Product Details

• Actors: Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black
• Directors: Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman, Vicky Jenson
• Writers: Alec Berg, BJ Porter, David P. Smith, David Soren, Jeff Schaffer
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English, Spanish, French
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Dreamworks Animated
• DVD Release Date: February 8, 2005
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (290 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0006JMLRK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,253 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Shark Tale (Widescreen Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When a shark accidentally clobbers himself, a small fish named Oscar (voiced by Will Smith, I, Robot) just happens to be around, prompting everyone to believe that he killed the shark himself. This lie soon makes Oscar a celebrity, worshipped by the general mass of fish, wooed by a glittering golddigger (Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted), missed by his best friend (Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain)--and hunted by the godfather of great whites (Robert De Niro, Goodfellas). Can a vegetarian shark named Lenny (Jack Black, School of Rock) get Oscar out of this mess? The formulaic story of Shark Tale never reaches the giddy heights of Pixar's output (Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Toy Story) or the freewheeling comedy of Shrek, but it's capably told and impeccably animated--the sheer technical skill is stunning. Kids won't get the mobster jokes or the other pop-culture references, but they'll enjoy it nonetheless. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

A comic catch from the studio that brought you Shrek, Shark Tale is a hilarious hit and "a wonderful under-the-sea adventure for movie lovers of all ages!" (Clay Smith, Access Hollywood)

Oscar (Will Smith), a lowly tongue-scrubber at the local Whale Wash, becomes an improbable hero when he tells a great white lie. To keep his secret, Oscar teams up with an outcast vegetarian shark, Lenny (Jack Black), and the two become the most unlikely of friends. When his lie begins to unravel, it’s up to Oscar’s loyal friend Angie (Renée Zellweger) and Lenny to help him stand up to the most feared shark in the water (Robert De Niro) and find his true place in the reef.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 66 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Shark Tale October 6, 2004

By Michael Zuffa VINE™ VOICE

Oscar (Smith) the fish leads a normal life. He is just an average guy working at the Whale Wash. One day, he wanders into shark territory and is chased by Frankie. Unfortunately for Frankie, the chase ends in his death, not at Oscar's hands, but by pure accident. Oscar sees as an opportunity to "be someone", and quickly takes the credit. The fish world begins to call him the "Shark Slayer", two female fish begin to show their interest, and the shark godfather (DeNiro) makes it his business to find the murderer of Frankie...his son.

"Shark Tale" is yet another animated movie that will appeal to both children and adults. The difference is, this time it almost seems made for adults first and kids second. The most obvious references are to "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas", two movies that no kids should have seen. Also, advertising placement has run amok in this movie. Every way you turn in the city, there are obvious "fake ads" for real products that is very distracting. Most everything in this movie is overkill, in fact.

The voice talents are credible and the animation is good, although I found Oscar to look kind of creepy with his near human-looking face. "Shark Tale" also is nothing like "Finding Nemo", which is both good and bad. Good, because it is not retreading material that is not too old yet. Bad, because "Finding Nemo" was so much better. "Shark Tale" is a decent movie that will be enjoyed by most, and I did laugh a number of times while viewing it, but my advice is to wait for DVD.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars This Shark tale comes from the shallow end of the CGI pond. Finding Nemo blows this out of the water April 16, 2007

By SHAWN JAMES

Format:DVD

DreamWorks Shark Tale is a one-dimensional film from the shallow end of the CGI animation pool. The usual Shrek-formula mix of contemporary cartoon characters, celebrity voices, and pop culture references come together in a marginally entertaining movie with no bite. Finding Nemo blows this out of the water.

The movie opens with the reef (reminiscent of Times Square) under siege by sharks (Mob types) Oscar, a fish working at the Whale wash (a derivative of the car wash from Blaxploitation classic "Car Wash")dreams of hitting it big and being a big fish. But he's lazy, irresponsible and constantly late for work. His co-worker has to punch him in and cover for him. He owes his boss five thousand clams. He gets the money but decides to bet it on a long shot at the seahorses. Meanwhile, A group of mob sharks (symbolic) are trying to get the son of the Don to "shark up" and eat a fish. They discover Oscar soon after his torture at the hands of jellyfish. A freak accident leads up to the death of one of the sharks and Oscar gets the rep of the "Shark slayer" (I find it odd there's a Mafia in the reef but no police counterpart. A sign of how poorly written this script is.)

