I'm a huge JAWS fan. Ok, Deep Blue Sea is a pretty decent movie, I admit, but it can't compare with JAWS. And Red Water? Some people may like it but, I thought it was terrible! The blood was friggin CGI for Christ's sake! They really milked the "Bull Shark can live in fresh water so watch your back!" thing for all it was worth! I know quite a bit about sharks and they didn't even TRY to make this a little bit realistic.
"The Bull Shark is one of the most aggressive sharks and can grow up to 12 feet!"
Um, the first part is true, but the second part isn't. 12 feet? The average Bull shark is about 3-5 feet long! The largest on record is about 6.5 feet.
"It is the only shark that can live in fresh water!"
This movie failed to mention it can only live in fresh water for about 2-4 weeks. All the protagonists had to do was wait for it to die or swim back to the ocean! The Bull shark is not teritorial, it is constantly migrating, always swimming up stream. In this movie, it swam around in circles waiting for someone to stupidly fall in. Also, as mentioned above, it can't eat that much. It would probably satisfied with two bodies, especially a Bull shark (even one this big), whose stomach isn't as vast or dependant as (for example) a Great White. This was just a poor attempt to frighten cottage owners and spook out people who thought lakes were 'safe'. A kind of cross between 'Lake Placid' and 'Shark Hunter' (which both sucked ass in my opinion). Oh well, it stuck to the classic "creature" formula.
Creature Formula = expedition crew - expendaple characters = only survivors
Only survivors = protagonist, protagonists best friend, and female love interest
It never fails :)
"Are you a god?"
"Err...no..."
"THEN DIE!"
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larameischke
20 years ago
Thanks Ptennisnet for some excellent points.
I'm an elasmobranch biologist and a bit of a collector of shark films in whatever shape and form and although I haven't seen this one yet, I intend to, since the bull shark is my current study species. I am prepared to be amused and somewhat annoyed of the lack of bothering to research these sharks before starting out.
Bull sharks grow up to about 3.5m, and bear young in rivers so you do get sharks of up to 2m milling about in lakes, rivers and canals. The littluns stay there for around 2 years. But yes, the big boys (and more importantly girls) don't stay for long. If I remember rightly one of the shark attack films was about a great white in freshwater - all very far fetched.
The thing is tho, bull sharks ARE a very real problem in the canals, rivers, estuarine and coastal waters around northeastern Australia, the southeastern coast of the USA and around southern Africa. They've even been reputed to pick people off the banks of the Nile. The bull shark is also the shark I'd least want to come in contact with.
So I shall wait until I catch the film - with the usual dread that fills me whenever another one of these sensationalist low budget shark films comes on the scene.
PS - excellent quote Ptennisnet.
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robbo316-1
12 years ago
You really don't know much then do you? Adult female bull sharks average 2.4 m (7.9 ft) long and typically weigh 130 kg (290 lb), whereas the adult male averages 2.25 m (7.4 ft) and 95 kg (210 lb). While a maximum size of 3.5 m (11 ft) is commonly reported, there are records of specimens as large as 4 m (13 ft) and of weights as high as 575 kg (1,270 lb). I would also suggest you watch "River Monsters", specifically the episodes entitled "Freshwater Shark" (S01, E07) and "Hidden Predator" (S02, E07) as these both feature REAL Bull Sharks. Also your idea that they can only live in freshwater for 2-4 weeks, is completely wrong also, the latest theory is that a lot of Bull Sharks are in fact using freshwater lakes as breeding grounds as they are a safer environment for the pups. As an example the largest on record, which was around 4m was caught some 5.5km inland and was a female, in that same system was a number of other sharks. Oh, I know a bit about sharks as I am a member of the Shark Research Institute.
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