Saltwater (2016 TV Movie) User Reviews

Very under-cooked toast on the coast

[TheLittleSongbird · 3/10 · 19 March 2018]

Low budget shark films generally do not get a good reputation and one can see why. There are a few guilty pleasure ones, like the first two 'Sharknado' films while not considering them great by any stretch. Most are just painfully amateurish with very little to them to set them apart or make them different, other than the odd silly idea not well executed.

The good news is for 'Atomic Shark' is that there are far worse shark films out there (those from SyFy and The Asylum are notorious in this regard) and at least there are redeeming values, even if not many. Something that cannot be said for too many other low-budget shark films, of the shark films seen recently 'Atomic Shark' is actually one of the least bad. The not so good news is that 'Atomic Shark' is still not a good film at all, with a lot wrong with it and the wrong elements are done poorly.

Jeff Fahey and David Faustino do conscientiously reasonable jobs with what they have. Generally, when it comes to low budget shark films the acting is surprisingly competent when it tends in most shark films to be all-round awful.

Scenery is nice and there are times where the shark action is fun to watch.

Unfortunately, that is only sporadic. The shark effects look terrible, even for low budget, and there is not much menace, suspense or fun in the mostly under-utilised and under-characterised shark action.

Much of 'Atomic Shark' is a mess of unintentional humour, awkward dialogue, stilted and mawkish melodrama and bland and annoying character writing (not the actors' fault, it's the writing). Complete with a story that is silly, implausible and essentially your basic more of the same generic low-budget shark film with nothing new.

It's not just the shark effects that look cheap. Excepting the scenery, visually 'Atomic Shark' is very drab and rushed-looking.

Overall, silly and under-cooked. Not unwatchable but easily skip-able. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Atomic sharks? Sure, why not...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 5 October 2016]

And just when you thought you had seen every conceivable type of shark that Hollywood could spew out, then "Atomic Shark" comes to take a bite out of you. But let's be honest, with a title such as "Atomic Shark", then you know pretty much what kind of movie that you will be in for. And let me tell you right away, that this is exactly that kind of movie. No surprises there.

The special effects in "Atomic Shark" were as questionable as the title of the movie. The sharks were quite fake and so poorly animated that it was actually fun to watch. And that is one of the reasons why these cheesy creature features have that appeal, they are so poor that they are fun to watch. And "Atomic Shark" more than delivers on that account.

The story told in "Atomic Shark" is about a San Diego lifeguard with family problems whom discover that the waters of San Diego is the hunting ground for a particularly dangerous shark; a shark that has been exposed to atomic radiation.

Right, well the storyline was as to be expected; a no-brainer. The storyline was actually very generic as these movies tend to be, so there were no deviation from the 'how-to-make-a-shark-creature-feature' manual here.

What puzzled me in "Atomic Shark", aside from the very plausibility of the entire concept of the shark and its existence, was the fact that Jeff Fahey starred in something like this. Aside from that, then it was actually a blast to see David Faustino here, I think I have only seen him in a single movie or so since he was on "Married With Children".

"Atomic Shark" is another of those movies that you watch just because you have the chance, and because you know it is going to be another one of those low budget, awful special effects, movies that many watch but few talk about. There is nothing new to the genre to be found in "Atomic Shark". We watch these movies because sometimes they might actually turn out to be surprisingly nice; "Atomic Shark" wasn't one of those movies.

Just a dolphin.

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 14 March 2018]

Made for TV film. A mutated atomic shark emerges decades after Pacific Ocean bomb testing and irritates the water enthusiasts off the coast of San Diego. Life gaurd Gina (Rachele Brooke Smith) leads the attack against the red glowing CG shark. David Faustino plays a voyeur with a drone and Adam Ambruso is patterned after Niedermeyer. Science was really bad.

The film wasn't designed to be serious. If you are making a bad campy film, you should put the same effort into it as if you are making a good film, such as Sharknado. They needed a little more effort on this one.

1million dollars was spent on what...the after parties?

[devlo-87631 · 1/10 · 27 July 2016]

Very little spoiler info...the movie itself was spoiled from conception. It's 2016 and this is the best you can do with one million dollars?

GL84must not get out much or he's retarded. This is one of the worst movies in history. Horrible acting, horrible story line and so bad with congruent "facts" in this disaster. At one point, the useless heroine makes the statement they have to kill this shark before it explodes and destroys the entire Southern California coastline. Same scene, a few lines later, "how far do we have to be from this thing when it goes off?" The father of the heroine claims at least 4 miles...so the entire Southern California coast is what...8 miles long?

And then some idiot like GL84 gives this abortion a 9 out of 10 stars? The bimbo fight on the boat toward the end gives it a negative 9 at least. Writers, directors, actors and special effects "artists" should go work at Walmart and do something constructive with the million dollar budget for this atrocity!

