Bullet Points: Shark Attack
As a big Casper Van Dien fan I have seen him battle a wide variety of foes over the years. I am talking about everything from giant space bugs to greedy treasure hunters to tornados (including one that was made of fire!)
Now after watching 1999’s Shark Attack, I can add steroid enhanced sharks to the list of Casper Van Dien foes…
- Dive Right In: The movie opens with scuba diving scientist Marc Desantis wrapping up some field work on his boat and attempting to send his findings to an old friend… but Desantis is attacked from behind by two men, taken aboard the boat. The two attackers (who appear to be cops) take Desantis out to a lagoon, where they slice his forearm with a machete before dumping his body into the shark infested water!
- Message Received: The old friend that Desantis was reaching out to is one Steven McKray (Casper Van Dien, The Tracker). Steven is a marine biologist in the United States working at an institution of higher learning. Steven is able to convince his superior at the university to let him take the trip to Africa in response to his friends’ request for help concerning the spike in shark attacks.
- Port Amanzi: Steven arrives in Port Amanzi and is greeted by the big wig in town Lawrence Rhodes (Ernie Hudson, The Substitute). Rhodes tells Steven about the tough financial times that Port Amanzi is in, thanks to the shark attacks wreaking havoc on the fishing and tourism in the area. Steven will be staying at the hotel that Rhodes owns, but his driver while he’s in town will be Mani (Tony Caprari, The Redemption: Kickboxer 5)… Mani ends up becoming a top notch sidekick as the movie goes on, but first he needs to take Steven to the Amanzi Marine Research Center (or AMRC for those in the know).
- A Day Late: After getting hassled by security, Steven has a meeting with Dr. Miles Craven, an old colleague and the man now in charge of the AMRC. Miles tells Steven it is a shame he missed the services… and that’s when Steven finds out the friend he is there to help, Marc Desantis, was the victim of a shark attack! Miles also mentions that Marc’s sister, Corinne is taking it hard… as one would expect. Steven then tracks Corrine down at the local bar in town known as the Net & Hook. Corrine does not give Steven the warmest of welcomes but that is nothing compared to the local fisherman who tells Steven that he wants him out of there… which leads to the mandatory BAR FIGHT!!!
- Super Scientist: Steven ends up winning over the locals when he rescues a kid from a shark attack, but there’s still plenty of movie left and plenty of chances for Steven to piss some more people off and he does just that. First the native tribe that claims ownership of the sharks he is studying and as he learns more about what is causing the shark attacks. Then as he and Corrine do some digging and find out WHO is causing the shark attacks which nearly has them meet the same fate as Marc. There’s also a car chase and a boat chase and that’s where Mani has his time to shine! Shark Attack gives us some quality movie misdirection making it seem like Dr. Miles Craven is the main bad guy… but who is going to pay Ernie Hudson just to play the owner of the hotel and Port Amanzi big wig??! Not Nu Image that’s for sure. Spoiler Alert… Hudson’s demise is the definition of poetic justice.
Shark Attack wasn’t just a shark movie it also mixed in action and mystery movie elements which made for a good time and provided some variety… Casper Van Dien as the hero is a always a smart choice in my book and he has his trademark perfect stubble in this one… Ernie Hudson is probably most known for his heroic turn in Ghostbusters, but when called upon to play the villain he can slide right into the role something he had proven previously in Penitentiary II and The Substitute… The rest of the supporting cast deserve some praise too as there were really no weak links to speak of.
There are no weak links in these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Home Box Office: Shark Attack was a TV movie that originally premiered here in the United States on HBO.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Casper Van Dien scale a rock climbing wall, then Shark Attack is the movie for you.
- Reunited: Casper Van Dien and Tony Caprari had previously worked together in Tarzan and the Lost City of Gold.
- Exploding Helicopter: Shark Attack was the 746th movie on Exploding Helicopter‘s ever growing list of movies featuring an exploding helicopter.