To explain the 1981 Italian hack-job known as “L’ Ultimo Squalo (The Last Shark),” I would direct the reader’s attention first to a pretty bad Bob Dylan impersonator, to be found within about 30 minutes of the movie: a similar sound, but zero substance. The same could be said about this film, in relation to its source material: “Jaws.”
Before continuing, a note on the title. “L’ Ultimo Squalo” appears to be the result of an Italian misunderstanding of American misuse of English. Though we Americans (in our usual, language-bastardizing fashion) often use the word “Ultimate” to mean “best,” “greatest” or something in that vein (for example, The Ultimate Fighter), the root of the word, and the word itself actually mean “Last,” or “end.” I suspect the Italian filmmakers attempted to appeal to an American audience with a movie about “The Ultimate Shark,” but, rather amusingly, and similar to everything else about this movie, it was lost in the translation.
The movie, made by people who have obviously never bothered to even read a book about sharks, is a blatant “Jaws” rip-off. The filmmakers never even bothered to hide the fact (although, with characters like a novelist named Peter Benton, they may well have been trying to pretend it was an homage rather than theft –though it may just indicate the exact lack of creativity suggested by the rest of the script). The plot itself if more full of holes than the surfboard at the beginning of the movie, and you don’t even have to be a particularly careful observer to note the several oddities and inconsistancies in the action — like how a giant Great White is able to swallow a 200-lb man in two gulps, but has trouble with a 20-lb morsel of meat.
Still, the movie is fun for the reasons all bad movies are fun, in an MST3K kinda way. For this reason, and just because it’s so darned hard to find, it’s certainly worth a look. Its cult status is due largely to the successful suit brought by Universal, which shut down all exhibition and release of the film in the US. This has made it available mostly as bootleg or Japanese laserdisc. Fortunately for us, though, our friends at moviesfoundonline.com have found a copy and made it available for everyone’s — er — enjoyment.
