Great White (1981)

Great White (a.k.a. The Last Shark; Italian: L'ultimo squalo) is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring James Franciscus and Vic Morrow. The film is extremely similar to Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

Plot
James Franciscus tries to save hundreds of swimmers in a coastal resort after a Great White Shark starts terrorizing the area.

Cast

 * James Franciscus as Peter Benton
 * Vic Morrow as Ron Hamer
 * Micaela Pignatelli as Gloria Benton
 * Joshua Sinclair as Governor William Wells
 * Giancarlo Prete as Bob Martin
 * Stefania Girolami Goodwin as Jenny Benton

Lawsuit
Universal Pictures sued to have the release of this movie in North America blocked, accusing the makers of Great White of plagiarism of Jaws. The studio won the case, and the movie was pulled from North American theaters shortly after its release. It has never been legally released on video in North America, nor shown on North American television, though bootlegs are regularly available on the internet.

However, ironically, if one compares the death of the shark in the films "Great White" and Jaws 3-D, they are virtually the same and one could say that the "Jaws 3-D" death was "inspired" by "Great White", since the Jaws sequel was released two years after "Great White", in 1983.

The lawsuit from Universal has been considered as one of the reasons for the demise of Film Ventures International.

Release
The film was briefly released theatrically in the United States by Film Ventures International in March 1982.

The film has a cult following in the United States because of its brief 1982 theatrical release and a proliferation of publicity materials, especially stills showing the titular shark's enormous prop, many times larger than any actual known species, on the internet.

The film was released on DVD in its native Italy in 2007 and on May 21, 2008 it was released on DVD in Sweden. It wasn't available on any format in the USA until 2011 when Amazon released a video download and a twenty-dollar, burn on demand copy of the film on their site. The disc is burned from a blank one upon ordering, but still, can't be bought in stores unless bootlegged.

On March 5, 2013, RetroVision Entertainment released the first official DVD release of the film in the United States since the film's banning. The film comes with restored colors, along with special features, including the short documentary Great White: The Legacy – 30 Years Later and rare theatrical trailers. The DVD is limited edition Region 0, and only 500 copies were manufactured. It is only able to be purchased online.

Reception
Of the film, the Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "its only interest (and amusement) is the way it has solemnly transcribed [from Jaws]". The Boston Globe commented negatively on the special effects, stating that the film obviously cuts between Vic Morrow and a shot of a shark in an aquarium and that the shark in question occasionally resembled a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.