Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Scarecrow-88 Surprisingly good "killer mammal over the open sea" flick which happened to follow only two years after a certain film directed by Steven Spielberg about a predatory killer Great White. That bit of misfortune plagues what is otherwise a rather nifty "nature goes a killin'" horror flick. Good casting is especially in this film's favor. Richard Harris is really a very valuable anchor for the film (pun intended) while Charlotte Rampling was another bit of solid casting that helps to bring some real acting chops to what can viewed as "just another one of those Jaws rip-offs". Ultimately this is about revenge on the mind of a male killer whale after Harris's captain accidentally kills its pregnant female mate trying to capture it with a harpoon. Knicking the fin of the male, this "mark of identification" lets the viewer know (when the whale doesn't leap from the water to recognize its presence to those he wants to see his handiwork (like causing boats to sink after attacking them or causing a nearby fishing village factory to go kaboom) when the whale is hanging around. The fetus spilling from the rope-caught female with large cuts on its torso onto Harris' deck is horrifying (as it should be), reminding of him of his loss of wife and child to a drunk driver.Rampling is a marine scientist with extensive knowledge of whales. She tries to reason with Harris over confronting the killer whale, soon realizing that fisherman and whale are fated to meet in a violent conclusion. This near a polar region with ice bergs. Will Sampson arrives in the film a little later to try and convince Harris that if he doesn't "do battle" with the whale that the fishing village would turn on him due to its detriment to their livelihood. The whale's antics include snatching Rampling's assistant (Robert Carradine; Revenge of the Nerds), and two of Harris' fishermen (Keenan Wynn, basically wasted but proving how active he was even as he was aging, and Peter Hooten) while on the water. A rather startling but effective attack on a rental home overlooking the sea has the whale biting off Bo Derek's casted leg in perhaps its most memorable scene. Speaking of Bo, she isn't used much (I just assumed the filmmakers would try to get her beautiful looks in as much as possible), although her fate is quite a shocker. Harris really lifts this film with a performance that Orca needs in order to be even in the conversation with Jaws. His teetering on the edge, influenced greatly by Rampling's appeals for the whale, as the two attempt futilely to avoid a fight on the open sea, shows that he isn't just some thoughtless, honorless, heartless sociopath. And a good scene has Harris contemplating to Rampling about why he wanted to capture the male whale and how doing so has cost him so much. Morricone's score also adds dramatic weight and power to the film. The opening with the male and female whales (soon to be parted and destroyed by Harris' carelessness) rising from the water as the sun peeks from clouds is a jaw-dropper. Along with Pirhana, I think Orca is one of the best of the emerging killer fish/mammal water flicks to show up after Jaws. There have been so many rotten apples that came out of the aftermath of Jaws, but I think Orca is one of the few decent efforts of the swarm. The killer whale dismantling the shark at the beginning, saving Carradine (only later to kill him; irony at its darkest) in the process, an amusing message that speaks loud and clear regarding the attempt to pound the chest towards Jaws. The animatronic whales are incredible in their lifelike-ness.

GL84 Inadvertently killing it's mate while fishing, a fisherman and his crew come to find themselves being stalked and killed by the surviving killer whale in retribution and forces him into an epic quest to settle the score.This one turned out to be quite an enjoyable and entertaining creature feature. One of the better features here is the fact that this one sets up the crucial revenge aspect of the storyline here in an incredibly well-done with a lot to like, starting with the scene that sets if off when she's accidentally killed in the fishing attempt gone wrong. It's a heartbreaking scene more than anything through the actions of how sad it is hooking into the creature and bringing it aboard and how the whole scene is played out in front of the mate, as the whole scene comes off with a sense of poignancy that's ultimately touching. It's mournful cries and seeing how it reacts after the fact makes this all the more touching and also leads into the film being quite fun showing off the creatures' antics as it orchestrates a rather complex and involved plan for revenge. The destruction of the fishing boats is rather cheesy but comes off in a clever way that plays into the revenge-driven storyline rather well, the destruction of the complex is a spectacular pyrotechnic showcase that really has a ton of outstanding action in it and the following attack on the house with the resulting injuries on his crew-member leaves this with a really exciting suspense scene as there's the race to get out before both the house falls and the whale attacks. That all leads into the incredibly fun and exciting finale which is set-up as the grand, epic showdown between the two as a huge chase through open-water and on into the Arctic ice-flow that really meshes a lot of exciting action with the attempts to track down the creature and it's countermeasures for a wholly enjoyable sequence. These here all combine with the suitably majestic feeling for the titular beast as the film's positives that are more than enough to hold off the lone negative in here which is the rather over-the-top and needless exploitation crammed into the accidental death of the mother. Despite adding another suitable layer needed for the revenge scenario, it works fine enough as is without it and the sight of it doesn't need to be featured. Otherwise, this one is incredibly entertaining.Rated PG: Violence, Language and graphic violence against animals.

