Made just two years after "Jaws", this isn't the crowd-pleasing blockbuster its predecessor is; it's a more adult film, turning a whale-seeking quest into a mystical journey to the end of time. There are all sorts of ways to read this film metaphorically (maybe the whale represents Harris' desire to die because of his grief, or maybe it represents everything he would like to have done to his own wife and baby's killer), but it's also effective at a simpler level; it can't be easy (much less in 1977) to create the illusion of a whale systematically preying on humans, but they do it here. Harris is superb, and Morricone's music is magnificent. It's not a pleasant film to watch, but it has made a strong impression on me (and left me with conflicting emotions) ever since I first saw it, many years ago. It's probably one of the top 5 "when animals attack" thrillers ever made. *** out of 4.

This is a "paycheck" movie in every sense of the word starting with the scenery chewing lead performance by Richard Harris. Add in Keenan Wynne (as a wily old seaman), Will Sampson (as a wise Inuit), a young Bo Derek (as the requisite "cute girl") and you have the makings of a cookie cutter studio film designed to cash in on the Jaws phenomenon. Only Charlotte Rampling, as Marine Biologist Rachel Bedford (the Matt Hooper of this film) rises above the drek of this film. It is one to avoid.5 (out of 10) stars - and I'm being generous - and you can take that from the Bank (ofMarquis). PLEASE...take this from the BankofMarquis!

Orca is one of a spate of films in the mid-1970s in which human- animal interactions turn deadly (Jaws (1975), Grizzly (1976), Orca (1977), and Jaws 2 (1978)). While it's hard to imagine anyone seeking out Orca these days unless they have an interest in the history of the genres the film fits into, Orca offers a good example of the formula: anthropomorphizing animals, locating in nature an ethic against which to measure human action, and balancing experiential knowledge, scientific knowledge, and knowledge from indigenous people. While the plot is thin, the film is mercifully short and punctuated with just enough thought in the script and just enough attention to camera-work and editing to keep it watchable. For example, Captain Nolan asks a priest, "Can you commit a sin against an animal?" and Umilak says at one point, "Even our gods dance to a new song." In other words, the film touches on an ethics of human/animal relations and avoids representing native people as frozen in time (though it's not without other stereotypes). In terms of editing and camera-work, you could easily use this film to demonstrate different shots, elements of lighting, and use of music. Despite what you can find in it, the film always teeters and often slips into the ridiculous, particularly when it comes to violent images such as the fetus scene or the scenes of crew members getting eaten while dangling from parts of the boat like SeaWorld trainers.

We managed to find this on the Movies! channel. In a nutshell I'd say the concept is excellent, probably rates an 8 or so, but the execution leaves much to be desired, probably a 4 or 5. So a rating of 5 or 6 is about right.The concept examines the idea of humans killing intelligent animals and where do we draw the line? Set in a NE Canadian fishing village, Richard Harris is Captain Nolan. He is on his fishing boat and apparently hunting a great white shark. But as the shark is getting near their boat it is mysteriously attacked, hurtled into the air, and killed. It was the Killer Whale, the Orca.Then they get the idea that they could capture an Orca and sell it to an aquarium, but somehow when they encounter an large pod of them, they shoot, barely wounding a dominant male, but killing a female. They hoist her aboard but as she is calling out and dying, a developing Orca fetus slips out. The Captain is distraught over what he did, but was trying to put it out of his mind when incidents started happening back at the port. The male Orca had the intelligence to know what had happened, who was responsible, and was systematically finding ways to destroy boats and buildings. He did not relent until he got his man, the Captain, who utters this line, "A revengeful Orca."Still young and pretty was Charlotte Rampling as Rachel Bedford, the Captain's girlfriend of sorts. And the 20-ish Bo Derek in her first movie, right before she made "10", as Annie. Mostly she added eye candy to the filming. SPOILERS: When the Captain fully accepted that the Orca would not relent until they faced off, he piloted his boat to the spot where he had killed the female. They played a cat-n-mouse game as the Orca led them north, into iceberg infested waters. In a show of extreme skill of planning, the Orca got the Captain stranded on an ice float, and after tilting the ice float to get the Captain to slide towards him, the Orca propelled him onto the ice to his death.