Right now, the heroine is actually riding an outboard motor under the water...how sad is that?

A red glow patrols the waters of San Diego.

[michaelRokeefe · 3/10 · 13 February 2017]

A.B. Stone directs this creature feature for Syfy channel. This time trouble comes in a pair of radioactive sharks mutated from a sunken Soviet submarine. Nuclear fission takes place inside the two sharks bodies causing them to emit radiation and glow red from intense heat. One the creatures is trapped on the beach causing it to overheat and explode. Not only is the remaining shark hungry, but with it is the fear it can trigger a nuclear blast. Who better than a group of brave lifeguards to try and save the day! Save San Diego. Save the west coast. Cheap, cheesy; but there is something about a glowing red shark fin to keep you interested. A body count and gruesome guts don't hurt matters any.

Players in the cast: Rachele Brooke Smith, Jeff Fahey, Bobby Campo, Mariah Bonner, Jessica Kemejuk and David Faustino.

THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID!

[benjaminweber · 1/10 · 14 January 2020]

There are two possibilities here: either they did a laughably awful job on purpose for the shiggles (most probable), or they are genuinely incompetent. In other words, they either deserve 1 star or are desperate to receive one, so who am I to deny them? This is a movie about a shark that looks like an angry uncooked breakfast sausage that is also radioactive, go into it with low expectations and prepare for it to fail to meet even those.

Atomic shark will burn you up!

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 27 June 2022]

A radioactive shark terrorizes the San Diego coast by causing swimmers and sunbathers to burst into flames. It's up to a few heroic lifeguards to kill the atomic shark.

Director A. B. Stone relates the enjoyably inane story at a zippy pace, stages the fiery attack scenes with aplomb, and maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek tone throughout. Moreover, the sturdy cast play the silly material with commendably straight faces: Rachele Brooke Smith as the foxy and feisty Gina, Bobby Campo as the amiable Kaplan, Jeff Fahey as crusty boat captain Rottger, Adam Ambruso as antagonistic jerk superior Reese, David Faustino as skeevy pervert Fletcher, and Jessica Kemejuk as the vain and vapid Kylie. The tacky (far from) special CGI effects further add to this flick's considerable campy charm. A deliciously cheesy hoot and a half.

Another highly enjoyable killer shark film

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 9/10 · 25 July 2016]

Following a wave of shark attacks, Southern California lifeguards find that they're being attacked by a great white shark subjected to massive amounts of radiation from nuclear tests and must try to save the beaches when the shark approaches a crisis mode.

There was a lot to really like about this one. Among it's better features is the fact that there's the usual high-amount of action scenes within this one as there's a lot of fun to be had from the rather fun series of scenes throughout here. The opening attack on the parasailer is quite fun with the creature being unseen against the diver and attacking her while the boat trails off and sees the shark coming back causing his escape, a later attack on a group of water-tunnel works that is a fun cheesy highlight of the shark moving through the hoops to set them on fire before biting at the one on the equipment and the centerpiece scene where it attacks a second parasailing group that's in the different boats leading to the fire-fueled assault on them before taking out the others up on the rig. It's the kind of appropriately cheesy and high-action scene that works incredibly well, while the other big fun action scene featured that's nearly as much fun is the second beach assault that showcases the shark running through the different swimmers as it comes into shore and then landing on the beach to attack even more patrons before going out to sea which is quite a fun and enjoyable cheesy scene. Though it's the typically-clichéd hunting-the-shark- in-open-water finale, the action there is still so much fun with the different luring methods to effectively get the creature out to sea and finally get the creature after them resulting in some fun deaths, a couple of really exciting tactics to combat the shark and numerous suspenseful chases that take place for a big rousing finish. Coupled with some fantastic burn marks with all the radiation scares featured throughout here, these here are quite enough to make this a great entry. Again, the main element that holds this down is the same usual method of problem that usually affects these movies in it's utterly ridiculous and beyond lame special effects usually associated here. The CGI utilized here is up to their usual atrocious standards with the obvious pixelated images cropping up throughout here but also still in the wrong perspective in the frame to really settle upon any kind of positive interaction when they're featured and it really does take a lot out of the fun with such a wholly unappealing effort especially since we're exposed to it from the start as it's mere seconds of the opening of the film. Likewise, the film also struggles slightly here with the government agency aware of the creature, as there's a strong thread in the first half about they being responsible for a cover-up but yet nothing is done about it and is just summarily dropped without much explanation. Otherwise, this one serves as another fun killer shark effort.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.

A Performance of a Lifetime by Rachele Brooke Smith

[jlthornb51 · 9/10 · 2 March 2018]

Scott Foy, Jack Snyder, and Griff Furst's Atomic Shark script is first rate and under the gifted direction of A.B. Foy, this is an exceptional thriller. It is, however, the standout work of Rachele Brooke Smith that distinguishes this and leaves an unforgettable impression. She give nothing less than the performance of a lifetime and her characterization shows fantastic emotion and depth. Overall, a fine film but made something very special by Ms. Smith's tremendous work.

