The Shark Film Office

Licence to Kill   (1989) Dir.: John Glen TC4P Rating: 6/9 Species: Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias); blacktip reef shark ( Carcharhinus melanopterus); Sharkey (Frank McRae); manta ray (Timothy Dalton) James Bond specimen: Timothy Dalton Sharks and James Bond. Like chocolate and peanut butter. At least, that's the way it seemed for quite a few years. Thunderball (1965), Live and Let Die (1973), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and For Your Eyes Only (1981) all contain scenes where sharks are used as a menacing element, usually (but not always) kept in tanks by Bond's enemies for reasons of torture or dispatching of victims. In my head, I always lump the truly insane, Connery race-changing epic, You Only Live Twice into this bunch, but always have to remind myself that the deadly creatures in Blofeld's lair are piranhas, not sharks. Same concept; entirely different fish. Hell, Bond even has a nemesis (and eventual ally, briefly) named Jaws, a giant of a m...

Shark Hunter (2001) Dir: Matt Codd TC4P Rating: 4/9 Species: the extinct Megalodon [C. megalodon] 1. First, WATCH Shark Attack , Shark Attack 2 , Blue Demon , Deep Blue Sea , Shark Attack 3: Megalodon , Jaws 2 , Jaws 3-D , Jaws 4: The Revenge , Blood Surf , Megalodon , and Spring Break Shark Attack . In fact, watch just about any film released since Jaws , outside of Jaws , that has even the faintest trace, like blood in the water, of shark footage in it. Pay especial attention to Shark Attack 3: Megalodon . Then get around to watching Jaws once again, not just to remind yourself of what a great shark movie is (as if you needed reminded that really there is only one), but also because it is still just that damn cool. 2. Then, SEE   Shark Hunter . Fight your way initially through the horribly produced "flashback" footage of the lead character's "happy" childhood (this footage occurs over the far too ponderous credit sequence; I'm not sure which one ...

Below (2002) Director: David Twohy  TC4P Rating: 6/9 Species: giant oceanic manta ray (Manta birostris)  It is only a sequence of around thirty seconds or so, but it is incredibly memorable. Four Navy divers on a stricken U.S. submarine on patrol in the North Atlantic in World War II take to the depths to effect some repairs that can only be accessed by swimming around the sub. Climbing out of the submersible in scuba gear that had barely been invented (and that the Navy apparently did not even use yet), the quartet stand on the deck with only their flashlights illuminating the darkness surrounding them. One diver plays with the mass of plankton floating around them, passing his hand in front of his light and marveling at the tiny creatures. Suddenly, a huge ghostly shadow, with a very recognizable underbelly, rises up behind them, and then one of the divers looks to his side and sees the gaping maw of what must seem to the character to be an alien creature swoopin...