I’ve always been fond of great white sharks or white pointers as they’re called in Oz, just an amazing species. So when a movie comes out with sharks and Halle Berry in it, I’m bound to check it out.

So is Dark Tide any good? It depends on what you like really.

If you like sharks like me and watching the discovery channel then this movie is for you. The scenes with the sharks under the water are great, some excellent visuals and the deadly creatures are a delight to see in their natural habitat.

However, if you don’t like sharks but like a good compelling story then this isn’t for you at all.

Halle Berry looks great in a bikini but is on auto pilot throughout while for some reason I’ve never liked Oliver Martinez and this movie didn’t change my opinion on him. Ralph Brown is my pick of the bunch but even he seems a bit below par here, none of them are likeable and I didn’t really care what happened to them.

SPOLIERS:

The story, Berry plays Kate Mathieson, a marine biologist but hasn't been in the water since the death of her mentor at the very beginning of the movie. Then a rich Englishman, Brady (Ralph Brown) and his son want to pay her $100,000 so they can swim with sharks.

At first she’s reluctant even though her business is failing but Jeff (Martinez) who is her ex-boyfriend talks her into it, and while she doesn't promise Brady exactly what he wants, she still takes the two loonies out on the boat with her crew.

This is where it all begins to fall apart for me with a series of stupid choices. Kate is supposed to be our movies protag, a smart woman, yet she agrees to this even though she has already lost someone to a shark. But she needs the money you may say…fair enough.

But when she realises that Brady is a stubborn bloke who won’t listen to her and nearly gets killed by a shark (Oh, btw it’s mating season at the moment) she doesn’t go back even with the light disappearing. What does she do? Well she has an argument with Martinez and decides to go to the most shark infested area of all, it even has a name but I can’t remember it now (something like “death waters” or “don’t swim in this fucking area you idiots” would have sufficed) just a daft decision.

Obviously this is where it starts to go wrong and people start getting killed by the sharks (shame it nots Martinez) but I didn’t really care by this point because the logic of why they were swimming with sharks at night was lost on me.

Overall, I loved the sharks but the acting and plot fell flat with me. It’s not all bad but if you don’t like sharks or Halle Berry in a bikini, avoid it!

Steve

Quoted Text If you like sharks like me and watching the discovery channel then this movie is for you. The scenes with the sharks under the water are great, some excellent visuals and the deadly creatures are a delight to see in their natural habitat.

Wait a sec -- don't insult the fundamentals of Shark Week!

Surprisingly dull film directed by John Stockwell. Makes you want to watch Blue Crush and wonder WTH happened to the actor turned director. Into The Blue and Turistas were piles of dung. Now here's Dark Tide, dumped right to VOD.

12 minutes of setup, right ? Cliffhanger did it for less time. Granted, that was with mountain peaks and nor sharks but...if you want to get to the accident that causes the protag not to want to do something that, during the course of the film they must do and face fears and get redeemed...? Then get to it.

And you are spot on regarding Berry's new beau. I never warmed up to Martiez either. Not when he playd the bad guy in SWAT. I liked Blood and Chocolate too, a guilty pleasure, but he didn't do much and phoned it in.

Berry looks great in a swimsuit. So go see Die Another Day...

As for the fishies in Dark Tide, yes. right again. The fish are fine.

I'm ont going to disagree with Coop or DJS, but I actually liked this...for what it was.

Not sure exactly hwat happened here - some star power, a fairly respectable director (who obviosly loes ocean/water based movies), adn a $25 Million budget.  Why wasn't it released in the states?  Why'd they spend $25 Million?  What happened to halle Berry's career?

When this worked, it worked pretty well.  The problem was it was so damn slow and dull the rest of the time.  Everyone was bickering and fighting literally most of the time.  Too much was filmed in the dark, adn was very hard to see what was happening.  Some obviously really dumb decisions were made throughout.

I actually thought the acting was OK, most of the time.  I thought the shark sequences were very well done and very intense, especially the actual attacks.

Whatever this is or isn't, it's ont just another cheapass DTV ripoff of something else.  It deserves better, IMO.

And, it's now streaming on Netflix...give it a chance.