Orca - The Killer Whale (1977)

15% of critics liked it
(13 reviews)
38% of users liked it
(8,265 ratings)

Another big-budget monster movie from producer Dino de Laurentiis, Orca concerns the mutual revenge pact between an obsessive whaler (Richard Harris) and an angry killer whale, whose pregnant mate Harris killed. The whale strikes back by biting off Bo Derek's leg, so Harris and concerned biologist… More Another big-budget monster movie from producer Dino de Laurentiis, Orca concerns the mutual revenge pact between an obsessive whaler (Richard Harris) and an angry killer whale, whose pregnant mate Harris killed. The whale strikes back by biting off Bo Derek's leg, so Harris and concerned biologist Charlotte Rampling follow it to frozen northern waters for the climactic showdown. Just in case you like Jaws better than Moby Dick, there's a killer shark thrown in for good measure. Ponderous, pretentious, and dull, this opportunistic disaster fittingly sank at the box office. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 32 min.
Directed By: Michael Anderson
Written By: Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Donati
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Horror, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Jul 15, 1977 Wide
On DVD: Sep 14, 2004

Critic Reviews

Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
The kind of movie that is so deranged in every way that you legitimately cannot guess where it's going next, and sort of can't wait to see it get there.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Corny, derivative, and frequently quite silly ... and yet I've always liked it. Weird.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
dodgy but great fun
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
Orca tarnishes its own attempts at eco-consciousness in suggesting that whales, like humans, are very much interested in a little blood payback.
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
A bald rehash of Jaws, only with the Moby Dick elements played up even further.
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
The whale should have sunk every reel of this silliness in the deepest part of the ocean.
Gerry Shamray, Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
One of the first and worst of the Jaws rip-offs.

Read all 7 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Lucas M

Unforgettable and shocking. Orca's problem is, that, the movie looks a weak try to be similiar to Jaws, and sometimes be too silly. Rotten.
Cassandra M

On the surface, this film could be a tacky rip off from Jaws. Both contain sea creatures that causes havoc to small communities and are killers. But the stories are very very different. Orca is by no means as good as Jaws, but if Jaws had never been made, or if it had been released… More
On the surface, this film could be a tacky rip off from Jaws. Both contain sea creatures that causes havoc to small communities and are killers. But the stories are very very different. Orca is by no means as good as Jaws, but if Jaws had never been made, or if it had been released before Jaws then it may of stood a better chance. Orca tugs on the heartstrings. It's a story about the death of a killer whales and the havoc and disaster that one mistake, made by a man, caused to several people. The special effects are good, and the 'fake' whales are very convincing indeed. Some of the acting is a bit hammish but I think Richard Harris and Charlotte Rampling do a good job. I would recommend this film but as long as the viewer can forget about Jaws and see it in it's own right!
xGary X

This utterly absurd Jaws rip off is amusingly laughable (although the scene with the still born whale calf is actually rather grotesque and unsettling), and kept watchable by reliable old veteran Richard Harris' salty sea dog on the run from a killer whale with a grudge. The… More
This utterly absurd Jaws rip off is amusingly laughable (although the scene with the still born whale calf is actually rather grotesque and unsettling), and kept watchable by reliable old veteran Richard Harris' salty sea dog on the run from a killer whale with a grudge. The usual Moby Dick inspired cliches apply, but at least you get to see Bo Derek have her leg bitten off.
jay n

junk
Alec B

Take a cliche movie where a man's entire family is killed and then he goes on a muderous and destructive path of vengeance, now replace that man with an Orca, and you get this. Its hysterical, but the fact that it was made to be taken seriously is shocking.
Remi L

Saw it. Unimpressed.
Kit X

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