When there was a successful film here in the states during the 70's and 80's it was not uncommon for the Italian film industry and other European countries to try and emulate the success of said film by making one very similar to the successful American film. George Romero's Dawn of the Dead would spawn several zombie films, Alien would also have imitators as did Mad Max (though that one was not even American). Then there were several shark films that tried to emulate Jaws to a degree; however, none would be as flagrant a rip off as this film that was titled The Great White when it was initially released in American theaters and subsequently yanked when Speliberg's company threatened a lawsuit. Yes, it was that close to being Jaws that they successfully got this one pulled.
The story, a shark begins to terrorize a small community on the coast where the mayor wants this stupid race to occur no matter the risks! Sounds familiar doesn't it? But wait, there's more! We even have a grizzled old fisherman who wants to hunt the shark and a marine biologist type who is also hoping to stop the super shark! Granted, there are a few differences as it does have a nifty ending on a makeshift raft formed by a pier pulled out to sea by shark...oh, wait, that was in Jaws too, just not at the end.
I saw this film in the theater as I was a kid who loved sharks. I also saw the original Jaws at the theater, though I have no memory of seeing it in the theater as it literally came out my birth year so I may have been two at the oldest (movies played differently back then, they didn't just play a few weeks then get pulled). I also saw Jaws 3D, which was cheesy and lame, but better than this one. There are a couple of cool shark attacks in this one and the shark looked okay in a few scenes, but it most of the time they used stock footage or it looked like it belonged in a ride or something they way it popped up. The film also adds this cowboy type character near the end with a gun and this really goes nowhere.
So, the film is a bit entertaining, but not in a good way. There were parts in this that had me laughing because it was so incredibly goofy, such as the shark using rocks to block the guys trying to kill it in a cave and the scene where these people are acting like a windsurfing race was incredibly exciting when it clearly was not. Not sure it was really worth the effort of actually threatening it with a lawsuit to keep it out of theaters, I doubt it would have detracted from Jaws which is still the best shark movie ever made.
The story, a shark begins to terrorize a small community on the coast where the mayor wants this stupid race to occur no matter the risks! Sounds familiar doesn't it? But wait, there's more! We even have a grizzled old fisherman who wants to hunt the shark and a marine biologist type who is also hoping to stop the super shark! Granted, there are a few differences as it does have a nifty ending on a makeshift raft formed by a pier pulled out to sea by shark...oh, wait, that was in Jaws too, just not at the end.
I saw this film in the theater as I was a kid who loved sharks. I also saw the original Jaws at the theater, though I have no memory of seeing it in the theater as it literally came out my birth year so I may have been two at the oldest (movies played differently back then, they didn't just play a few weeks then get pulled). I also saw Jaws 3D, which was cheesy and lame, but better than this one. There are a couple of cool shark attacks in this one and the shark looked okay in a few scenes, but it most of the time they used stock footage or it looked like it belonged in a ride or something they way it popped up. The film also adds this cowboy type character near the end with a gun and this really goes nowhere.
So, the film is a bit entertaining, but not in a good way. There were parts in this that had me laughing because it was so incredibly goofy, such as the shark using rocks to block the guys trying to kill it in a cave and the scene where these people are acting like a windsurfing race was incredibly exciting when it clearly was not. Not sure it was really worth the effort of actually threatening it with a lawsuit to keep it out of theaters, I doubt it would have detracted from Jaws which is still the best shark movie ever made.