The Sharkfighters

1956 "FIGHTING THE TERROR OF THE SEAS!"
5.1| 1h13m| en| More Info
Released: 01 November 1956 Released
Producted By: Formosa Productions
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Landing on a small island not far from Havana, Cuba, Lt. Cmdr. Ben Staves joins a Navy scientific project engaged in finding an effective shark repellent to help save the lives of WWII military personnel stranded in shark-infested waters. His zeal for completing the project as fast as possible is explained by his having lost a large percentage of his crew to sharks when his ship was sunk by the Japanese. Against the advice of the others on the project, Staves demands that the new repellent be tested on a live subject surrounded by hungry sharks and will allow no one but himself to be the test subject!

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Reviews

Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
VividSimon Simply Perfect
Micitype Pretty Good
Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
cshep The Big Victor(Victor Mature) in a film about the evolution of shark repellent 1950's style, before "Jaws". Shot with one camera adds o the one-dimensional aspect. Philip Coolidge is the "Icthyologist" being aided and is always interesting to watch. Film score does help but not enough to make people care . Most interesting is Cuba before Castro aspect. Mostly for the curious. 1 star out of 10, hard to argue for more... Check other reviews for more details. Look for Claude Akins and introducing James Olson. I think film is more propaganda than entertainment.Color print I saw was poor, and camera out of focus.
bkoganbing Nice on scene location cinematography in Batista's Cuba is the main asset of The Sharkfighters about a wartime naval experiment trying to find a proper shark repellent for sailors in the water after a battle where their ship came out on the losing end. Whether we win or the Japanese win, sunken ships mean only one thing for the sharks, one hardy feast.Victor Mature who lost several people to sharks in the water after his ship was sunk is assigned to this project. Other on it are the man in charge Philip Coolidge who is an ichthyologist and ensign James Olson and CPO Claude Akins. They're stationed on a small island off Cuba where young Rafael Campos hangs around and makes himself useful to the navy people. The storyline conflict between Mature and Coolidge is very forced. The writers were trying to create something that should not exist. Mature is a career navy guy and Coolidge a scientist, they both had their own turf and shouldn't have been at loggerheads. After all no one here as a rooting interest for the sharks.Some tension toward the end as Mature makes the test himself of the repellent as a human subject, but we kind of know it's going to work out.Nice for the water and the scenes of Havana before Castro, but a slightly below average B film is how I would rate it.
billsanantonio This movie is really pushed by the phenomenal score, conceived by Jerome Moross. Victor Mature gives a solid, quite cool performance as the stereotype hero. The story is a bit thin, the finish could have been better and the supporting cast has not much space, but nevertheless it's enough to be good entertainment. Directing is handsome and the locations are pretty, the style looks sometimes a bit like documentary and that's indeed quite interesting. The scene, when the shark gets one of Matures companions is quite convincing and anyway there have been a lot of movies, where the effects around blood-thirsty animals have been much worse. As a not fully developed precursor of Spielbergs 'Jaws' this movie is definitely a recommendation.
JRT-3 Victor Mature spends more time drinking beer than fighting sharks in this shamefully bad film about a U.S. military shark-fighting operation in Cuba. It looks like it was shot with only camera (which has a hard time staying in focus). The film was probably just an excuse to take a vacation in Cuba.