepts, Skipper finds her drunk in a bar, they later get emotionally close, and seek to contact the military to kill the super shark. The military, commanded by Colonel Caldwell (Rick Cramer), lure the super shark to a beach with the help of a boombox, a remote-controlled tank that can walk and jump is unsuccessful in shooting it, but Carmichael lures the shark into a cave on the beach, there she drops a bomb of C-4 explosives into it's mouth, it is blown to pieces, she survives with chunks all over her and temporary deafness. Also starring John Schneider as Roger Wade, Jerry Lacy as Stewart, Ted Monte as Dr. Miller, Trish Cook as Captain Marshall, John L. Curtis as Brody and Kylee Nash as Bikini Contestant. I knew from the start, including the silly theme tune by Harvey Scales, that this film was going to be bad, the actors seem to be taking it all seriously, even with the stupid script, it is a simple concept, a shark mutated and going on a killing spree, but of course the shark and bloody deaths are highly unconvincing due to the absurdly awful special effects, a waste of time and rubbish science-fiction action film. Poor!

SanteeFats This movie is not as bad as a lot of the ratings indicate. The shark is not that will done for a CGI. Why John Schneider acted in this movie is a little beyond me. I sure hope he didn't need the money. I mean he does a good job but this movie is adequate at best. I thought that Gina Gershon was in the movie until I realized it was Sarah Lieving. She seems like a clone of Gershon too me. There is some nice scenery in this movie for both sides of the fence. The shark is a travesty of computer CGI. No shark no matter how evolved can leap on to dry land for prey and get back in to the water. Unfortunately this a typical, all be it better done, SyFy movie with out the really cheesy stuff. A shark big enough to sink a Navy sub by just bashing it, just doesn't exist, except for the SyFy cretins. I rated this a 5 because even with all the faults if was watchable.

Ben Collins Only minor spoilers; I won't reveal any major plot points...This movie is absolute heaven for those of you who like to get together with friends and poke fun at the nonstop unintentional hilarity. I give this movie two stars despite the fact that my viewing experience was quite enjoyable, as my friends and I laughed hysterically at each other's snarky comments. If you know anything about sharks, or if you just remember what you learned in high school biology, it's even more hilarious. (Oh, I forgot, it's a SUPER shark...) To summarize your typical attack: A couple of stereotypical beach types, usually scantily-clad young women of questionable repute, stand around on the beach engaging in banal conversation ... and the shark JUMPS on the beach and CHEWS his victims! And doesn't even use his teeth! Maybe he chews with his uvula? As an added bonus, you get to see Jimmie Walker. Yes, Jimmie Walker, as in "Dy- no-mite!" And he actually uses this line several times!

trg6 I'd like to offer some observations about Super Shark that hopefully give people a better appreciation of its merits by taking into consideration the circumstances associated with making this kind of movie.Even though the main audience-appeal of the film intended by the people who created it might be the shark itself and the attractive girls in their bathing suits, there is nevertheless a genuinely important message the author is trying to get across. The greed of the oil company to get more oil to sell by drilling through rock and pumping dangerous chemicals into the water, with all the horrible consequences, is a sobering and timely issue. These things really happen, real people suffer and die from them, and the damage they do to the ecosystem is serious enough that it's worthwhile for us to be reminded of it. There are political implications too. Just consider that at the close of the film, the oil man, now free to continue his greedy plans, quotes Sarah Palin saying 'drill, baby, dill.'And to further compound the issue, even though the oil company is ultimately responsible for all the people the shark kills, they manage to successfully bribe the whistle-blower marine biologist to get her to drop her investigation. The fact that she's on a personal vendetta after the death of her brother and was let go by the bureau she worked for is a further complication similar to Bruce Wayne in the Batman movies becoming a vigilante after the death of his parents. If the audience can separate the real situation from the distraction of the girls in their bathing suits, they will see that there's actually something relevant and worthwhile going on here.The constraints that come from the relatively low budget available for a made-for-TV film of this kind are unavoidable, and rather than condemn the people who actually created the film under these poor conditions, it would be worth it to commend them for how well they rolled up their sleeves and got to work to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation.Since one of the major selling points of the film is the computer-generated visual effects, I think they deserve some comment as well. If you try to consider for a moment how a giant prehistoric shark would actually move on land, it pays to realize that since its musculature was designed to move freely in the water, all its movements on land would be awkward and unnatural. If you've seen footage of penguins swimming with so much speed, and graceful agility under water compared to the almost comical movements they make on land, you'll realize that the way the shark is depicted is actually excellent.Also, there's a good chance that a tremendous amount of the things happening on the screen look so good the audience just takes for granted that they're real and never considers how skillfully they were created digitally. All the water splashes, water spray around the shark's fin, the v-shaped waves expanding out from the shark as he approaches and retreats, the complex curved shapes of light clinging to the body of the shark and submarine under the water, etc., are masterfully rendered by the FX team here.Consider everything that happens to the oil rig, submarine, boats and planes that has to give the impression of tremendous weight and massive size. There are dozens of big budget movies that show in the theaters that don't achieve these things as well. Consider the solidity and reflectivity of the textures for the shark's skin and the hull of the tank. Taking into account the budget and time restrictions for this kind of film, the FX work is actually remarkably good. The ultimate compliment for CG work is when it doesn't get noticed at all. If you stop to think for a moment how many images in the film went by unquestioned as simply real, you'll have a better appreciation for what you're watching.To sum up, I would encourage the audience to keep in mind that it's part of the nature of this kind of movie that the producers can't get the results they would get with a hundred-million-dollar budget and the amount of time that's spent on the huge blockbusters, but the result of their efforts is as good as it can be under these conditions, and a lot of the work here, in terms of both concept and execution, shows the same level of talent and dedication you get in the very best work on the big screen.