A decent Syfy movie

[wildhunt1-585-849528 · 9/10 · 1 August 2016]

If you're looking for Jaws, look elsewhere; if you're looking for a half-way decent Syfy production, this is it. I was surprised by how good and entertaining this movie turned out to be. And while I may have a different grading scale than most, I did find this movie an excellent watch.

Grade: 9.6/10 Final Grade: A (Excellent)

Plot: 9/10 (Excellent) On a beach in San Diego (or San Di-ahgo as Ron Burgundy calls it) a group of (hot) lifeguards protect the people from drowning and from shark attacks until a new alpha predator arrives on the scene--this one nuclear.

Character Development: 10/10 (Perfect) Each lifeguard is given his or her own time to shine in the sun, but the main two, Gina and Fletcher, the heroes, shine the brightest. We get to know enough about them to not hate them and actually like them: Gina is a lifeguard who is also an environmental researcher, doing her part to keep the planet safe--never thinking she'd have to deal with a nuclear-powered animal. She also has a few daddy issues that add to the drama but don't take away from it. Fletcher is a basic lifeguard who does the job because of the ladies until he realizes far more is at stake. Everyone else is basic shark-food and does their part well until they're eaten.

Direction: 10/10 (Perfect) The director tells a good story, showing the possible work life of a team of lifeguards dealing with the threat of a nuclear shark.

Casting: 9/10 (Excellent) The cast is good and easy to look at for the most part. I take a point off for Jessica Kemejuk, who was so unbelievably gorgeous until I saw the gross tattoo on her back, which is an instant turn-off for me. Everyone else was fine, though, especially the star, Rachele Brooke Smith, who was probably the hottest lifeguard I've seen since Baywatch and wore the best swimsuit in the entire movie.

Acting; 9/10 (Excellent) The actors weren't bad, giving a much better performance than I was expecting. Of them all, Jeff Fahey stole the show, as he normally does.

Cinematography: 10/10 (Perfect) Beautifully shot, giving the viewers what they wanted to see more--beautiful babes, hot-looking men, and a blood galore from a shark. The special effects were great, and while the shark did look like a Jaws-reject, he still wasn't bad.

Music: 10/10 (Perfect) Great music fades into the background: It's there, but you don't really notice it. That was the case here.

Pacing: 10/10 (Perfect) Movie didn't let up from the start.

Sets and Costumes: 10/10 (Perfect) The person in charge of clothing should be given an award for giving the star the greatest lifeguard swimsuit ever. While Jessica Kemejuk had a more traditional swimsuit for a woman, Rachele Brooke Smith had the greatest two piece ever that was functional but still showed off her gorgeous body to best effect.

Re-watchability: 9/10 (Excellent) I'd definitely watch Atomic Shark again for the girls. Story was good, dialogue was decent, but you need to mostly watch this movie for the girls.

B-move and hilarious

[K-let · 8/10 · 1 April 2017]

I'm a big fan of Syfy and Asylum produced B-movies.

I began watching the movie accidentally and like all B-movies, once I start watching I can't turn away. Are you looking for a movie with tolerable dialog and forced interactions? Exaggerated foibles in production and plot? Atomic Shark is where it's at!

I laughed for the last 20 min: absolute excessive-ness. Subtle vocal changes for dramatic effect that don't fit the rest of the movie, jokes that drive you to google them, and Lapidis! Seriously, actor Jeff Fahey may be why I kept watching..."what's he doing in this B-movie?"

By the end, my attitude was glee but that is only because I love these kinds of flicks.

All told, I will buy this movie. (and give them to my friends as a thoughtful gift)

Don't sweat the ten stars; I grade on a pass/fail.

[tailsofthewind · 10/10 · 27 January 2020]

I loved this one because it has a water sport that's not common in other movies, it has something new with sharks, not a rehash, it has comedy puking, "Married With Children" child actor Bud, I mean David Faustino, playing a just-inside-the-law peeper with a drone, and actor who played the mortician on the US version of "Being Human". Plus, of course, Jeff Fahey who is instantly recognizable from "Falling Skies" and dozens of other TV shows and movies.

Plus, you know, this movie has sharks!

PS - The thing you did with the Two women, the lighter, dynamite and the music was hilarious! I wish I could say I could remember them from somewhere else like I did with those three guys, but now I'll forever have THIS point of reference for them.

Hella amazing

[demelzawinters · 10/10 · 30 April 2020]

This movie was hella amazing! I loved it. I loved the acting, the sharks looked pretty realistic, and the deaths scenes was pretty great.