Orca rated PG for some violence, gore and some language

Long before the film Blackfish came out, a group of filmmakers and actors posed the idea of what could happen when man crosses paths with orcas and the possible repercussions that could ensue particularly if an orca's family is harmed by man.

Before I continue further let me put a bit of disclaimer in this.  The film Blackfish is not a work of fiction like the film Orca.  It is a moving and disturbing documentary chronicling the controversial capture of orcas and the potential dangers and consequences both to the whales and to humans who are involved.  The film was at least partly inspired by the tragic events surrounding an orca named Tilikum and some of his trainers that died in the course of working with him.

I personally haven't watched Blackfish and I don't intend to because it all sounds too sad for my taste.  Still, it sounds like it is worth watching if you are curious.  It has been described as "a very good film" that if nothing else presents a perspective of the subject material that hadn't been seen before.  But I digress.

Around the time that the film Orca was made and released, there were quite a few "large creature" suspenseful/horror films that all came out at the same time, the most well-known being Jaws of course.

In this film the idea is presented by marine biologist Dr. Rachel Bedford (played by Charlotte Rampling) that orcas are so intelligent that they are capable of remembering things like slights/injuries/attacks made against them.  Further, Rachel believes that their intelligence makes them capable of exacting revenge against those that wrong them.

In a small fishing village, a fisherman named Captain Nolan (played by Richard Harris) directs his crew to hunt orcas despite warnings from Rachel and others to leave the orcas alone.  In the course of the hunt, a pregnant female orca is wounded by Captain Nolan and his crew.

For some barbaric reason that isn't explained, Captain Nolan orders the wounded female to be strung up and hung from the mast of the boat and he doesn't put her out of her misery.  It is implied that if she had been immediately released instead of strung up, she might have had a chance of surviving her wounds.  In any case, the poor thing spends the rest of the day and part of the night slowly bleeding to death after miscarrying her calf.  While she is dying, her mate watches from the water.

Almost immediately after the female was captured, the crew seems to feel remorse but no one does anything to try to remedy the situation.  I know he's the captain and all but honestly could you stand by while an animal is being mercilessly tortured to death in front of you?   When the crew decides to head back in, Captain Nolan orders that the whale be cut down.  The guy who cuts the whale down is grabbed by the male orca and torn to pieces in the water.  Thus begins the reign of terror and revenge that the male orca will exact in recompense for his family's deaths.

At first Captain Nolan tries to put the events of the previous day behind him as much as possible while dealing with the loss of his crew member's death.  But to his chagrin (because he doesn't actually seem bothered that he senselessly ordered the slow torturous death of an animal) the dead female orca's body has mysteriously washed up on shore.  Rachel angrily criticizes Captain Nolan for butchering the whale.

Around the same time a local Native American man named Umilak (played by Will Sampson) warns Captain Nolan that, according to his people's beliefs, the angry orca isn't finished causing trouble and that things will only get worse for Captain Nolan and possibly the town.  Captain Nolan scoffs at Umilak's warning and focuses on his crew member's funeral.

Meanwhile, the fish that the town depends on for their economy have all fled supposedly because of an orca that has been sighted in the usual fishing waters.  As the townspeople are talking about and to Captain Nolan about what he did to the whale, pandemonium breaks out in the harbor.  The orca is deliberately going around and punching holes or at least putting huge cracks in the hulls of all of the fishing ships except Captain Nolan's.

The whale continues to wreak devastation and even maims a young woman who was a part of Captain Nolan's crew before Captain Nolan decides to challenge the whale in the open water.  Rachel and Umilak insist on accompanying Captain Nolan on his journey.  A battle of mettle turns physical leading to the somewhat surprising climax.

I watched this movie not by choice but because my mother decided this would be a good movie to watch.  I confess that I was horrified particularly by the brutal scenes involving the female orca.  This film isn't so much a horror film as a depressing drama with some scary food for thought.  The atmosphere of almost the entire movie is sad.

The effects haven't stood the test of time so be prepared for some cheese.

I was actually very much rooting for the whale in the final climax.  I also cultivated a sense of fear of orcas in that even though this movie is entirely fiction, the idea of a killer whale coming after people is frightening at best.  The knowledge that they can learn, plan, and execute their plans with "grim" efficiency doesn't help.  It also doesn't help that these powerful animals can come onto the beach if they want to.

Don't get me wrong.  I respect and appreciate orcas.  I think that they are amazing and beautiful animals.  I just don't want to be in the water with them.