THE LAST SHARK (1981) (aka GREAT WHITE)

[The Burgomaster]

Here's one of the most blatant JAWS rip-offs ever made.  I bought it on a high-quality widescreen DVD-R from Cinema de Bizarre.

A shark kills a guy on a sailboard just before the towns annual Regatta celebration.  But the festivities must go on!  Town officials construct a shark net to keep the killer beast out of the harbor during the Regatta (but naturally the shark gets through the net in about 10 seconds).

Several people get munched on (including one guy who has both legs bit off and another guy who gets bit in half), while James Franciscus (in the Roy Scheider role), Vic Morrow (in the Robert Shaw role . . . but with a questionable accent), and some Italian actors streak into action.

The mechanical shark they use always seems to come up out of the water at the same angle . . . it must have been built to make one basic motion: popping out of the water with its mouth wide open.

The shark attack scenes are okay (although, I chuckled when the guy got his legs bit off . . . it looked very staged and unnatural), but the rest of the movie is pretty dull.  "Everybody out of the water!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL0QOYL2WFY
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[Jack]

LOL, I think if I was in a helicopter hovering directly over a killer shark, I would be a bit more careful not to fall out   

[Chainsawmidget]

Why is it the last shark?  Did it eat all the other sharks? 

[The Burgomaster]

Why is it the last shark?  Did it eat all the other sharks? 

Nope . . . I suspect it's just a senseless title!

[SynapticBoomstick]

Really, do people just lose all ability to stay on vehicles of any kind when there's a shark around?

[The Burgomaster]

Really, do people just lose all ability to stay on vehicles of any kind when there's a shark around?

Amazingly, people have perfect balance until a shark swims into the area . . . then they stumble around and fall overboard.

[Jim H]

Really, do people just lose all ability to stay on vehicles of any kind when there's a shark around?

Amazingly, people have perfect balance until a shark swims into the area . . . then they stumble around and fall overboard.

Don't you get it!?  That's why sharks are such great hunters: they have psychic powers, enough to make you lose your sense of balance/awareness!  Makes humans EASY prey!!!

[Saucerman]

I actually just picked this one up from Cinema de Bizarre as well, saving it for June though!

[Neville]

It's a bit dull, but still quite fun to watch. The fashion, the cheesy FX and the occasional WTF moments make it worthwhile.

One of them is the verey opening of the film, it's absolutely hilarious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSPev9t1GLw
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[retrorussell]

I remember seeing the ad for this flick in the papers when I was little.  Sounded pretty pretty bad even then.

[claws]

Rewatched this today.
This is indeed a blatant ripoff, and not a 'good' one either. Even though oozing with cheese (the shark constantly changes appearance and size) but there is also a great deal of dullness at work, putting a serious damper on the fun.
The thing that annoyed me the most was the excessive whining whenever people got into danger.

*spoiler warning*


For example near the end when the shark parts the board walk with people on it and pulls it into open water. Later a boat arrives and everybody is crying, screaming and demanding "get us off of here!." Hello? isn't that exactly why the boat came in the first place? To rescue your sorry asses?  2.75/5 Cheese.

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

Vic Morrow was the star of Combat! which was the longest running WW2 TV show of it's time. It was the Gunsmoke of WW2 shows, w\regard to it's longevity. I used to love watching it.

Oddly enough, the helicopter bit in this movie makes this post come full circle, as many of you may remmeber Morrow was killed on the set of The Twilight Zone movie around the same time in an accident that involved a chopper. I believe that 2 of his co-stars were killed also. This, if I remember right.

[Neville]

You do. they were two children actors who had no previous experience. John Landis ended up in court for his handling of the scene, and although he was acquited he managed to show what an incredible jerk he was a few times.

[ImaginaryFoot]

I saw this at the theater in my home town when i was about 11. If i remember correctly, it only played for 5 days before being pulled for being such a blatant ripoff of Jaws

[trekgeezer]

I looked this up at IMDB and I actually got free tickets to this turkey back in 1 for answering a trivia question on the radio.