Customer Reviews

Shark Hunter

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The megalodon (a giant prehistoric shark) is back in yet another movie. But this time the shark itself is a true work of art. I just wish the rest of the movie was up to the standards of the shark.

We meet a college professor (Sabato, Jr.) who claims he was the only survivor when a megalodon ate his family. This even has driving him in his life's endeavors. He has created a sophisticated research sub (looks like it came out of Sea Quest). When an undersea station is destroyed, he gets the chance to get on his sub and look for answers.

The acting is really quite lousy with Sabato, Jr. going through incredible mood swings. Most of the rest of the crew seem like they can't stand doing their jobs. One stick jock has a real attitude problem that could cause security problems (although he claims to be looking out for the better good).

The sub is gigantic and has large open spaces that defy reality. Although Sabato designed the sub and has been on it before, he is given a tour as if he had never seen a sub before. He even supplies the wide-eyed amazement of the first-timer.

The plot makes little sense. The visit the site of the destruction but don't do any real investigation. Instead they seem to cruise around the ocean with no particular course or goal.

But the shark is fantastic. It looks real, not like a CGI shark or a superimposed enlargement. It exudes true menace in a way few sharks in movies ever have. It makes the movie worth watching.

This is a movie with a great shark but don't look for acting, plot or continuity. Luckily the shark gets a lot of screen time.

The only thing even remotely entertaining about this movie was pretending that I was on MST3K and heckling the 'actors' and the movie in general. I read a review of Deep Blue Sea a while ago that pointed out that, while it was by no means an excellent movie, it did exactly what a Large Angry Sea Creature movie should do, which is scare you so bad that you end the movie with a tension headache. I agree completely. This movie absolutely failed in that respect. About the worst that happened is one of my legs fell asleep. I didn't relate to or even give a crud about any of the characters. Every time a character bought it, I was only glad that there was that much less bad acting to subject myself to. The two, count 'em, two times the shark actually killed anyone didn't even approach suspenseful. Bad writing, bad acting, bad effects, bad movie. I only wish that I could give this steaming pile a lower rating. Do yourself, me, and every other person who might unwittingly waste 90 minutes of their short lives on this thoroughly awful movie a favor and destroy every copy that you can find.

SHARK HUNTER was better than I had expected, giving us a very convincing shark and some unexpected plot developments. Fans looking for a lot of gore will be disappointed, but the director manages to keep a tense atmosphere and even the stilted performance from Antonio Sabato, Jr. doesn't destroy the film. The realistic effects are above average for a "B" movie. Filmed in Bulgaria, the accents of some of the co-stars are difficult to interpret, but they perform adequately. Grand L. Bush as the bullheaded Harrington offers his usual competent presence.
It's no JAWS, but it's better than you might expect.

Finally an actor I recognize! ASJ from General Hospital fame. Well. This is SOO much easier to follow and higher budget than that "other" megalodon movie(SA 3) ! There was plenty of shark footage and arguments over whether to kill it or study it. Well, getting it back to study it before it kills them is the problem. I did not have high expectations for this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. The ending wasn't the happiest greatest idea in the world, but Deep Blue Sea had a stupid ending too.
Don't forget a new Meg movie out this July. If you want to avoid other bad shark movies, steer clear of Red Water. Yes, I know it's about a bullshark, but the movie is really hardly about the bullshark. see my review.

I had a free DVD rental coupon and thought for free what the heck; after all I love any marine movie about sharks and oceans and adventure. Shark Hunter stars Antonio Sabato, Jr. and that should have been my first clue to shelf the movie and move on. Shark Hunter is no JAWS, not even DEEP BLUE SEA. The film is about a marine biologist (Sabato) that believes that a Megalodon (a prehistoric 60' long shark) is a live and, well hungry! Although the shark has been extinct for thousands of years, a series of destruction and missing people have scientist determined to fight this beast until the end. The overacting and lack of realistic visuals along with a poor script make this less than entertaining. The film is rated R for language? How does a film about a shark terrorizing and eating people not rate an R for suspense, and horror? Don't disappoint yourself; if you enjoy monsters of the deep there are many others to choose from.

