Before Steven Spielberg was helming West Side Story, he was behind the camera at the age of 27 for Jaws. An impressive on all fronts of cinema construction, the film's sterling reputation has held over the course of nearly 50 years, never exceeded no matter how many similar films (or sequels) were released in its wake.
From the cinematography to the central trio of performances from Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss, Jaws remains every bit as influential as the film that usurped its box office title: Star Wars. While the film has gone on to be parodied in any number of TV shows and movies since its release in 1975, its also gone on to inspire films of a similar "When Animals Attack" ilk. Some came soon after Spielberg's classic, others later, but Jaws isn't the only good shark movie swimming in the ocean.
Jaws (1975)
Avalanche5160 started a thread to share their favorite shark films, and Spielberg's "horror comes to town" movie, Jaws, was third on the list. Regardless of placement, first or third, the Redditor called the film what it is, a "classic through and through."
Jaws was the first real Summer blockbuster, and it effectively kicked off the concept of a Summer Movie Season. But it's far more than popcorn entertainment, as Spielberg's film is a masterclass in just about every aspect of filmmaking. Or, as Vinyud put it on a thread looking for the best shark movie of all time: "Jaws. There is no other answer."
Orca (1977)
Every Redditor who mentions it acknowledges that Orca doesn't feature a killer shark as the primary antagonist. But, the fact that there are so many recommendations of the film on shark movie threads is a testament to how it functions as one. For instance, EdgarFrogandSam wrote of the film, which received an excellent Blu-ray release from Scream Factory: "Orca is pretty sweet. Plus, Dumbledore is in it."
Orca was released in the wake of Jaws' mind-blowing success. While its reputation isn't nearly as glowing as the film that inspired it, the film has merit on its own, even if there are substantial pacing issues. With that said, the movie takes as much inspiration from Moby-Dick as it does Jaws, particularly in the form of lead character Captain Nolan (Richard Harris, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), who is as much of a Quint as he is an Ishmael.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Action director Renny Harlin's (Cliffhanger) fun but cheesy 1990s creature feature, Deep Blue Sea, is a well-cast and fast-paced modern classic for fans of the subgenre.
One Redditor, cosmernaut420, called it a "Classic shark movie" and "a solid action film." Avalanche5160 also brought up the genre-mixing adventure when they started a thread looking for the best shark movies, writing, "(You've) got to love the cast and the effects hold up." To the latter Redditor's second point, the CGI in the film hasn't aged like wine, but the shots where practical effects are used to bring the sharks to life look terrific over 20 years later.
The Reef (2010)
After directing the effective crocodile movie Black Water (2007), Andrew Traucki went swimming with sharks in The Reef. The plot follows a group of friends who capsized in the middle of the ocean and must swim to the closest island before being devoured by a ferocious great white shark.
R6_Goddess provided their take on a comprehensive ranking of shark movies and brought up both Deep Blue Sea and The Reef. They first called Deep Blue Sea a "AAA budget with a B movie script." They then put two movies above it, writing "I would put both The Reef and The Shallows above...Especially The Reef. Waaaaay better."
Bait (2012)
Unlike most of the hilariously cheesy shark attack movies released in the 2010s, Bait is relatively straightforward with a terrific concept. The plot follows a group of strangers stranded in a grocery store after it's flooded by a tsunami. Unfortunately, it's not just the electrical and structural hazards of the store standing in their way, but also a pack of great white sharks.
Vinyud put it pretty simply: "Bait is a lot of fun. It's sharks in a grocery store."
The Shallows (2016)
In The Shallows, Blake Lively stars as Nancy, a surfer who is stranded on a massive rock not far from the shore. What's stranding her is the circling, massive fin, and the carnivorous animal connected to it. Using her wits and the remainder of her physical strength, Nancy has to get through the water to safety.
Lively turns in what is arguably the best performance of her career as Nancy, displaying a range that's very hard to pull off when it's a one-person show. But it's not just a one-person show, as the shark serves as a presence all its own, and it's an intimidating and convincingly-realized one at that. Or, as Wolf_Man_Fan wrote, "I fully enjoyed The Shallows."
47 Meters Down (2017)
47 Meters Down was a late-Summer thriller that received respectable but average reviews (53% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a hefty box office tally. The film follows two sisters trapped in a shark cage well below the ocean's surface. If that weren't bad enough, blood-thirsty finned swimmers are swirling and ready to pounce.
KennKennyKenKen started a thread about the film, first acknowledging its middling reviews before going on to say they were "extremely pleasantly surprised." The film is better than its rote trailer would have led the audience to believe. It's not at the level of the subgenre's best, but 47 Meters Down is a suitably claustrophobic underwater thriller.
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)
Coming out just two years after the original film, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged did about as well with critics (45% on Rotten Tomatoes) as the first shark survival thriller. Based on Redditors' discussions, the film's critical reaction extends to the response from fans.
One Redditor, uncultured_swine2099, recommended the sequel to the aforementioned trapped-in-an-underwater-shark-cage Summer film: "Sequels to these kinds of movies usually are crap, but this one is alright. It has an interesting premise, being stuck in a series of underwater caves with vicious, blind sharks, and there's also a screaming fish."
The Meg (2018)
The big-budget Jason Statham vehicle, The Meg, pinned the action star against a 90-foot shark. An adaptation of a long-running series of novels, the film is an enjoyable adventure in its own right, even if its shark action is hampered by a PG-13 rating.
Considering the popularity of the books, it was important for the adaptation to reach fans, and fans like PraiseTheSun42069 enjoyed it as much as general audiences, stating they "waited years after reading the books for the movie to be made and it didn't disappoint me."
The Suicide Squad (2021)
BurnoutInc brought up a good question by asking "Does The Suicide Squad count cause there is a shark in that movie and he's a vicious killing machine but also a very good boy."
The Suicide Squad features far more casualties than any shark movie without a "nado" in the title, but it still brings something new to the table in the form of King Shark. Voice by Sylvester Stallone, the King is a personable, amiable fellow with a penchant for devouring human beings.