Saltwater

Following a wave of shark attacks, Southern California lifeguards find that they're being attacked by a great white shark subjected to massive amounts of radiation from nuclear tests and must try to save the beaches when the shark approaches a crisis mode.

There was a lot to really like about this one. Among it's better features is the fact that there's the usual high-amount of action scenes within this one as there's a lot of fun to be had from the rather fun series of scenes throughout here. The opening attack on the parasailer is quite fun with the creature being unseen against the diver and attacking her while the boat trails off and sees the shark coming back causing his escape, a later attack on a group of water-tunnel works that is a fun cheesy highlight of the shark moving through the hoops to set them on fire before biting at the one on the equipment and the centerpiece scene where it attacks a second parasailing group that's in the different boats leading to the fire-fueled assault on them before taking out the others up on the rig. It's the kind of appropriately cheesy and high-action scene that works incredibly well, while the other big fun action scene featured that's nearly as much fun is the second beach assault that showcases the shark running through the different swimmers as it comes into shore and then landing on the beach to attack even more patrons before going out to sea which is quite a fun and enjoyable cheesy scene. Though it's the typically-clichéd hunting-the-shark- in-open-water finale, the action there is still so much fun with the different luring methods to effectively get the creature out to sea and finally get the creature after them resulting in some fun deaths, a couple of really exciting tactics to combat the shark and numerous suspenseful chases that take place for a big rousing finish. Coupled with some fantastic burn marks with all the radiation scares featured throughout here, these here are quite enough to make this a great entry. Again, the main element that holds this down is the same usual method of problem that usually affects these movies in it's utterly ridiculous and beyond lame special effects usually associated here. The CGI utilized here is up to their usual atrocious standards with the obvious pixelated images cropping up throughout here but also still in the wrong perspective in the frame to really settle upon any kind of positive interaction when they're featured and it really does take a lot out of the fun with such a wholly unappealing effort especially since we're exposed to it from the start as it's mere seconds of the opening of the film. Likewise, the film also struggles slightly here with the government agency aware of the creature, as there's a strong thread in the first half about they being responsible for a cover-up but yet nothing is done about it and is just summarily dropped without much explanation. Otherwise, this one serves as another fun killer shark effort.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.

Scott Foy, Jack Snyder, and Griff Furst's Atomic Shark script is first rate and under the gifted direction of A.B. Foy, this is an exceptional thriller. It is, however, the standout work of Rachele Brooke Smith that distinguishes this and leaves an unforgettable impression. She give nothing less than the performance of a lifetime and her characterization shows fantastic emotion and depth. Overall, a fine film but made something very special by Ms. Smith's tremendous work.

Low budget shark films generally do not get a good reputation and one can see why. There are a few guilty pleasure ones, like the first two 'Sharknado' films while not considering them great by any stretch. Most are just painfully amateurish with very little to them to set them apart or make them different, other than the odd silly idea not well executed.

The good news is for 'Atomic Shark' is that there are far worse shark films out there (those from SyFy and The Asylum are notorious in this regard) and at least there are redeeming values, even if not many. Something that cannot be said for too many other low-budget shark films, of the shark films seen recently 'Atomic Shark' is actually one of the least bad. The not so good news is that 'Atomic Shark' is still not a good film at all, with a lot wrong with it and the wrong elements are done poorly.

Jeff Fahey and David Faustino do conscientiously reasonable jobs with what they have. Generally, when it comes to low budget shark films the acting is surprisingly competent when it tends in most shark films to be all-round awful.

Scenery is nice and there are times where the shark action is fun to watch.

Unfortunately, that is only sporadic. The shark effects look terrible, even for low budget, and there is not much menace, suspense or fun in the mostly under-utilised and under-characterised shark action.

Much of 'Atomic Shark' is a mess of unintentional humour, awkward dialogue, stilted and mawkish melodrama and bland and annoying character writing (not the actors' fault, it's the writing). Complete with a story that is silly, implausible and essentially your basic more of the same generic low-budget shark film with nothing new.

It's not just the shark effects that look cheap. Excepting the scenery, visually 'Atomic Shark' is very drab and rushed-looking.

Overall, silly and under-cooked. Not unwatchable but easily skip-able. 3/10 Bethany Cox

And just when you thought you had seen every conceivable type of shark that Hollywood could spew out, then "Atomic Shark" comes to take a bite out of you. But let's be honest, with a title such as "Atomic Shark", then you know pretty much what kind of movie that you will be in for. And let me tell you right away, that this is exactly that kind of movie. No surprises there.

The special effects in "Atomic Shark" were as questionable as the title of the movie. The sharks were quite fake and so poorly animated that it was actually fun to watch. And that is one of the reasons why these cheesy creature features have that appeal, they are so poor that they are fun to watch. And "Atomic Shark" more than delivers on that account.

The story told in "Atomic Shark" is about a San Diego lifeguard with family problems whom discover that the waters of San Diego is the hunting ground for a particularly dangerous shark; a shark that has been exposed to atomic radiation.

Right, well the storyline was as to be expected; a no-brainer. The storyline was actually very generic as these movies tend to be, so there were no deviation from the 'how-to-make-a-shark-creature-feature' manual here.

What puzzled me in "Atomic Shark", aside from the very plausibility of the entire concept of the shark and its existence, was the fact that Jeff Fahey starred in something like this. Aside from that, then it was actually a blast to see David Faustino here, I think I have only seen him in a single movie or so since he was on "Married With Children".

"Atomic Shark" is another of those movies that you watch just because you have the chance, and because you know it is going to be another one of those low budget, awful special effects, movies that many watch but few talk about. There is nothing new to the genre to be found in "Atomic Shark". We watch these movies because sometimes they might actually turn out to be surprisingly nice; "Atomic Shark" wasn't one of those movies.

There are two possibilities here: either they did a laughably awful job on purpose for the shiggles (most probable), or they are genuinely incompetent. In other words, they either deserve 1 star or are desperate to receive one, so who am I to deny them? This is a movie about a shark that looks like an angry uncooked breakfast sausage that is also radioactive, go into it with low expectations and prepare for it to fail to meet even those.