I'll start with positives, a few cool shark shots, not terrible CGI, and try's its best to work with an obviously low budget. For the negatives, a lousy storyline and very unrealistic shark activity (why was it roaring?!). The people are useless and paddle aimlessly and can't for the life of themselves just stay in the damned raft.
176 Reviews
Bare-bones killer shark film
kuarinofu18 May 2021
Great White is as basic of a killer shark film as possible. Everyday people surviving a pack of ordinary sharks, not super-enhanced, not vengeful, nothing like the Deep Blue Sea or Jaws IV, or Meg, whatever.
My guess is that they were aiming at a more grounded approach, and it worked ok until a certain point. I think that real sharks probably wouldn't jump out of the water and intercept you mid-air in a bloody fashion, but this kinda takes away the interest from the film. They provide a bare minimum of information about the characters, but this is still a killer shark film and you expect something different from the very basic and tired concept.
My biggest problem with it was that up until 50! Minutes into the film, nothing really happens, they just wrap up the set-up. There is also a very awkward racial or ethnic conflict which I did not understand at all, it just felt super forced.
It's not spectacular, it's not gory and fun, it's not original in any way, so while I can say that it was a film, I can't think of a reason for anyone to watch it.
My guess is that they were aiming at a more grounded approach, and it worked ok until a certain point. I think that real sharks probably wouldn't jump out of the water and intercept you mid-air in a bloody fashion, but this kinda takes away the interest from the film. They provide a bare minimum of information about the characters, but this is still a killer shark film and you expect something different from the very basic and tired concept.
My biggest problem with it was that up until 50! Minutes into the film, nothing really happens, they just wrap up the set-up. There is also a very awkward racial or ethnic conflict which I did not understand at all, it just felt super forced.
It's not spectacular, it's not gory and fun, it's not original in any way, so while I can say that it was a film, I can't think of a reason for anyone to watch it.
Don't, just don't.
gabbafella-761999 September 2021
There are so many things wrong with this film.
The CGI is laughable at times, the acting is wooden, the story is flimsy and has been made with no research or facts involved and you will want the main characters to die from the start.
I reckon you could make an entire film purely from the scenes where people are looking at other people, not saying a word, just staring or pulling odd expressions that you may or may not be able to work out because the acting is so poor.
My advice, watch Jaws or The Shallows.
The CGI is laughable at times, the acting is wooden, the story is flimsy and has been made with no research or facts involved and you will want the main characters to die from the start.
I reckon you could make an entire film purely from the scenes where people are looking at other people, not saying a word, just staring or pulling odd expressions that you may or may not be able to work out because the acting is so poor.
My advice, watch Jaws or The Shallows.
Worth A Watch For Comedic Value Only
JICNZ21 May 2021
This was so dreadful it's worth watching to laugh at. Sure, it's got nice scenery. But that's it. The acting is absolutely woeful. In fact, you could play a drinking game with expressions. The cast give long meaningful looks at each other, the only trouble is the specific meaning of the look is utterly lost due to bad acting and worse writing. Take a drink every time they did this and you'd not last to the end of the film. The shark action is very minimal. Mostly the movie consists of people in a raft being utterly dumb. Seriously, they don't unpack the survival box until the second day in the boat. They don't conserve the water when it rains, despite having no bottled water left. Every single time the shark attacks they all stand up, the women scream and then they all fall overboard because they are standing. Even when they get to some rusting hulks in the water which are entirely stable, when they see the shark the women scream and fall over into the water. That was my favourite bit. I actually skipped the last five minutes of this. By that stage I didn't care if they lived or died. I was rooting for the shark.
Even the shark was bored
imcaufieldholt25 May 2021
Avoid "Great White"! It is just boring. The characters just bicker 90% of the time, I think even the shark was bored as it only turned up every now and then, before going off to probably watch paint dry or something. In fact it probably just ate people to stop then whining at each other as that is what seems to pass as "character development".
My expectations were "Sharknado" low
PsychoBeard6662 August 2021
Good popcorn fun, don't expect any realism here
PennywiseFA17 May 2021
Five people on a rescue mission in shark infested waters, what could go wrong? Listen, don't expect awesome CGI here, the plot is half baked and I couldn't give two squirts of squirrel pee less about the characters, but the film packs some nice thrills and overall, I was entertained. This isn't trying to be a great movie, but just one for the shark horror fans - and let's face it guys, we've had just 1 fantastic sharkfilm. Ever. Until the next one comes, if it ever does, movies like these are enough to still the hunger.
Great white load of crap
pjkaustin22 May 2021
What a load of rubbish, acting was bad, story line was bad, the sharks were , bad. Unbelievable and so unrealistic. Please don't waste your time or your money. I unfortunately just bought the dvd forv7 quid and I'm sticking it straight into my get rid of pile.
