How do you make a good shark movie?
That’s the question that has been on the lips, or should that be rows of serrated teeth, of filmmakers ever since Jaws hit box office gold in 1975.
People who make films have long been trying to emulate its success in terms of money or onscreen thrills. You’d think that almost 50 years later that there would be lots of contenders, but many shark films just seem to lack any bite.
Arguably any shark film is going to get compared to Jaws, just like many science-fiction films get compared to Star Wars, Blade Runner or Alien or westerns get compared to High Noon or Unforgiven. All great films, but that doesn’t mean no one should ever make a film in that genre again. It’s the same with shark movies, we watch them because we like them.
So, what are the essential ingredients for making a good shark film?
A convincing shark is always a help
The shark in Jaws famously only had four minutes of screen time, but people want to see more shark on their screen. When the great white did appear, he looked magnificent and – by and large he still does.
The shark in Jaws was realised through a mixture of animatronics and real-life shark footage, both of which are still used in today’s shark films. CGI wasn’t an option back in 1975, but that is the third choice open to today’s filmmakers.
Deep Blue Sea
Renny Harlin’s 1999 shark film went down the Jurassic Park route and used a mix of animatronics and CGI, and whilst the mechanical sharks are amazing to this day – arguably the best to ever grace the silver the screen – the CGI, especially in THAT moment with Samuel L. Jackson, is a tad ropey. It was, even at the time of release.
The Reef
This 2010 Australian shark thriller seamlessly integrated actual shark footage with actors to impressive effect, all of which made it a nerve-jangling shark feature that is still regarded as one of the best since Jaws.
The Shallows
The next level of CGI for shark films came in the Blake Lively thriller which sees her character stranded 200 yards from shore, the only obstacle stopping the injured surfer from getting there is a great white shark. No matter how you feel about the film, there is denying that the effects were first class.
Some lower budget shark films feature some truly terrible CGI, some is down to budget restrictions, whilst most embrace kit as part of their B-movie tongue in cheek style, such as the Sharknado or the likes of Santa Jaws.
The director of the latter, Misty Tally, explained to The Daily Jaws how she felt about CGI and practical effects. She said: “I think CGI and VFX are good as a tool to enhance to enhance practical effects. Ideally, that’s how I like to use it. I like to use practical as much as possible and CGI as clean up. That’s the ideal.”
An interesting story or premise
There is no denying that Jaws has a great, compelling story and investment in characters, which is why we keep on returning to it.
Many shark films have people stuck out on the water in a life raft or sinking ship, but some go to extra lengths to stick people in the way of sharks, where there is no escape from them or simply getting out of the water. Crucially, we also need to care about them before they become shark fodder.
Sharknado
Love or hate the series of films, there is no denying they found a new way to bring sharks to people and a whole new way of orchestrating shark deaths to our screens.
Deep Blue Sea
It’s essentially The Poseidon Adventure (the constant threat of rising water) meets Jurassic Park (we even get a shark in a kitchen scene) via Alien (in confined spaces no one can hear you scream), and that spells pure B-movie popcorn pandemonium which delivers in spades and sharks aplenty.
Bait
In the middle of a store robbery, a tsunami hits a supermarket, leaving the survivors having to battle against the would-be robbers and sharks in the aisles.
It's a confined thriller, and is the best sharks submerged in supermarket thriller you are ever likely to see. This is one to check out - supermarket pun intended. It owes much to Deep Blue Sea, by way of The Mist. With some inventive scenes, it's far more fun than the Piranha remake, or Sharknado.
Three animatronic sharks were used for filming. Although director Kimble Rendall wanted to entirely avoid using computer-generated imagery, the budget necessitated its use in some scenes.
47 Meters Down
Two sisters vacationing in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby, they must fight to survive.
It is a great idea done well, taking the Hooper cage scene from Jaws to its logical, feature-length conclusion, the sense of isolation and danger is done well with some great jump-shocks along the way.
Nods to Jaws
We don’t mean just rip off the story, that never did The Last Shark any favours, having said that Jaws with a crocodile (Lake Placid), Jaws with a subterranean monster (Tremors) both followed the Jaws textbook closely in their execution, and great films in their own right.
Deep Blue Sea
The sharks all die in the same way and same order as the sharks from the first three Jaws films.
A tiger shark – just like in Jaws – is found to have a licence plate in its stomach, which just so happens to be exactly the same one that Hooper removes from the shark at night with Brody.
Open Water
The main characters share the same last names of the first two shark attack victims in Jaws, Watkins and Kintner.
The Meg
The director of The Meg, Jon Turteltaub told Yahoo Entertainment: “There are Jaws references in this movie. Some are more obvious than others, and some are very personal to me. Some I worried, ‘Am I going to get in trouble for this?’ You can’t do a shark movie without someone going, ‘It’s like Jaws.'”
And seeing as The Meg is the biggest fish at the box office since Jaws and Jaws 2 (adjusted for inflation) perhaps shark filmmakers need to do that, embrace the legacy of Jaws, give us something different, yet familiar, and don’t skimp on the sharks or the shark action. Yes, The Requin, I’m looking directly at you.
Here’s some shark movies coming in 2022 and beyond that are hoping to bite off some bigger box office.
Words by Dean Newman
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