NOTICE: This is NOT the Brett Kelly film, nor is it associated with it.
| Jurassic Shark | |
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 August 16, 2012 | |
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Directed by |
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Written, Filmed and Edited by |
Scott Pincus |
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Starring |
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Music by |
John Williams Don Davis Steve Jablonsky |
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Studio |
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Release Dates |
August 16, 2012 (Parts 1 and 2) August 18, 2012 (Part 3) September 7, 2012 (Part 4) September 14, 2012 (Part 5) September 21, 2012 (Part 6/Finale) December 25, 2012 (Full Movie Version) |
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Running Time |
86 Minutes |
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Followed by |
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Rating |
50/100 |
Jurassic Shark is a Jurassic Park fan-film directed, produced, written and edited by Scott Pincus. It is the first installment in the Jurassic Shark Film Series, as well as Scott's first live-action film and his main project of 2012. Following the cancellation of Island of Doom, Scott developed a more original concept that still takes place in the Jurassic Park universe. Filming took place from March to September 2012, and the film started airing on August 16, 2012. It gained mixed to positive reviews upon its release, although in later years more people would look upon the film negatively, primarily due to its poor quality. The film is Scott's most negatively-received full-length project.
The film stars Jon Meunier as Chase Landon, a boy who faces a robot shark terrorizing his neighborhood, leading him to invite Dan Bruines, shark expert Drake Matthews and several other friends to hunt down the murderous machine. However, things don't go as planned when the hunters become the targets of the shark's rampage in their nearby walking trail.
Due to the film's initial success, a sequel was released from July to December 2013, and the series concluded with third and final film that aired from June 2015 to December 2016, which raised the series' quality and served as a "semi-reboot" to the series.
Plot[]
The film opens with one of several fired InGen employees releasing a mechanical shark created by them as a killing machine. It is first dispatched to the walking trail near Bradford Cul-De-Sac in the small town of Bradford, Pennsylvania where it kills Kyle Blakes (Jacob Doerr), although Blakes managed to film the shark as it chased him. The video was taken by several reporters and further uploaded to YouTube. Due to this, Chase Landon (Jon Meunier) takes advantage of the situation by having Dan Bruines (Ben Meunier) organize a hunt for the shark, but first, find shark expert Drake Matthews (Will Meunier). Dan finds Drake, who agrees to participate in the hunt and says the shark is seemingly a great white. They soon find out that Cooper Culman (Jon Meunier), Nate Williams (Nick Stretch) and Chase Landon will participate as well, while Anna Shelby (Abigail Pincus) later confirms that Billy Trenton (Jacob Doerr) would not be.
The following day, the hunt begins. Dan allies with Chase and Drake and the two enter the walking trail and almost immediately encounter the shark, battling it briefly before retreating. The following day, they encounter it yet again, although it escapes. This leads Chase to allow Cooper and Jeff Stanton (Will Meunier) to search for it instead. The two encounter and battle it for several days before it kills Jeff.
After not hearing from Cooper or Jeff, Chase continues to hunt with Drake, Anna, and Alexa. Within the next couple of days, Anna, Jeff, and Cooper are killed, while Billy makes a return but he and Drake are injured by the shark. Chase gets inside a shark cage to lure the shark, but it destroys the cage, though Chase is unharmed. Determined to kill the shark, Chase sets off the next day and fiercely battles it in the walking trail. Eventually, he tricks it to critically damage itself when it crashes against a tree next to a cliff and plummets to the creek below. Chase takes one of its teeth and a piece of duck tape that reads "InGen" before walking back to the cul-de-sac, where he finds Drake waiting for him. Drake gives Chase his shark books, planning to end his interest in sharks, and the two walk up the sidewalk together.
Characters[]
- Jon Meunier as Chase Landon, the film's main protagonist, who is a strong hiker that organizes a hunt with Dan Bruines to kill the Shark. Chase was originally supposed to be the film's second main character, with Dan being the lead, but due to filming difficulties, the roles were switched. Chase kills the shark and survives the hunt.
- Will Meunier as Drake Matthews, the film's second protagonist, who is a Shark expert that Bruines also hires alongside Chase. Among the many changes to other characters in the film, Will's character managed to stay clear of them.
- Ben Meunier as Dan Bruines, a friend of Billy and Nate who hopes to get rid of the Shark completely. Dan was originally the film's main protagonist, as revealed in the beginning of the film, although filming problems eventually lead to the character being supposedly killed off near the end of the film. Dan, however, survives, and makes a comeback in the sequel.