Not Bad
margarida-4431114 May 2021
I don't get all the terrible reviews for this movie. Especially because lots of people talk incredible bad of the special effects. It's not Oscar worthy, but is not terrible. It's quite good for such type of movie.
It lacks some quality on the script, but which shark movie doesn't?
There's some other little mistakes, but overall is watchable. If you are a fan of this genre, o recommend you check it out this one.
Ignore the below 4 scores. It's unfair for those who work in this project.
It lacks some quality on the script, but which shark movie doesn't?
There's some other little mistakes, but overall is watchable. If you are a fan of this genre, o recommend you check it out this one.
Ignore the below 4 scores. It's unfair for those who work in this project.
Terrible story, dialogue, and CGI
Horror_Flick_Fanatic14 May 2021
Terrible story, dialogue and CGI. The film has a predictable outcome. But I did like the cinematic wide shots and the overhead birdseye view shots with the sea plane that were done for the first act. Even in SDR, the seascapes were impressive. I can only imagine how much nicer it would have looked in HDR. The rest of the camera work, not so much. I didn't like the rapid closeup edits for the rest of the film.
Melodramatic nonsense
elliotjeory6 August 2021
Just a bunch of people "in their feelings" with a shark in the background. It's boring and done many times before. If your thinking about making a shark film I have some advice:
1. Watch Jaws 2. Recognise the bar set 3. Aim for the bar.
1. Watch Jaws 2. Recognise the bar set 3. Aim for the bar.
its raft fever...
ops-5253514 May 2021
At least well 2/3's of the movie, its grumpy men and voulnerable women, not as old as me though, but quarelling just like theyve always done in castaway movies since the birth of cinematology.
Its a trip to the gbr area of australia, a paradise turns into hell due to a great white dork of a shark, sinking their main transportation vehicle, and and do the spagat move into the saafety of a rubber dongi,rolliing the perpendicular waltz rythm of the great pacific ocean. Some small attacks occurs, accompanied with a terribly loud sound and musical effects... and thats it. Will they survive?? I shall not reveal anything...
i am modestly speaking extremely disapointed by the poor ingenouity by the makers, and i wont mention all the breakwaters and sandbottom and shifting sky that the editor has had to work with, the obvioiously moored rubber dingy is pretty bad obscured, and my compulsive answer to everyone wanting to see a good shark film, just forget this one. The script is written in the sand at the nearby beach, and of course they are pregnant with a wow
sharknado concept is actually far better thinks the grumpy old man, even though i dont like them either. This is just to draw a good slump of pocketmoney outta your drawers.
Its a trip to the gbr area of australia, a paradise turns into hell due to a great white dork of a shark, sinking their main transportation vehicle, and and do the spagat move into the saafety of a rubber dongi,rolliing the perpendicular waltz rythm of the great pacific ocean. Some small attacks occurs, accompanied with a terribly loud sound and musical effects... and thats it. Will they survive?? I shall not reveal anything...
i am modestly speaking extremely disapointed by the poor ingenouity by the makers, and i wont mention all the breakwaters and sandbottom and shifting sky that the editor has had to work with, the obvioiously moored rubber dingy is pretty bad obscured, and my compulsive answer to everyone wanting to see a good shark film, just forget this one. The script is written in the sand at the nearby beach, and of course they are pregnant with a wow
sharknado concept is actually far better thinks the grumpy old man, even though i dont like them either. This is just to draw a good slump of pocketmoney outta your drawers.
Michael Boighen, please never write screenplays again.
fmtebay2 August 2021
The characters are so shallow.
The stereotypical White heroes are shallow AF.
The stereotypical non-White villains are shallow AF.
The characters' decisions and actions make no sense.
What kind of narrow, unrealistic world view gave birth to this garbage?
Please find a different occupation, Michael.
The stereotypical White heroes are shallow AF.
The stereotypical non-White villains are shallow AF.
The characters' decisions and actions make no sense.
What kind of narrow, unrealistic world view gave birth to this garbage?
Please find a different occupation, Michael.
Liked it !
rotini-5258614 May 2021
Nothing Great about this
Ckn484 October 2021
Nice Shark movie!
