Orca | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

8% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 33% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings

A shark hunter (Richard Harris), a marine biologist (Charlotte Rampling) and an Indian (Will Sampson) face a vengeful killer whale.

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Orca

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Critics Consensus

Content to regurgitate bits of better horror movies, Orca: The Killer Whale is a soggy shark thriller with frustratingly little bite.

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Orca | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Richard Schickel TIME Magazine The moviemakers have thumbed heavily through the literature of the sea in their search for dramatic cliches. Mar 26, 2019 Full Review Orca | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Gary Arnold Washington Post Orca is essentially a rehash of an earlier De Laurentiis hit, Death Wish, with the killer whale in Charles Bronson role. Mar 26, 2019 Full Review Orca | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Ian Nathan Empire Magazine A cheap and tacky attempt by producer Dino De Laurentiis to cash on the phenomenon of Jaws. Rated: 1/5 Mar 26, 2019 Full Review Orca | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Katie Hogan FILMHOUNDS Magazine Overall, Orca is a dissatisfying cheap knockoff of a film. The premise that promises horror and bloodshed with thrills to boot ultimately never delivers. Rated: 1/5 Sep 17, 2024 Full Review Orca | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Grant Watson Fiction Machine This is a ham-fisted and ironic delight. Rated: 4/10 Dec 9, 2022 Full Review Orca | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Tony Vandenberg Washington Blade 100% unadulterated recycled junk. May 23, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

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3D W I liked the movie. I might be biased because orca are my favorite animal. I thought the ending was great. I also thought some of the shots were clever. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/27/24 Full Review CodyZamboni Z Watchable Jaws rip off, but little suspense or tension, Whale shots are clearly done in a tank, Orcas aren't scary looking, Harris and Rampling do their best, Nice seeing young Bo Derek, Some cool minature disaster fx, Unncessary narration by Rampling, Sobering ending, Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/18/24 Full Review Blu B Yes it 100% would not exist without Jaws. Yes it's a ripoff. But there is enough differences where it feels like it's trying to do it's own thing JUST enough but man the biggest blow here is despite subpar pacing this is ok overall, it takes itself way too serious the entire time. There is no self awareness that it's ripping off Jaws, no charm, just a crazy idea of a Killer Orca who can track a human pretty much anywhere and want to kill them. There really isn't any life to any of the performances. Everyone save maybe Harris, is generic and just going through the motions with almost no emotions. The setup has so much simliarities to Jaws. smapson is Quinn, the one dude is knock off R.D. and Harris is clearly Roy. And it's kind of a combo ironically of Jaws 1 and Jaws 4 with the Orca able to track people anywhere even on land. It's crazy to think Jaws 4 may have ripped this off. The Orca animitronic effects look amazing and the setting is nice. But again no life to the characters, performances, or the direction. It's so serious and becomes so boring with a dumb plot. there isn't any suspense in this at all or real attempt to set up character. You know what the Orca looks like already and they just aren't that scary. Skip This. I prefer Free Willy. Rated 2.5/5 Stars • Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/13/24 Full Review Juan H A veteran whale hunter faces the revenge of an orca for killing his mate and his no yet born calf, on a film which offers a rare mix amongst Moby Dick and Jaws. The Killer whale manges to have the hunter, a female marine biologyst (which appears to have a crush on the hunter) and an american native involved on persuing and trying to kill it, The orca leads them into a long journey to the remote artic and finally gets its revenge killing the hunter.Ennio Morricone's score for the film succeeds on giving it some emotional background. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/05/24 Full Review mami T At the end, I was very much the hero. He had to die at the mercy of the murderous killer whale.Actually, the director had to film the hero defeating the killer whale. Rated 1/5 Stars • Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/12/24 Full Review Ethan G Silly and stupid, this JAWS knockoff lacks the thrilling bite of its inspiration. Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Michael Anderson Director Richard Harris Captain Nolan Charlotte Rampling Rachel Bedford Will Sampson Umilak Bo Derek Umilak Keenan Wynn Novak
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Synopsis A shark hunter (Richard Harris), a marine biologist (Charlotte Rampling) and an Indian (Will Sampson) face a vengeful killer whale.

Director
Michael Anderson

Producer
Luciano Vincenzoni

Screenwriter
Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Donati

Production Co
Paramount

Rating
PG

Genre
Horror

Original Language
English

Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 15, 2011

Runtime
1h 32m
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Orca | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

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