- Jacob Doerr as Billy Trenton, the oldest protagonist and major friend of Bruines who is invited to help kill the shark. Jacob was not always able to film, and he was meant to appear in many more scenes then the ones that he had been featured in already. Billy survives the film, despite his arm being badly injured.
- Jon Meunier as Cooper Culman, a hunter who wields weapons and is extremely handy with them as well and the leader of the Random Team. Cooper's character was originally in Island of Doom: Jurassic Park, although Jon favored the character and he was transitioned from one film to another. Cooper is eventually killed by the shark.
- Abby Pincus as Anna Shelby, a hunter who is chosen to help the group kill the shark, and is also the person who recruits Dan Bruines into the hunt. Anna Shelby is eventually killed by the shark.
- Sam Pincus as Alexa Murray, a hunter who helps the group hunt for the shark, and is recruited by Anna. Alexa appears various times throughout the hunt, although her participation is small, she survives.
- Will Meunier as Jeff Stanton, a hunter who works alongside Cooper. He is a member of the Random Team. Jeff's character was originally supposed to be bigger, but script revisions resulted in the character's role becoming smaller. Jeff is killed by the shark.
- Nick Stretch as Nate Williams, a hunter, who at one point is told by Chase of the shark problem. Nate was not always able to help in the shark hunt, although at one point, he went missing and was presumed dead. He is revealed to have survived in the sequel.
- Jacob Doerr as Kyle Blakes, a trouble-making hiker who was the shark's first victim. False information was released at first to cover-up Kyle's death in the film.
Production[]
Pre-Production[]
The project was conceived after the cancellation of Island of Doom: Jurassic Park in late-2011. Scott originally debated on when to film the movie, ultimately deciding to begin shooting in 2012. The first idea of the film's shark was the Great White Shark Air Swimmer set; this idea was quickly shot down since the balloon-like shark constantly malfunctioned and looked fake. Due to this, it was decided that the shark would be entirely-CGI. On December 16, a friend of a YouTuber named Dr.Mollica's was contacted about animating the film's shark after Scott recognized some of his animation work. After the offer was turned down, Dr.Mollica said he could animate, but he instead made a trailer that featured scenes from movies irrevalent to the project. Scott then decided to make a physical 11-foot shark prop. In early-February, the shark was completed and attached to a large wagon for transportation. When filming began in March, it was difficult to manuever in the walking trail. After shooting two more scenes in the walking trail, it was decided that the wagon wouldn't be used.
Filming[]
The first day of filming took place on March 23, 2012. Filming continued into April and May. On April 8, 2012, the film's plot summary and script were officially completed, but on April 12, the film's primary actors had a strict schedule that wouldn't allow them to go to the walking trail as often. Negotiations were made to film as much as possible. However, Jacob Doerr broke his arm on May 23, so the injury was added onto his character as well. The first trailer was released on May 25, featuring Ben, Jon and Will Meunier as Dan Bruines, Chase Landon and Drake Matthews, respectively. By May 27, about 30 minutes of the movie had been shot. Due to conflicts with filming in the walking trail, much of the project was shot in the woods right near Scott's house, where Ninjago would later be filmed. By June 23, about an hour of the movie had been filmed. At the time, it was confirmed Jacob Doerr would have a smaller role in the film because he wasn't filming as much.
The film began airing on YouTube on August 16, with the first 45 minutes being released. On August 25, the second-to-last scene of the movie was completed, and the very last scene (due to schedules involving school) was filmed on September 15, thus concluding the production. The rest of the film's parts were released up until September 21, with the final part airing on that day. A playlist is available for the movie on Scott's YouTube channel with six different videos, each being around fifteen minutes long. On December 2, 2017, the full movie was blocked worldwide due to several copyright restrictions being induced for the music. Scott attempted to dispute the copyright claims, citing that he doesn't make money off of the film or its music, and that John Williams is given full credit for the music he made in the film. However, these disputes have failed to change anything.
On August 12, 2013, the film's deleted scenes were released on YouTube, featuring nearly 20 minutes of unseen footage that weren't featured in the film, as well as the original versions of certain scenes.