Novelwolf17 May 2021
A decent effort
NickyDee0793817 May 2021
Whilst the 'shark survival' sub genre has plenty of contributors it's probably fair to say that many, if not most, are really let down by either sub standard vfx or by really non committal performances. The few that stand out, including the Reef, The Shallows, and Open Water, do so because they don't skimp on those two very important components. As far as stories go it's very hard to offer much in the way of differentiation. By its very nature the sub genre puts people, mainly young adults admittedly, at the mercy of the ocean's top predatory fish, which through over reliance on the biggest and most recogniseable, as opposed to the most voracious or scheming, becomes a little predictable and trite at times. Great White for me sits firmly in the middle of all these shark movies. It's a predictable story with a predictable setup and outcome. Like many horror movies do, it invites, through its simplicity, audiences to predict who will die when, based on stereotypical characters and character traits. That said, Great White is entertaining enough, blending good performance with live shark footage and enough 'below water, above water' cinematography to induce suspense. What lets it down rather badly are the few occasions where the VFX sharks fall into the Sharknado realm of shoddy and ineffectual. And that's a pity, as with The Shallows level of CGI this could quite easily have avoided the one major pitfall of films in this sub genre - it's too dangerous to get real up close footage to convince. So if you have to fake it - don't appear to be faking it. KONTIKI is your reference if you need to see VFX sharks done seamlessly. Anyway, this is certainly not a bad film, it's entertaining and passable as an entry alongside the films already mentioned. Those who have slammed it unashamedly really are doing it a disservice and frankly their critiques or opinions are little more than the chum that minor characters in this type of film become.
Starts stupid and gets worse.
LordCommandar27 May 2021
A dumbass aussie pilot decides to play search and rescue with his pregnant girlfriend one crew member and a couple who charted a plane to scatter a family members ashes off the coast. I never wanted so much a bunch of idiots to die in a film in all my life until I watched the beginning of this POS. A movie full cute faces, a dumbass story and a horrible shark premise. Dont bother.
Typical movie for the genre
DongDiggity14 May 2021
The film is meh when it comes to these types of films. Characters are lame and stereotypical but is that a bad thing with these films? No, I don't think so but maybe a little more time could be made to build them up a bit.
The shark looks bad, very bad. It's amazing that the shark in Jaws looks better and that was in the 70's! One of the biggest issues I have with films today is the use of bad cgi and using camcorders for movies. This one has really bad cgi of the shark.
There are better shark films that have come out since Jaws and this is not it. If you have low expectations, as I did, you will probably still be disappointed.
The shark looks bad, very bad. It's amazing that the shark in Jaws looks better and that was in the 70's! One of the biggest issues I have with films today is the use of bad cgi and using camcorders for movies. This one has really bad cgi of the shark.
There are better shark films that have come out since Jaws and this is not it. If you have low expectations, as I did, you will probably still be disappointed.
What A Waste
JoelChamp8514 May 2021
I love shark films, but I don't know who to blame - the writer or the producers who greenlit this. The story construction is utter disappointment. I couldn't have cared less about the characters, it was just wasted screen time. There was one moment the film could have redeemed itself, when the chick swam out to get the paddle but nothing happened, that could have been a powerful moment, instead it was just more bad screenwriting. This whole production was a wasted opportunity.
A very exciting and thrilling shark movie...
paul_haakonsen14 May 2021
Finally a shark movie that is well-worth diving into, if you don't mind swimming with great white sharks.
I sat down to watch the 2021 movie "Great White" from writer Michael Boughen and director Martin Wilson with no expectations. I was dreading that it was going to be just another run-of-the-mill shark movie, you know, the ones that come a dime a dozen. But still, I've always enjoyed shark movies, ever since watching "Jaws" as a child. So of course I sat down to watch "Great White".
I have to say that the movie's cover/poster definitely was helping to win me over and make me have an interest in watching the movie.
Right, well on to it. "Great White" is a movie that you should treat yourself to watching, especially if you enjoy shark movies. Because this 2021 movie is a movie that is driven by a good story, well-rounded characters, excitement and also a sense of despair from the marooned people adrift. So that was a major accomplishment on director Martin Wilson's behalf.
The storyline is as interesting as it is exciting. Sure, it is a rather generic storyline if you look at it objectively. I mean, you have a shark that accidentally causes five people to become marooned at sea, with hundreds of miles to the shoreline, as it causes their airplane to sink - gee, now where have we seen that before? Duh dum, duh dum, dum, dum, dum, dum.... get it? But at the same time, it is also a storyline that is well-written as it managed to snatch you up and bring you along right there in the raft alongside the marooned five. So writer Michael Boughen definitely made things work.
There is a good amount of excitement and thrills in the movie, as there should be in any good shark movie. And it worked so nicely in this movie, especially because there was such a good balance between the hopelessness of being marooned so far out at sea and the feel of being stalked by a great white, knowing it is there in the water but rarely see it come to the surface. I most certainly enjoyed that aspect of "Great White".