Someone needs to figure out that the world needs no more Bulgarian killer shark movies. Seriously. None more. I have now lost count of how many I have seen, but "Shark Hunter" (released in Finland as "Hainmetsästäjä" and in Hungary as "Szörnyeteg a Mélyből") was among the most trying for a myriad of reasons, the first being that Antonio Sabato, Jr. stars as Dr. Spencer Northcutt, a marine engineer who at the age of eleven watched his parents and their boat be eaten by a prehistoric Megalodon shark. He's the only person to ever see one and survive, and that starts his life's vengeful quest. Throughout the movie, he is temperamental at best and terrible in the role at worst. The film commences with vintage-looking home movies of Spencer and family frolicking in their driveway and on the boat, right before they are eaten, except for Spencer, who is just left bobbing at night in the sound stage pool...I mean ocean...in a life ring with nary a hair out of place. This miraculous escape was never explained, but it harkens back to such maritime greats as "Moby Dick" and "Jaws," while foreshadowing "Shark Attack 3," another Bulgarian Megalodon adventure by three years.

Right off the bat, the family is unlikeable, and that's a trend that continues with every character in the film until the very end. The effects are not that great (the scenes on the family boat look especially bad onscreen,) although the shark is marginally better than many of the other deep sea CGI-intensive thrillers in the genre. It doesn't look real, certainly, but I have certainly seen worse. Sabato is unconvincing as a marine scientist, and his masterwork, the "Argus 177" is an absolutely gigantic submersible that is exactly like what someone who has never actually been on a submarine thinks a research sub should look like. I love the spacious halls, foyers, giant picture windows, and soaring spaces providing a sense of drama on the set. Or I would, except I have been on a submarine and realize how ridiculous the "Argus" is. There's a backstory about Northcutt losing his corporate sponsorship of the "Argus." In fact it's such a big dramatic twist (?) that his old pal Dr. William Arkins (Christian Toulali, although the credits misspell his name, the box gets it right) has to interrupt Northcutt's class at the university to tell him. Toulali may be a very fine actor when speaking his native French, but when he speaks English here it just contributes to the maelstrom of bad accents (some apparently intentional, some apparently not,) and generally bad dramatics.

Northcutt won't stand for losing the sub he designed, as an awkward dinner with Arkins and the beautiful Cheryl (Heather Marie Marsden) makes obvious. Fortunately a Megalodon bites a giant underwater diving installation and makes it blow up. To investigate, everyone in the cast boards the "Argus" and sets sail. At least Cheryl is cute. Please enjoy the brief subplot about a "monster catfish...as big as a car," which, by way of explanation, is revealed to be "an analogy...some things are not what they seem." Unfortunately this triggers the first of several waves of ludicrous flashbacks for Northcutt. Onboard the submarine there are many premade emotional conflicts that don't make a lick of sense but do serve to perpetually agitate everyone. For starters, Cheryl is there as the science officer (or some such,) a job that entails a lot of whining, and makes her performance difficult to appreciate. She is ultra-grating, and despite her outward beauty, you will likely be wishing her down the gullet of the Megalodon as soon as possible. Providing more irritation is Harrington (Grand L. Bush) a mini sub pilot with a chip on his shoulder and a t-shirt that actually reads "Caution: Does Not Play Well With Others." Why? What is his motivation to be instantly antagonistic? Topping it off is submariner Will Tchenko played by Velizar Binev, a fixture in these Bulgarian action cheapies who you may recall from "Cyclops" among others.

To investigate, Northcutt goes diving at the scene of the shark ravaged platform, and finds a giant shark tooth that could only come from Megalodon. Those of you who have seen "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!" may be able to guess what's coming next. No, Northcutt didn't find a cherry tomato, but the tooth is from a baby Megalodon. (Ponder.) Because the "Argus" is a peaceful, scientific vessel (though inexplicably armed with torpedoes,) Arkins wants to (get ready) capture the Megalodon, put it in a harness, and tow it to shore. This does not go as planned, and triggers the wholly inane action that concludes the last third of the film. Against the backdrop of unaccountably hostile interpersonal issues, terrible flashbacks, a humorous background lecture on sharks to these professional oceanographers, and a very exciting "ballast relief valve" drama sequence, a variety of truly boring dialogue is shouted ("How fast can the winch pull him in?"..."I don't know." Truly gripping stuff.) Of course the inexplicable animosity between Northcutt and Harrington foreshadows their eventual bonding, but I won't spoil the deliciousness of how and why this occurs.