In the aftermath there's a boatload of media frenzy; Oscar is a superstar living in a penthouse. But he finds it lonely at the top. He longs for more. His house of cards starts to fall when the sensitive shark comes to Oscar for help. They stage a fight and Oscar pretends to kill him. Later, he helps him find cover as a dolphin. Oscar's girlfriend is kidnapped after his boss picks a fight with the sharks. Oscar and the sensitive shark go to face off with the sharks inside the Titanic. After an antic climatic confrontation, Oscar and the shark confess, and all is forgiven within the reef.... In the End Oscar gets his girl, is promoted in his Whale wash job as a partner in the business. ????? Lie, cheat, kill, and still get rewarded in the end because you tell the truth. That's kind of a mixed message to send to kids DreamWorks.

Shark Tale sinks as a movie due to its shallow screenplay. The excessive uses of pop culture references aren't clever here like they are in the Shrek movies. Instead they cover up a weak story with little depth and substance. What's sad is these pop culture references reinforce the worst stereotypes about minorities, women and ethinic groups. Even with a multi-ethnic cast, the entire animated feature comes off like a computer generated blaxploitation film. I wish the writers of Shark Tale had given the characters some of the complexity of their Pixar counterparts from Finding Nemo. The struggles of Nemo and his dad stayed with me long after the movie ended. On top of it, the sharks in that movie were so evil it was scary.

The animation here is well-Meh. Compared to the beautiful 3-D CGI work Pixar did on Finding Nemo Shark Tale's computer animation falls flat. While the art design is very colorful, it lacks depth and dimension. Character movements look and feel artificial; the facial expressions are way too over exaggerated. The reef backgrounds looks and feels about as realistic as a painting or a drawing used in TV 2-D animation; this is far below the standard set in DreamWorks' Shrek movies. I dare to say the hand-drawn animation and backgrounds in DreamWorks early 2-D animated features The Prince of Egypt, Road to El Dorado and Sinbad were richer and more detailed than the ones used in this movie.

Despite the all celebrities the voice over work in this one falls flat. Will Smith just does his Fresh Prince bit here like he does in all his movies. He comes off just like his sitcom character from that stale 90's sitcom. Renee Zellwegger is good as Oscar's best friend and love interest. Jack Black is decent as the sensitive shark. Doug E. Doug is flat as one of the jellyfish. Robert De Nero and Martin Scorsese, and Angelina Jolie, phone it in. Katie Couric has actually done better work on the CBS Evening news.

Pass this toothless Shark tale by. Head to the deep end of the video rack and Pick up Pixar's Finding Nemo. Or get The Incredibles, Toy Story or Toy Story 2. If you want a DreamWorks Movie get The Prince Of Egypt, the Shrek Series. If you have older kids get Road To El Dorado. Read more ›

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Boring! February 13, 2005

By D.B.K.

Format:DVD

The most amazing thing to me about this movie is how a film this popular could be so BORING! Ugh!

I had heard people talk about how funny it was. Now I wonder what they were drinking when they saw it. I've seen funnier fish films floating on top of the pond. Some of the reviews here say the jokes are geared too much toward adults. That's a pretty sad thing to say about American adults. Or maybe it's because adults are the only ones who could get their hands on enough wacky weed to be able to laugh at this unimaginative, banal misuse of film.

My wife fell asleep while we were watching the DVD. She was the lucky one. Even the cat got off my lap and left the room. I stayed awake waiting for something humorous to happen. I think I smiled one time. The rest of the time I kept cringing at the inane attempts at humor and groaning that I actually spent money on this waste of time.

It looks like they were hoping to come up with a cross between "Shrek" and "Finding Nemo". They failed miserably. Both of those films had a heart, and a brain. This script was trite, the characters clichéd, the jokes stale. The animation and pretty colors were not enough to carry this sea turkey anywhere.

And yes, I got "the joke" about "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas" such as it was. The problem is that "joke" has been used to death.

Another reviewer complained about the product placements. Unfortunately, those were the cleverest moments.

PROS: Nice animation; pretty colors

CONS: Tiresome, one-dimensional characters; tedious plot; lack of imagination.

This definitely ain't Shrek!

Hey Dreamworks! If you are reading this, next time wait until you have a decent script before you start production. Sheesh!