Something else that made the movie work out so well was the impressive character gallery. Sure, the movie have only five people in it, essentially, but these characters are so well-rounded and nicely fleshed out, given personalities, quirks, traits, etc. Which made for a very lively movie, and you get sucked in right away, taking an instant liking to some character and a dislike to another. That was really nice work from writer Michael Boughen. And also a big thumbs up to the cast in the movie. They had casted some really talented actors and actresses for this movie, with the likes of Katrina Bowden (playing Kaz), Aaron Jakubenko (playing Charlie), Te Kohe Tuhaka (playing Benny), Tim Kano (playing Joji) and Kimie Tsukakoshi (playing Michelle). Great cast choices and great individual performances by the cast in this movie. And it should be said that the cast definitely made this movie more than watchable.
The sharks in the movie were definitely good and felt very real, especially since it was a combination of real footage and a prop. And the prop looked really realistic, which added so much to the movie. The only downside here, was the sound that they added to the sharks, sort of a growling thing going on. That was just idiotic. Sure, I get it for terms of thrills and entertainment for the movie. But no, it just dumbs it down. Sharks are silent predators, keep it realistic and keep them soundless. But it was a minor annoyance in the movie, which didn't really impact the overall enjoyment of the movie. It was just a stupid little thing that sat like a thorn in the side of me.
If you are only going to watch a single shark movie this year, make it "Great White", because this movie is so well-worth taking the time and effort to sit down and watch. I was more than genuinely entertained by what this movie offered, and it is one that I can warmly recommend.
My rating of "Great White" lands on a seven out of ten stars. This is one of those instances when it is a shark movie done right.
I sat down to watch the 2021 movie "Great White" from writer Michael Boughen and director Martin Wilson with no expectations. I was dreading that it was going to be just another run-of-the-mill shark movie, you know, the ones that come a dime a dozen. But still, I've always enjoyed shark movies, ever since watching "Jaws" as a child. So of course I sat down to watch "Great White".
I have to say that the movie's cover/poster definitely was helping to win me over and make me have an interest in watching the movie.
Right, well on to it. "Great White" is a movie that you should treat yourself to watching, especially if you enjoy shark movies. Because this 2021 movie is a movie that is driven by a good story, well-rounded characters, excitement and also a sense of despair from the marooned people adrift. So that was a major accomplishment on director Martin Wilson's behalf.
The storyline is as interesting as it is exciting. Sure, it is a rather generic storyline if you look at it objectively. I mean, you have a shark that accidentally causes five people to become marooned at sea, with hundreds of miles to the shoreline, as it causes their airplane to sink - gee, now where have we seen that before? Duh dum, duh dum, dum, dum, dum, dum.... get it? But at the same time, it is also a storyline that is well-written as it managed to snatch you up and bring you along right there in the raft alongside the marooned five. So writer Michael Boughen definitely made things work.
There is a good amount of excitement and thrills in the movie, as there should be in any good shark movie. And it worked so nicely in this movie, especially because there was such a good balance between the hopelessness of being marooned so far out at sea and the feel of being stalked by a great white, knowing it is there in the water but rarely see it come to the surface. I most certainly enjoyed that aspect of "Great White".
Something else that made the movie work out so well was the impressive character gallery. Sure, the movie have only five people in it, essentially, but these characters are so well-rounded and nicely fleshed out, given personalities, quirks, traits, etc. Which made for a very lively movie, and you get sucked in right away, taking an instant liking to some character and a dislike to another. That was really nice work from writer Michael Boughen. And also a big thumbs up to the cast in the movie. They had casted some really talented actors and actresses for this movie, with the likes of Katrina Bowden (playing Kaz), Aaron Jakubenko (playing Charlie), Te Kohe Tuhaka (playing Benny), Tim Kano (playing Joji) and Kimie Tsukakoshi (playing Michelle). Great cast choices and great individual performances by the cast in this movie. And it should be said that the cast definitely made this movie more than watchable.
The sharks in the movie were definitely good and felt very real, especially since it was a combination of real footage and a prop. And the prop looked really realistic, which added so much to the movie. The only downside here, was the sound that they added to the sharks, sort of a growling thing going on. That was just idiotic. Sure, I get it for terms of thrills and entertainment for the movie. But no, it just dumbs it down. Sharks are silent predators, keep it realistic and keep them soundless. But it was a minor annoyance in the movie, which didn't really impact the overall enjoyment of the movie. It was just a stupid little thing that sat like a thorn in the side of me.
If you are only going to watch a single shark movie this year, make it "Great White", because this movie is so well-worth taking the time and effort to sit down and watch. I was more than genuinely entertained by what this movie offered, and it is one that I can warmly recommend.
My rating of "Great White" lands on a seven out of ten stars. This is one of those instances when it is a shark movie done right.
Suspense down under.
megafoxfae8 June 2021
Good for what it is!
beckstaboyd9 July 2021
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