Eventually the sub is damaged and it turns into a primitive game of cat and mouse, perhaps invoking "Jaws" as its muse in the climactic scene (explosives and sharks tend to make that comparison inevitable.) Cheryl is incensed that the others want to kill this rare fish, and argues that it's vital to protect it. To assist in making her point as lucidly as possible she goes through some kind of a method acting face spasm drama exercise that is so hambone that William Shatner on his hammiest day would be ashamed to turn in a kindred performance. There's a lot of last minute techno-babble with an extremely dubious briefing on mini sub systems holding the key to the plot resolution, and not a moment too soon. Some people will be disappointed, but I must admit to being pleased with the conclusion to "Shark Hunter," but of course, I'm not going to reveal the surprise ending. You will have to suffer through it yourself to find out.

In all truth, the biggest flaws this film has are not related to CGI, effects, or sets, which are notorious weak spots in these Bulgarian productions. The primary flaws are that there are no characters that are likeable, and the audience really doesn't care about any of them. Northcutt comes closest, but he does not earn much empathy due to his temperamental moods, while every other person in the cast is petty and annoying in some fashion or another. Add a script that's preachy and ponderous, overwrought direction from Matt Codd, technicalities that don't make sense even if you know nothing about the ocean or submarines, and frequently slow pacing, and "Shark Hunter" is more or less doomed from the outset. Much like the Megalodon itself.

This odd apparently joint Bulgarian-US production is quite astonishingly bad. It has all the appearance of being an attempt to cash in on the forthcoming film of the novel "Meg", also based on the idea of the survival of the very large prehistoric shark Carachodon Megalodon in the deepest depths of the ocean (imagine a semi-trailer full of teeth where the driver usually sits and you have the general idea). Poor plot, bad acting, terrible visual effects and a joke of a shark. What more could one not want?

If you like the flashy expensive movies with state of the art technology and great special affects. Then Shark Hunter is probably not your cup of tea. But if you like a suspensful story with more emotional background to it. Then Shark Hunter is for you.It may not have a lot of special affects but it is still a great movie. It is not like the other shark movies where the shark kills man so man kills shark. This time they are trying to capture the shark for research. But they hit a couple of huge problems. Their are more than 2 people who die from the shark. Heck within the first 10 minutes the shark kills 5 people. If you like endings that are not like the rest of the the shark movies. Then wait until the last 10 minutes of this movie. See this movie and you will relize why this is a 4 almost a 5.

I rented Shark Hunter expecting a cheap and cheesy b-movie with some unimpressive monster shark stuff. On some levels I got just what I expected, but on others there where a few surprises (especially in the last thirty minutes or so). The shark looks pretty good and, surprise, behaves just like a shark. It isn't classic, just solidly made time waster fodder that is somewhat better than Octopus or Tentacles. Recommended.

This has the typical underwater movie plot. Animal of immense proportions lives relatively undiscovered in the sea. Only one person believes. Chaos ensues. I rented this one along with Dean Cain's 'Dark Descent'. First imagine my shock to find out that they are made by the same people. Not the same company, the exact same people. But that was all they had in common. This movie actually had great graphics as far as the megalodon shark was concerned. It was for the most part believable. The problem was that the story wasn't about the shark. It was about Spencer Northcutt (Antonio Sabato, Jr.) and the vendetta that had ruled his life. Basically, it was like a bad soap. I love creature features, and I love horror, but I don't like drama that pretends to be something it's not. This movie gets one star because of Grand L. Bush's t-shirt. (Well, and there was no lower option.) I would only advise renting this if you're a big fan of one of the actors.