The 25 Best Shark Movies of All Time
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Nothing makes summer feel more like summer, than the creeping fear of seeing a shark fin appear from under the tranquil blue waters at the beach. Oh, sorry—we mean watching the apex predator on the big screen. Ever since Jaws, when Steven Spielberg introduced us to the fearsome villain that is the great white shark, our nation has been enamored with films featuring the toothy creature.
Now, we’re living in a golden era of shark cinema. With the box-office hit of 2018's The Meg, we're set for at least a trilogy of epic prehistoric shark shenanigans. Maybe you prefer your scary swimmer films to be campy, with hilariously terrible special effects (Sharknado), or gritty, brutal survival dramas (The Shallows). But you may even discover a brand-new favorite, like the so-bad-it’s-good Sand Shark, that answers the age-old question: what if sharks survive on land?
No matter what kind of creature-feature you’re in the mood for, we have the best of the best picked out for you. So grab your floaties and a rum punch, and settle in for the special kind of spooks that only a bloodthirsty shark can deliver.
The Meg 2: The Trench
Who knew that The Meg's creators could possibly turn up the madness? Jason Statham clearly couldn't get enough of the prehistoric, bloodthirsty fiend, because he's back This time, there's more deep-sea creatures than anyone could ever imagine. Giant octopus, lizard-like creatures, and multiple Megalodons menace the screen—and pack this film's runtime to the gills with wild beasts.
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Jaws: The Revenge
Although this Jaws sequel was mostly panned by critics and audiences, time gives us the distance to fully appreciate the campy fun of this Jaws follow-up. With Lorraine Gray coming out of retirement to reprise her role as the widow of Martin Brody—and special appearances by Michael Caine and Karen Young—you can't beat this stacked cast. If you thought fighting a great white in Jaws was unbelievably tense, imagine being personally stalked by one that's obsessed with you!
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Soul Surfer
Who can forget Bethany Hamilton, the incredible young surfer who lost her arm to a great white shark, but later reclaimed her passion for surfing? Soul Surfer is a fictionalized film about Hamilton's experience and her subsequent struggle to continue her dream. It's an inspiring and heartwarming family drama that might have you ready to face your own fears.
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Zombie
Zombie—or Zombi 2, in the Italian theatrical release—is for all the strong-stomached, gore-hounds out there. Yes, the film's main antagonists are zombies; however, they are far from the only danger during this movie's runtime. Ever thought that you'd be happy to run into a shark during a swim? Well, you would be if you were swimming away from a zombie, and that shark decides to duke it out with said zombie, leading to an epic showdown. Check out this splatter-fest out to see whose side you're on.
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Sand Shark
Did you think shark-movie creativity peaked with Sharknado? Well, you'd be wrong, because Sand Shark takes the scary swimming predator to the one place you thought you'd be safe from them... land! Gone are the days when running to shore would save you from a shark, because in this unforgettable B-horror film, the sharks take the fight to you.
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Jaws
Steven Spielberg’s iconic summer blockbuster Jaws is not just a great shark movie, but a great film. (Yes, there is a huge distinction between those two feats.) Spielberg’s ultra-suspenseful storytelling, accompanied by an unforgettable score by composer John Williams and performances by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw, makes Jaws a timeless tale of man versus man-eating beast. When a great white shark makes a murderous visit to a beach town, three men embark on an open-ocean hunt to kill the killer.
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The Shallows
Blake Lively stars in this 2016 thriller as a young medical student whose recent loss of her mother causes her to seek solace at a secluded beach in Brazil. While surfing alone, she is injured by a shark attack - forcing her to flee to a nearby rock offshore where she begins to be encircled by the predator. What follows is an all-out fight to survive.
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Open Water
When a vacationing couple sets out on a scuba expedition, they emerge to find they’ve been mistakenly left behind by their tour boat. Add to the fact that there are sharks lurking just beneath them, and the two find themselves floating on the edge of life or death.
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47 Meters Down
Ever seen people cage diving among sharks and thought, “Who the hell would want to do that?” Well, you might be onto something. Claire Holt and Mandy Moore star in this thriller as two sisters whose cage diving expedition goes awry when the cage is disconnected from the boat - leaving them with depleting oxygen in shark-infested waters.
