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The Night of the Sharks
David must fight for his life against the gangsters who killed his brother for a CD filled with proof of their illegal activities. When David gets possession of the CD they go down to Mexico where David lives as a shark hunter. Who will get David first, the gangsters or the shark?
Release : | 1988 |
Rating : | 3.7 |
Studio : | Italian International Film, RAI, Motion Picture Corporation of America, |
Crew : | Assistant Camera, Camera Operator, |
Cast : | Treat Williams Janet Ågren Antonio Fargas John Steiner Christopher Connelly |
Genre : | Drama Horror Action |
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The Worst Film Ever
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Beach bum David Zeigler (Treat Williams slumming for an easy paycheck) finds his life in jeopardy when he gets pitted against a bunch of gangsters who killed his brother in order to gain possession of a CD with proof of their illegal activities. Moreover, David also has to deal with a pesky shark who has some kind of personal vendetta against him.The slack direction by Tonino Ricci alas lets the ridiculously convoluted and meandering story drag at an often sluggish pace, but at least takes decent advantage of the local color and locations in the exotic Dominican Republic setting. Tito Cari's murky script offers more talk than action and boasts several incredibly strained plot contrivances. The whole subplot about David and the shark comes across as pretty silly and laughable, but at least delivers a few choice absurd moments which include a particularly priceless gut-busting sequence in which the shark attempts to steal David's boat (!). Fortunately, the solid cast keeps this picture watchable: John Steiner has a field day as smooth lead villain Rosentski, Antonio Fargas contributes an utterly engaging turn as David's laid-back buddy Paco, the beauteous Janet Agren provides some tasty eye candy, and Christopher Connelly does well in his last role as friendly priest Father Mattia. Both Stevio Cipriani's funky-throbbing music and Giovanni Bergamini's slick cinematography are up to speed. An okay diversion.
What's to like about this movie???It is in colour! It has some impressive underwater photography! It has a rhythmic musical score in the background that works well at times! So 3 out of 10! Sometimes the music is speeded up! Especially when the shark or the baddies are about to move in! Sometimes it is slowed! As if to convey to the audience it's about to be time for sympathy! As another one bites the dust! As if in a "spagetti Western" this has much similarity to! It's not that the Italians can't produce quality productions! There was a series of TV movies with a heading like "Octopus" numbered about 1 to 7, screened on SBS TV in Australia in the 1990s about mafia-type conflicts! And they were excellent! But alas, you won't find it here!!!I assumed it was made about 1960s! Sadly it was 20 years out of date, as evidenced by a funeral scene near the end! Then there was the razor-sharp bite of the speedy shark that makes for a red dust repeatedly emerging in the bluish waters! Amidst it all, either in bar-room brawl or in observing the latest sea-side bloody demolition by the relentlessly hungry shark, the mate of the hero looks on through his glasses of little concern, as if he too was bored in his relentless role amidst a lack of much evidence of plot or anyone's character development! At least the hero indicates a fleeting concern belatedly, for his ex-wife! But of course, even if the music fails to awaken our realisation, we have the sinister sound in the baddies' voices, as if to nudge us that another dark deed is about to emerge! And near the end, someone thought of a twist! Just when we thought it was all totally predictable! But stay tuned, folks, for you may find another twist! If you are watching closely! To, more or less, warm your heart! Follow the advice of the hero, and have a few beers along the way! It'll make your viewing of "Night of the Sharks" more enjoyable! Then you'll be ready for something like a "007" movie to ease your way back into reality when this is over!!!
I gave it a 2 instead of a 1 because I think "The Wild Women of Wongo" is worse. This is an exercise in patience. It's like having your teeth cleaned by a bad dental hygienist. There's no plot. There's no logic. There is certainly no acting (although the shark has some quality dialogue). We don't wonder about anything. We don't know how people got where they got. It's always amazing to me how things like this even get released. I agree with the previous writer that it isn't even funny bad. I know. It's about 90 minutes long and that will fill up about that much space on a DVD collection. It's like a paperweight. Or a bad painting you bought at a starving artists' sale. It covers the crack in the wall.
-SPOILES- Lame south of the border adventure movie that has something to do with the blackmail of a big cooperate executive Rosenlski the president of Unasco Inc. by on the lamb beachcomber David Ziegler who's living the life of Reilly, or Ziegler, in his beach house in Cancun Mexico.Having this CD, that he gave to his brother James, that has three years of phone conversations between Rosenlski and the President of the United States involved in criminal deals. This CD has given David an edge over the international mobsters who are after him. The fact that James get's a little greedy by trying to shake down Rosenlski for 2 million in diamonds not only cost him his life but put David in danger of losing his as well. Ropsenlski want's to negotiate with David for the CD by getting his ex-wife Liz to talk to him about giving it up, Rosnelski made a deal to pay off her debts if she comes through. David is later killed by Rosenliski's Mexican hit-man Tony, with the help of a great white shark, who just doesn't go for all this peaceful dealings on his boss' part. Tony had taken the CD that Liz left for his boss at a local hotel safe and now want's to murder James, like he did David, and at the same time keep the CD to have something over Rosenlski.David who had secretly hidden the diamonds that James had on him at the time of his murder is now the target of Tony and his men to shut him up for good. David also wants to take the diamonds and at the same time give his boss Rosenlski the impression that the CD that David had is lost but use it later, without Rosenlski knowing who's behind it,to blackmail him. The movie "Night of the Sharks" has a number of shark attacks in it with this huge one-eyed white shark who ends up taking out about a half dozen of the cast members including Tony. David who's a firm believer in gun-control uses knives high explosives and Molotov cocktails, as well as his fists, to take out the entire Tony crew. Even the killer shark is finished off by Tony but with a hunting knife, not a gun. When it came to using firearms to save his friend and sidekick Paco a girlfriend Juanita and his priest Father Mattia lives from Tony and his gang guns were a no-no with David; he was more of a knife and spear man then anything else. The ending of the movie was about as predictable as you can make it with David thought to be killed by the one-eyed shark later pops up out of the crowd,after Rosenlski was convinced that he's dead and leaves the village. David continues his life as a free living and loving beachcomber with no one looking to kill him and about two million dollars richer. to David's credit he had his friend Paco give Rosenski back his CD but under the conditions that if anything happened to him his cousin, who Rosenlski doesn't know who and where he is, will shoot his big mouth off and let the whole world know about his dirty and criminal dealings.