As we enter day two of what I'm dubbing "2 Headed Shark Week" - leading up to next Tuesday's DVD release - I thought I'd share something I've been asked about a lot lately: my 5 favorite shark movies (that I didn't write). Now, if you're a regular reader of Committed, or you read me yesterday, you know that I LOVE shark movies. I have seen every shark movie in existence multiple times, my favorite movie ever is a shark movie (see below), I haven't been in the ocean past my ankles since 1984, and the good lord willing, I never will be again. Bottom line, shark movies mean a lot to me, and these are the cream of the crop, in my book.
Jaws: Where else would you start? Not only do I consider Jaws to be the no-brainer best shark movie, and the best horror movie, it's also my favorite film of all time. I watch it purposely at least twice a year and stop what I'm doing every time I come across it on TV. I know every scene, every line by heart; this, to me, is cinematic perfection. There will never be another shark movie like Jaws, there can never be; like the beast it depicts, the film is top of the food chain, an apex predator that will always devour the competition.
Shark Swarm: This 2008 TV miniseries from director James A. Contner and writers David Rosiak and Matthew Chernov is a staple of every SyFy shark marathon, and rightfully so. It's a shark movie lover's dream: a really long shark movie! This one hits all the high notes of a Saturday Afternoon Classic: greedy suit-type, toxic chemicals, scores of enraged, altered and organized sharks, not to mention a top-notch cast including Darryl Hannah, John Schneider, Heather McComb, Armand Assante and Academy Award Winner F. Murray Abraham. Put it all together and you get 167 minutes of bloody bliss.
Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus: Of course this was going to make my list. There are a lot of giant shark movies out there, but for those of us for whom this wasn't quite enough, The Asylum gave us a shark that was truly mega. Homeshark grabbed planes from the sky, ripped out a chunk of the golden gate bridge, and survived both a giant octopus and Lorenzo Lamas. It's a thrilling B-movie epic, the kills and effects are awesome, it made a household name of Debbie Gibson again and at the end of the day, it might just be the most fun shark movie ever made. (For now...)
Spring Break Shark Attack: I cannot believe it took so long for someone to come up with this concept. Spring Break. Shark Attack. They're like the peanut butter and chocolate of horror movie elements. And though this too was made for TV - CBS at that, go figure - so it can't be as gory as I'd like, it's another fun flick with lots of bikinis, lots of tanned bro's, and lots of sharks.
The Reef: Australians know sharks. Well. The Great Barrier Reef is Great White central. So it stands to reason a shark movie from an Australian would be pretty good. The Reef, by Australian Andrew Traucki, is that movie. Like Open Water with balls, the tension in this one never lets up. If you still dare to go in the water, this one just might shake that conviction once and for all.
Jaws: Where else would you start? Not only do I consider Jaws to be the no-brainer best shark movie, and the best horror movie, it's also my favorite film of all time. I watch it purposely at least twice a year and stop what I'm doing every time I come across it on TV. I know every scene, every line by heart; this, to me, is cinematic perfection. There will never be another shark movie like Jaws, there can never be; like the beast it depicts, the film is top of the food chain, an apex predator that will always devour the competition.
Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus: Of course this was going to make my list. There are a lot of giant shark movies out there, but for those of us for whom this wasn't quite enough, The Asylum gave us a shark that was truly mega. Homeshark grabbed planes from the sky, ripped out a chunk of the golden gate bridge, and survived both a giant octopus and Lorenzo Lamas. It's a thrilling B-movie epic, the kills and effects are awesome, it made a household name of Debbie Gibson again and at the end of the day, it might just be the most fun shark movie ever made. (For now...)
Spring Break Shark Attack: I cannot believe it took so long for someone to come up with this concept. Spring Break. Shark Attack. They're like the peanut butter and chocolate of horror movie elements. And though this too was made for TV - CBS at that, go figure - so it can't be as gory as I'd like, it's another fun flick with lots of bikinis, lots of tanned bro's, and lots of sharks.
The Reef: Australians know sharks. Well. The Great Barrier Reef is Great White central. So it stands to reason a shark movie from an Australian would be pretty good. The Reef, by Australian Andrew Traucki, is that movie. Like Open Water with balls, the tension in this one never lets up. If you still dare to go in the water, this one just might shake that conviction once and for all.
Now that we live in a two-headed shark world, single-headed sharks seem so... I don't know... pedestrian.
ReplyDeleteNot LITERALLY pedestrian, of course. I mean, there's only one pedestrian shark, and he's pretty awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn1pf0Xi3nU