New VOD "The Last Shark" Now Available!

[Thrashalla]

http://www.rifftrax.com/the-last-shark


Mamma mia! Some Italian filmmakers decided to rip off Jaws! The Last Shark doesn’t have the acting talent or music score budget of the original, but it does have a substantially higher percentage of actors with mustaches!

The town’s annual windsurfing regatta is threatened by the presence of a killer shark, and rather than do the sensible thing, cancel it and refund both the tickets they’ve sold, the town presses onward. The result: extremely hilarious shark attack special effects! Tell Mrs. Kintner to stop mourning and get her slappin' hand ready, it’s The Last Shark!


http://www.rifftrax.com/the-last-shark

[MrTorso]

YES! YES! YES! A Million times YES!!

I actually saw this movie in 1981 with my Dad when it was called Great White and before Universal successfully sued for plagiarism and got it yanked from the theater.

I am buying this right away just in case all the rights aren't lined up! So many companies have tried to release this legit in the States and never have been able to.

[Trekker4747]

Plagiarism? The movie is obviously inspired by Jaws and has similar beats but it's no different than the crap The Asylum turns out in their "Mockbusters" of Summer Movies.  There's enough differences between Jaws and this movie for any calls for plagiarism to be thin.  Yeah we have our crusty sea captain, our town leader more concerned about an up-coming local event than the safety of his citizens and tourists, the townsperson whose at odds with the mayor/whomever because he *IS* concerned about events.  People getting injured in attempts to catch the shark themselves and a major attack/injury (involving the loss of a leg and one of the main character's children though not the same person in Jaws's case) kicking off the final battle against the shark.

But other than similar story beats and character tropes there's little plagiarism here. It's not like the out-right plagiarism that was "The Island" which ripped off "Parts: The Clonus Horror" pretty much beat for beat; with precisely the same story (clones raised as organ donors for rich people, kept secluded in a manufactured environment and kept naive to the rest of the world. One of the clones is more than he seems and manages to escape to find out about the real world and who he is.  Only to discover his genetic donor who feigns to help him.)  Sure they mixed a few things up here and there and Michael Bay did his think with it between sunset pron and military machinery porn.   But the movies were pretty much identical.

I wonder how well this lawsuit held because the two movies are only tangentially similar (shark attacks town, crusty sea salt and local townsperson helps)  hell, the dramatic moment of Quint telling his story about the Indianapolis vs. mayor quy attacking the shark with the helicopter?   Please. One move took the subject seriously the other silly.

[CJones]

Yes, but the big difference is that hardly anyone had seen Parts:The Clonus Horror, outside of MST3K. But everyone has seen Jaws, and anyone watching this would recognize it as a Jaws rip-off. I'm not saying that Universal was justified in forcing Last Shark to be pulled from theaters, but that's why it happened in this case, and not for The Island. Plus the fact that major studios have a lot more lawyers.

[Edward J Grug III]

It was also released titled as jaws 2 or 3 in some regions, so maybe that helped their case?

[ManUnderMask]

Is the title a subtle hint that Rifftrax is no longer going to riff terrible shark movies?

[Trekker4747]

Yes, but the big difference is that hardly anyone had seen Parts:The Clonus Horror, outside of MST3K. But everyone has seen Jaws, and anyone watching this would recognize it as a Jaws rip-off. I'm not saying that Universal was justified in forcing Last Shark to be pulled from theaters, but that's why it happened in this case, and not for The Island. Plus the fact that major studios have a lot more lawyers.

Well, actually those behind "Parts" did sue the producers of "The Island" and won, finally settling out of court.

[Edward J Grug III]

Is the title a subtle hint that Rifftrax is no longer going to riff terrible shark movies?

I hope not - this was an excellent riff!

[Toyland Chairman]

The film is less of a ripoff than CRUEL JAWS (1995), but there are some similarities.  And it had the same director, and some of the same cast that did ESCAPE 2000, featured on MST3K. Also WARRIORS OF THE WASTELAND, previously riffed through Rifftrax.

I'm amazed Rifftrax was able to obtain this one. I thought Universal had been preventing its North American release since 1981. I thought they bought up the film rights, but were keeping them out of spite. It would have been cool if they released a DVD under the JAWS name.

I would recommend people buy this as soon as possible, just in case it's pulled due to rights issues.

[Edward J Grug III]

It was also released titled as jaws 2 or 3 in some regions, so maybe that helped their case?

Looks like a hotlink issue with this.

[ScottotD]

Wasn't there a Cracked article on this?