TxMike We managed to find this on the Movies! channel. In a nutshell I'd say the concept is excellent, probably rates an 8 or so, but the execution leaves much to be desired, probably a 4 or 5. So a rating of 5 or 6 is about right.The concept examines the idea of humans killing intelligent animals and where do we draw the line? Set in a NE Canadian fishing village, Richard Harris is Captain Nolan. He is on his fishing boat and apparently hunting a great white shark. But as the shark is getting near their boat it is mysteriously attacked, hurtled into the air, and killed. It was the Killer Whale, the Orca.Then they get the idea that they could capture an Orca and sell it to an aquarium, but somehow when they encounter an large pod of them, they shoot, barely wounding a dominant male, but killing a female. They hoist her aboard but as she is calling out and dying, a developing Orca fetus slips out. The Captain is distraught over what he did, but was trying to put it out of his mind when incidents started happening back at the port. The male Orca had the intelligence to know what had happened, who was responsible, and was systematically finding ways to destroy boats and buildings. He did not relent until he got his man, the Captain, who utters this line, "A revengeful Orca."Still young and pretty was Charlotte Rampling as Rachel Bedford, the Captain's girlfriend of sorts. And the 20-ish Bo Derek in her first movie, right before she made "10", as Annie. Mostly she added eye candy to the filming. SPOILERS: When the Captain fully accepted that the Orca would not relent until they faced off, he piloted his boat to the spot where he had killed the female. They played a cat-n-mouse game as the Orca led them north, into iceberg infested waters. In a show of extreme skill of planning, the Orca got the Captain stranded on an ice float, and after tilting the ice float to get the Captain to slide towards him, the Orca propelled him onto the ice to his death.

Wuchak RELEASED IN 1977 and directed by Michael Anderson, "Orca" stars Richard Harris as a Newfoundland fisherman trying to make some big money by capturing a killer whale for a marine park. Unfortunately he ends up horribly botching the job, which incurs the vengeful wrath of the father killer whale.Coming out two years after the blockbuster "Jaws," this is sort of a knockoff, but it's too different in story/tone to be cheap imitation, although there are obvious similarities: The last third of the film involves a boat crew sailing out to sea to take on the oceanic antagonist; and another scene where an individual slides down a leaning platform toward the marine creature. In any case, "Orca" may not be technically as good as "Jaws" but it certainly has its unique attractions.The story is a maritime tragedy and utterly serious in tone with no lightness to be seen, like in "Piranha" (1978). The melodramatic plot basically inverts Melville's "Moby Dick" wherein in the whale takes the place of bitter Ahab. The score by Ennio Morricone (e.g. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") is equal-parts beautiful, touching and haunting. Also, the casting is great: Harris is perfect as the aging sea salt, Charlotte Rampling is super sharp & intellectual as the cetacean biologist, Will Sampson ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest") is great (and clichéd) as the Indian sage with his wise, foreboding words and Bo Derek is, well, you know.In addition, the Newfoundland locations are fabulous and, at about an hour and a half, the film is short and sweet; so there's not much filler. That said, people suffering ADHD might complain that the pace is a little slow at times.A couple of notable scenes come to mind: The unsettling sequence where Orca's mate aborts her calf while strung up on the vessel; and the one where Orca causes mass destruction in the village at night whereupon Nolan (Harris) gazes at the havoc while the whale jumps in and out of the water in elation.Let me close by emphasizing that "Orca" is NOT a Grade B creature-on-the-loose flick (e.g. 2000's "Crocodile"); it's a serious and moving tragedy.THE FILM RUNS 92 minutes. WRITERS: Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Donati and Robert Towne, based on Arthur Herzog's novel.GRADE: B+