Critical Reception[]
The film has gained a mixed to negative reception. Despite the failure of the first trailer and some poor criticism on the actual film itself, the movie has gained an extremely mixed reaction. According to the overall ratings for the film, it has a score of 46%, based on 193 likes and 220 dislikes. When judging the ratings for the trailers and the film itself, it also has a score of 46%, based on 202 likes and 434 dislikes. The full movie currently has over 210,000 views.
The Creature Bleacher Features, a website that reviews all kinds of shark films, gave a mixed review toward the film. "While Jurassic Shark isn't a great movie, it's hard to dislike it. It does have some technical shortcomings which detract from its enjoyability, but they planned their shots well and kept things tight. In fact, one technical aspect of this film outshines most other shark films: the shark. I can't necessarily recommend watching the film, but I am very happy that it exists."
Even with the positive notifications for the film, there have been comments by which people have disliked it, criticizing the film's acting, young actors and shark. The quality of the film by which it was filmed and edited was also poor, although this partially improved for the sequel and will improve to its fullest for the third film, where the film will be shot entirely in HD. The film's editing resulted in several jump cuts and longer shots that had a negative effect on the final product. Nevertheless, the film is commended as being LordStarscream100's live-action directorial debut. Jurassic Shark was LordStarscream100's most viewed film and video yet, surpassing his second highest-viewed film, BIONICLE: Universe III: War of the Worlds, by nearly 80,000 views. This has, however, been surpassed by a wide variety of uploads, including the Ninjago Film Series, released two years later.
Sequels[]
Jurassic Shark II: The Retribution was directed by Scott and was released from July to December 2013, featuring returning cast members Jon Meunier, Will Meunier, Ben Meunier, Nick Stretch and Jacob Doerr.
Jurassic Shark III: The Revolution was also directed by Scott, and was released from June 2015 to December 2016. Jacob Doerr is the only actor from the first film to return in a major role, while Jon Meunier, Ben Meunier and Will Meunier make cameos.
Trivia[]
- The film is Scott's most negatively-received full-length movie, with a rating of around 50/100.
- The ending of the final battle, with Chase Landon sliding down the slope and inspecting the shark in the creek below, was meant to be completed on the day the rest of the battle was shot, but Jon, Ben and Will had to leave the set early. Due to the fact that summer was about to end, and the younger cast members' parents would not allow them to go back to the walking trail, Jon, Will and Scott snuck into the walking trail the following morning to finish the scene, and they were successful in doing so.
- Drake Matthews was originally supposed to go inside the shark cage instead of Chase Landon, but Will, who plays Drake, said that he wasn't comfortable with the scene. Jon, who plays Chase, was eager to go inside.
- Most of the film's characters were at one point planned to be killed off, or at least in different ways:
- Chase Landon: Landon and Dan would be the last two people still participating in the hunt, and while searching for the shark, it would find them and shove Chase down a hill. While Chase fell, the shark would glide over him and wait at the bottom, to which it would zoom forward and bite Chase in the torso, dragging him off into the bushes.
- Drake Matthews: Drake would have been in the shark cage, which the shark would've torn a hole in and knocked over. The shark would bite Drake, pull him out of the cage, and eat him. There was another draft of the film where all of the characters except him and Dan were killed by the shark. His death would have been loosely based off of Hooper's planned death in the novel Jaws. The character was originally intended to be eaten by the film's Great White Shark while in the shark cage near the film's conclusion.
- Jeff Stanton: During Cooper and Jeff's first encounter with the shark, they retreated from it, and Jeff hid behind a tree. Suddenly, the shark flies over and eats Jeff head-first. The death scene was refilmed due to it being rushed, but the original scene (excluding the shark killing Jeff) was still used in the film.
- Nate Williams: After Billy's injury, Nate hunts alongside Dan, Chase and Drake. As they talk, he would trip on a tree root, falling on his back, which gave the shark the opportunity to devour him whole.
- Cooper Culman: Cooper's death in the very first draft of the film was to have him run from the shark and climb a tilted tree. Upon reaching the top, he would fall into the shark's jaws. While a suitable tree was found to use for the stunt, the scene was re-written to the present one, since the original version would've been too difficult to film.
- Alexa Murray was, at one point, thought of being killed off, but when the plot was reversed, this idea was immediately scrapped.
- Billy Trenton was never thought of being killed off. The deaths of Dan, Anna, and Kyle Blakes were never changed.
- In order to film the shark's death, the two pieces of wood on either side of the shark's head were broken in two so that the shark would appear as if its head had collapsed in on itself.