By CONNOR KEATING
Tiger Media Network
In the wake of 1975’s summer blockbuster “JAWS,” a number of other animal attack films were made to cash in on the success of Speilberg’s classic tale of three men’s hunt for a giant shark. These movies would, of course, change up the monster to be some other kind of dangerous animal. Could be an Octopus, maybe a swarm of mutated Piranhas, or even a man-eating Grizzly bear, but many of these films would keep the general premise of “JAWS” the same, but one film, disguised as just another cash grab, came to subvert all expectations…
“Orca-The Killer Whale,” or simply “Orca,” follows Captain Nolan, a deep sea fisherman working off the coast of Canada who has been given the job of capturing an Orca alive. He’s warned by a marine biologist named Dr. Bedford not to, but he doesn’t listen. Nolan ends up capturing a pregnant female, who he accidentally kills while her mate watches in horror. Now, the male Orca is out for revenge! However, Nolan feels terrible for killing the female Orca and wants to move on, but the male Orca challenges Nolan by destroying all the other fishermen’s ships, turning the other fishermen against Nolan. As the Orca begins to cause more chaos, it’s clear that Nolan can’t run away from this, and has to face the beast head-on.
The best way to describe the film is that it’s a reverse “Moby Dick.” Rather than the whale hunter being out for revenge, it’s the whale. It subverts what you’d normally expect from a movie about a whale hunt, and as I alluded to earlier, the film skips many of the typical “JAWS” beats. Here, there’s no sleazy mayor trying to keep the town open, or any attacks, aside from those specifically meant to antagonize Nolan. This story also helps to make Nolan a pretty sympathetic character. He accidentally killed the female Orca and its child and feels terrible about it and seriously wants the Orca to forgive him; however, the Orca’s rampage ends up driving him to madness until he’s forced by not just the whale, but the town, to slay the beast.
The other characters aren’t nearly as in-depth or interesting, though. Dr. Bedford is definitely one of the better ones. She’s a scientist, so she understands Orcas and wants to protect them. This leads to some interesting moments between her and Nolan, sometimes disagreeing and other times just trying to figure out what the heck to do in this crazy situation. There’s also this Native American guy named Umilak who adds a mystical element to the whale and tries to help Nolan defeat it. There are a few other characters, like Nolan’s crew, his daughter, and the various town folk, but none of them are too noteworthy. By far, the strongest aspect of the film is Nolan and his relationship with the whale.
Speaking of, the Orca in this film is quite terrifying. I’d go as far to say it may be scarier than the shark in “JAWS”, because unlike the shark, which is portrayed as a mindless killing machine, the Orca here is a thinking animal that is out specifically for Nolan, and the things this whale will do to get its battle at sea are insane. I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say, this whale does a lot more than just try to eat people… but don’t worry, he does that too. I will say, the film does drag a bit when Nolan and his crew set off after the Orca, as the whale literally leads them all the way to the North Pole in order to have the final showdown, and this section really does slow the film down a bit, but for the rest of it, it’s almost constant tension or action. Because of the Orca’s intelligence, it makes him feel a lot more like an actual character with a specific motive and goal. While you feel bad for Nolan, you similarly feel bad for the Orca who lost his family to this man, it all helps to make the final battle much more impactful.
The effects for the whale are primarily done with a real Orca for most of the film. Occasionally they use a life-size killer whale prop that doesn’t look the best, but it’s used sparingly. The film also uses this mildly goofy effect a lot where they project the whale over the background footage, so sometimes the Orca will just be transparent. It’s kinda funny.
The soundtrack in the film is also a highlight. It was composed by Ennio Morricone, who’s best known for the “Dollars Trilogy” soundtrack, and you can definitely hear it a bit in this. Makes you wonder if he hired the same lady to do the vocals. The soundtrack has a unique mix of slow, haunting, and melancholy pieces, as well as tracks that are definitely trying to emulate that classic “JAWS” theme.
“Orca” is a surprisingly good movie. I wouldn’t say it’s high art or anything like that, but for what should be a “JAWS” cash grab, it manages to stand up on its own. The plot is interesting and unique, the protagonist is solid, and the whale itself feels more like an actual character than most movie monsters. Combine that with some intense scenes and a great soundtrack and you’ve got a solid movie. I give this film seven “Orca Screaming SFX” out of ten!
Connor Keating is a senior at Fort Hays State University, studying Natural Resources. Connor is an old-school movie fan, particularly Japanese monster movies, and is an avid DVD collector.
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