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Deep Blue Sea
Shark terror meets sci-fi in this 1999 film starring Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, and LL Cool J. The film follows a group of scientists studying mako sharks at an underwater testing facility. However, the genetically engineered sharks soon go on a rampage, overtaking the facility in a series of disasters.
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The Meg
As its name might suggest (short for Megalodon), The Meg is a B movie by any means. But, who doesn’t want to watch Jason Statham rescue a crew at an underwater research facility from a 75-foot-long, prehistoric shark?
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The Reef
In this Australian horror film, a group of friends’ vacation in Indonesia quickly takes a turn for the worse when their sailboat capsizes offshore. While attempting to swim their way to safety on a nearby island, they encounter a great white shark following their trail.
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Blue Water, White Death
Peter Gimbel’s 1971 documentary Blue Water, White Death documents his crew’s hunt across the Indian Ocean to photograph a great white shark. With real, daring feats in shark-infested waters, and well-done filmmaking at its core, this is the film to watch if you’re looking to avoid cheap special effects and sink your teeth into something authentic.
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Jaws 2
While Jaws 2 pales in comparison to its original predecessor, it still is a fine addition to the shark canon as a whole. When rumors of a shark return to the shell-shocked Amity Island, Sheriff Brody’s precautions read as a “boy who cried shark” to local beachgoers. But it’s soon apparent that there is trouble on the horizon.
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Shark Tale
Here’s a pup-friendly shark movie for good measure. Will Smith stars as a directionless fish who opportunistically claims that he is responsible for the recent killing of a shark. However, his plan for glory soon crumbles when the shark’s mob boss father seeks revenge. With voice acting performances from Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, and Martin Scorsese, the film is as star-studded as it is light-hearted.
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Sharkwater
Filmmaker and conservationist Rob Stewart released Sharkwater in 2006, a Canadian documentary about shark hunting that resulted in over 90 countries banning the practice of shark finning. Though they're known as predators of the sea, many shark species remain on the endangered species list due to human activities.
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Orca
While technically a killer whale, this Jaws knockoff penned by The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly screenwriter has just as much action and a classic '70s spaghetti western feel thanks to its Ennio Morricone score.
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Sharknado
Sharknado single-handedly saved the so-bad-it's-good disaster film genre, sending a tornado full of sharks at its helpless victims using cheap CGI and overly-dedicated acting. The success of Sharknado spurned six sequels, including silly titles like Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and The Last Sharknado: It's About Time.
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Ghost Shark
A shark returns from the dead to seek revenge on the fools who murdered it in Ghost Shark, a SyFy original film for Shark Week as silly as it sounds. It's a Ghost Shark folks, what more do you need to be convinced?
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USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage may be one of the most unknown high-profile films ever made. This disaster film about a crew stranded ins shark-infested waters not only features Nicolas Cage and Tom Sizemore but was also directed by New Jack City's Mario Van Peebles! For whatever reason, it premiered in the Philippines and was only released in the US as a digital rental on iTunes.
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Great White
Another Jaws knockoff, Great White's Italian director Enzo G. Castellari took it a step further than most and basically plagiarized so much from Jaws that Universal Pictures got the film pulled from theaters. The film even featured a shark expert character named Peter Benton (much like Jaws author Peter Benchley).
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3-Headed Shark Attack
Danny Trejo stars in the ridiculous 3-Headed Shark Attack, where he must protect a cruise ship from a massive mutated shark that has already consumed nearly half of the boat. I don't know if three heads makes the shark harder to kill than a normal shark, but it does it make it three-times as terrifying to look at.
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Mako: The Jaws of Death
Humans are the villains in Mako: The Jaws of Death, a film about a man gifted an ancient medallion that allows him to telepathically communicate with sharks. Understanding their plight, he sets out to seek revenge on anyone who harms his new sea friends.
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Planet of the Sharks
In the future, global warming has melted the Earth's surface to become almost completely submerged in water. Sharks dominate the globe as the top predators, and one massive alpha shark leads them all on the hunt.
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Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus
Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus may not be a good movie, but it does feature a Mega Shark fighting a Giant Octopus, so it's pretty much everything I want. Plus, it's free to watch on YouTube.
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