3/5 Better than some think
  by Ratspit (California, United States)
I just watched this movie last night. I had no idea if it was going to be any good considering the mixed reviews floating around online. While it certainly isn't spectacular, Red Water does have a decent script and tries to put a few new spins on the killer shark concept. It was decent, and people were concerned about the shark throughout the movie. It's just that the shark does not feature predominantly through the whole movie. With all of the shark movies around (most which are awful 2nd rate versions of the Jaws series -and by the way, Megalodon was terrible) this made for tv movie goes for a more atmospheric feel. A lot of time is spent trying to build up the characters, and unlike Jaws, the shark gets pushed into the background more while they are doing character development. From the Cajun countryside inhabitants reminiscent of the better developed Cajun town in the movie Southern Comfort, to the criminals trying to recover loot, this movie comes off as a sort of Jaws meets Anaconda meets its own take on it all. The acting is fine, the cinematography is decent, and it's an enjoyable watch for someone not wanting the movie to raise the bar on the shark genre or something. There is even a decent amount of humor in the movie, some of it more subtle and maybe more recognizable if your familiar with the Jaws series. If you want only the best, stick with Jaws, if you want a movie that raises the bar on underwater movies (though not with sharks as a focus) then try The Deep with Nick Nolte, Robert Shaw, and Jacqueline Bisset. However, if your looking for another shark movie that is fun and halfway decent, try Red Water or Deep Blue Sea. They are the only two decent shark movies I know of existing at this time outside of the Jaws series.

2/5 Harmless.
  by Greg Hirst (Casper, WY USA)
What's wrong with a straight-up shark thriller? Deep Blue Sea showed us that character development and sparkling dialogue aren't necessary when you approach shark movies with craftsmanship and little pretention.

RED WATER is here to remind us how hideously wrong it can all go. Should we start with the acting? Let's. Lou Diamond Phillips is not a bad actor. I loved his over-the-top performance in THE BIG HIT, but he plays it straight here, bogging down in unspeakable dialogue and trying to make the melodrama appear genuine. I haven't seen Kristy Swanson since the Buffy Movie. Her appearance is significant because I thought she was dead.. :/
Coolio doesn't need much talent: he character ought to be natural to him. The bad guy is okay, typically scruffy and unshaven.

All of these actors certainly could have done better had they had better dialogue to spew. How many times have we seen the scene where the ex-husband and ex-wife begin to be reuinted in the face of danger? How about where the hero mournfully recounts his troubled past?

But let's talk about what REALLY matters. The animatronic shark looks great, but it is intercut with some shoddy CGI work, and it frequently changes size and shape. There are several attacks at the beginning, all of them predictable (a bad sign, DEEP BLUE SEA's best attacks were viscous and surprising) and bloody, but not done in a visceral fashion. There's no new camerawork or methods of making an old creature attack more hard-hitting. When people are killed, I felt very little.

Several opportunities to create genuine suspense (the flashing on the underwater lights to alert the divers of the sharks presence) are squandered so often that their mere possibilites must have been accidents.

The movie also bogs down in a ridiculous treasure-hunting plot. I realize this is necessary to keep the characters in "the crucible" (i.e., keeping them always in conflict) but why must if be so pretentious? Why must there be "human" conflict with the drug dealers? Why must there be explosions? Unless you're DEEP BLUE SEA, less is more.

And by the way, the phrase "The Jaws of Death" will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be lame and hackneyed, no matter what language it's in. (You'd think if they were going to pull it off in French, they wouldn't have translated it for us)

Speaking of cliches, see if you can count the ones in this movie. My favorites were the aforementioned "troubled-past-reminicing" and the hero's final insult to the beast during the climax.

Had this not been a made for TV movie, perhaps a more creative director could have done something visceral and carnage-ridden. The river-setting is rife will possibilites. It's made for TV premeir during shark week was exciting, but simply because I am one of those who is immediately attracted to any movie featuring a set of teeth, ESPECIALLY a sea creature,and ESPECIALLY a shark.

I suppose I should be thankful. After slogging through the SHARK ATTACK serious and countless direct-to-video sea thrillers, RED WATER comes as a kind of blessing. Gone is the blatant FLATNESS. Instead of just being a second-rate-studio churned out, by-the-numbers piece of sheep intestine, the makers of RED WATER seemed to have genuine interest in the project. Regardless of whether or not they failed, this pleases me.

If you seek River/shark horror, the best I can recommend is watching JAWS and ANACONDA back-to-back. If that doens't suit you (no reason it shouldn't) or you are simply a crazed shark-movie maniac, then check out RED WATER.

(By the way, the shark on the cover is obviously a great white, whereas the shark in this movie is a bull shi- AHEM... bull shark. Some shoddy marketing there, dontch'ya think?

4/5 IT WAS OK FOR THIS TYPE OF FILM
  by fmwaalex (Austin, TX USA)
RED WATER

This film is honestly not as bad as every one makes it out to be, I mean just take it for what it is. And what is it exactly you might ask, well it is a rip off b movie, and for that it really isn't that bad. Sure it isn't a classic in any sense but it is still entertaining enough for a boring night with nothing to do.

Director Charles Robert Carner does what he can with this film, it turned out ok for a cheap rip off film. Writers J.D. Feigelson and Chris Mack are mainly the ones to blame here, even I can't deny that the script could have been better. Also the acting was ok at best from most, Lou Diamond Phillips was great as the lead in this film but I have seen him do much better [The Triangle]. Still The Lou shines in any and everything he does. Phillips steals the show and rightfully as the lead. Kristy Swanson did well in her part as Phillips ex wife. Coolio like Lou was only ok in his part of some side kick goon. But I must say that the actor who played Bret was well beyond every one else in this film. But other then him nobody else seemed to do any thing other then ok.

The story was an easy one to follow, a shark is loose in the fresh water of the Mississippi. It just so happens that in that same water is some people drilling for natural gas, and some guys looking for some money that was lost in the river 5 years ago. As it turns out both groups cross paths and find them selves battling each other as well as the shark. Actually when I spell all of this it seems like the story should have been much better, but I'll stick by what I wrote earlier and say that this film is ok for a rip off movie.


1/5 Stooopid movie
  by Chota Man (Grand Junction, CO United States)
I can't help by not like anything about this movie. The actors seem to be as uninterested in making the movie as I was in watching it. I returned it so fast it made the cashier dizzy. Skip this stinker. Trust me. You'll have more fun at the dentist.

4/5 not bad
  by
when i heard about this movie i was very exited, i mean too many movies are about great whites (not like i didn't enjoy JAWS 5 stars!). but this one was about a bull shark. it only disapointed me a little. the shark looks pretty real by the plot is bad with the whole criminal, hostage situation deal. but then you add the terror sharks bring to peoples heart. if you thought the river was sfe, think again!