A Fera do Mar

I first saw the movie in 1997 on TV. I loved the movie. Even though it is a made for TV movie, it was still awesome. They could have made some money in Theaters I'm sure. The Giant Squid is an amazing phenomena in its self. For all you movie lovers of Big Creatures or the unexplained... This ones for you. I would highly recommend watching. It's better than a lot of theatrical movies. Ever since I saw it, I am determined to one day get a big boat & go fishing for one of those Giant Squid. Who knows? It is an interesting movie. I didn't find it boring at all. With a little twist along the way... But you'll have to try & find it somewhere & watch it to find out. It is a hard movie to come across. Anyway, Andrew Hillier from St. John's NL, Canada gives it a Thumbs Up and a recommendation. Peace!

Yeah, it's Jaws on a budget, but just pop the corn, sit back, and have a little fun. I have sat through some atrocious horror movies (some of those in the 1950's and 60's are just awful), but this one is quite good for it's genre. Go ahead and root for the calamari, if you must! But she is protecting herself and her child as any mother would do in the same situation. The scenery is gorgeous, too--all shot in Australia, I think. I am not big on his love interest...she is a bit bland, but I do like Dana, his character's daughter. She was very believable and quite sweet. (Has she been in anything else?) Whip Dalton is my kind of guy: earthy, but charming...besides, anything with Billy Petersen in it is worth watching.

This went over pretty big in Australia when it first aired, thanks mostly to the local cast and the fact it was plugged to death by the network beforehand. It's never been seen since, which should tell us something.

My key recollection (and this was eight years ago now) is that it contained the most appalling digital effects I have ever seen. It also featured the tasty Laura Vasquez (from Home and Away), but she went nowhere much after this. Good luck finding a copy - I think they probably destroyed the masters. Or at least they should have.

I enjoyed Jaws as both book and movie, so I thought I'd give Benchley's novel of The Beast a try. It wasn't bad, even if it was pretty much just Jaws revisited.

Very good version of Peter Benchley's novel 'Beast' about the arrival of a giant squid and the danger it presents to a small fishing community. Obvious references to Benchley's far more successful 'Jaws abound but the story remains as strong as ever, humans going up against a seemingly unstoppable sea creature to which anything but mortal fear would be an unusual reaction. While I personally disagree with a few of the editing decisions no one can deny that Charles Martin Smith's Graves is a better character than in the book and that William Peterson is perfectly cast as the hero Whip Dalton. Anyone who has read the book will be able to accept the smooth changes along with the rough and believe that this is a far-above average adaptation of any simple novel, especially one destined merely for TV.

This movie really lets you in on a little secret...other than "Jaws", there is really nothing original about Peter Benchely's work. He basically uses the same plot elements in everything he writes the only thing he does differently is substituting sea creatures in for the shark from the hit "Jaws". This one though was somewhat fun to watch, a lot better than the horrid "Creature" that would come out a couple of years later. Why he titled this book "Beast" and not "Giant Squid" is beyond me, well maybe not. The latter just sounds stupid. Well that is what this movie is about, a super giant squid. Granted there is a bit of a twist in the middle of this one, but nothing to great of note if you have seen the movie "Jaws 3-D". The story is almost the same as "Jaws" except fishing and fisherman play a more prominent role and the beach is not used as much. Still, it has the typical mayor that will have his event or whatever no matter what evidence comes up to support closure or stopping of the event. My guess is Peter had a really bad run in with a mayor at some point in his lifetime. Still, there is enough to keep you entertained once. I would not really track down this movie to see it again.