Bullet Points: Shark Zone

Shark Week has been an annual tradition on the Discovery Channel since July of 1988.

Thirty-six years later and here we are with the 2024 edition of Shark Week on Discovery, the perfect time for me to dig into the Nu Image library and review another of their multiple shark themed movies, this time out it will be 2003’s Shark Zone…

• The Past Comes Back: I was surprised when the movie opened up in 1712 on the high seas with the crew of the Santa Cruz, a ship that legend had it was carrying the crown jewels of the Spanish monarchy. The Santa Cruz encounters some rough weather at sea and ends up at the bottom of the ocean somewhere off the coast of Northern California… Fast forward to modern times and some diving enthusiasts looking for adventure (and the possibility of treasure) end up finding their demise instead. The group was led by former Navy SEAL, Andrew Wagner. Accompanying his father on the trip is a young Jimmy Wagner (Dean Cochran, Target of Opportunity) and one by one, all the divers with the exception of Jimmy are devoured by sharks. 10 years later, Jimmy Wagner is still haunted by the memory and the guilt of not being able to save his father.

• West Coast Jaws: Jimmy now finds himself married and with a son of his own and working in some official capacity where his main job is to keep the beach goers in his local community safe from shark attacks…. obviously hoping nobody has to go through what he did. But Memorial Day weekend is fast approaching and Mayor Cortell is more concerned with the town’s big Beach Fiesta, an essential event for the local economy, than he is the possibility of sharks… especially after last year’s Beach Fiesta was a financial bust, thanks in part to an overly cautious Jimmy Wagner. However this year, a benefactor (a rich Russian named Volkoff) has stepped in and agreed to underwrite the entire Beach Fiesta, but he has ulterior motives something Jimmy and his family will find out the hard way.

• Sad Anniversary: Then on the anniversary of his father’s untimely demise, the beach is attacked by sharks that are bigger and faster than any Jimmy has seen before and lives are lost. Mayor Cortell is not interested in Jimmy’s theory of a school of Jurassic sharks, he just wants them killed ASAP. So Jimmy gets a team of divers together and they go out looking to kill the sharks and it is another dive gone bad with Jimmy being the only survivor of the expedition… Another attempt doesn’t get the job done, but the third time ends up being the charm (although Jimmy is not 100% convinced) and the Beach Fiesta goes on as scheduled.

• Diamonds Are Forever: I should point out that Mr. Volkoff (Velizar Binev, U.S. Seals II) had been trying to get Jimmy to take him and his team out to the wreckage of the Santa Cruz since Volkoff firmly believes the fabled diamonds are down amongst the wreckage and he wants them. Obviously Jimmy has no interest in going back there and he keeps denying Volkoff’s request… until he can’t. Volkoff has his men snatch up Jimmy’s young son, Danny. Then Volkoff calls Jimmy and cuts the deal… Jimmy helps him get to the diamonds, Jimmy gets Danny back. There’s a great moment where Jimmy and Danny tell the other that they love them, which is a call back to the opening between Jimmy and his father. But does it turn out tragically like it did 10 years prior!?!?

Shark Zone is another unique entry in Dean Cochran’s time with Nu Image. It doesn’t come close to Jaws nor was I expecting it to, but in the world of direct-to-video shark movies, I have certainly seen worse. And speaking of the sharks, with multiple sharks in this one there was plenty of blood in the water (and they worked in some nudity with some of the bathing beauties, which I don’t believe was all that common for Nu Image). The greedy Russian baddie gave the movie a different element and gave our hero, Jimmy Wagner, another obstacle to overcome. And like in his other Nu Image films, it’s impossible to not want to root for Dean Cochran.

It’s damn near impossible for me not to include some Bonus Bullet Points…

• Familiar Faces: I recognized Alan Austin, who played Mayor Cortell, and Luke Leavitt, who played Danny Wagner, from another Dean Cochran Nu Image flick, Air Marshal!
• Name That Tune: Did my ears deceive me or did I hear a bit of Jean Sibelius’  “Finlandia” used in Shark Zone? “Finlandia” is a song that I will forever associate with Die Hard 2.
• Customers Also Watched: If you enjoy Shark Zone and are looking for more Nu Image shark action, you can check out Raging Sharks starring Corin Nemec or any of the Shark Attack movies, including the original starring Casper Van Dien.