Probably the only thing Jaws has over Razorback (aside from the obvious - Hollywood, Spielberg etc) is that the 'hero' of Razorback is really kinda crap. Where Jaws' Chief Brody is genuinely capable, and good at his job, Razorback's Carl Winters is pretty much the opposite and constantly out of his depth in the Australian outback. Otherwise, we've got the barely-seen antagonist 'played' by a mechanical animal, we've got the local authorities refusing to believe the 'ludicrous' claim of what the threat is, and we've got the overzealous hunter-type determined to take down the threat single-handedly. Hell, we've even got the movie starting with the unseen antagonist attacking someone and dragging them off into its natural habitat!
That's not to say that this is at all intended as little more than a rip-off of Jaws, or that it's in any way bad. It's actually a genuinely good genre movie that excels in almost every way - aside from the aforementioned, crappy, 'hero'. Where it differs is that, here, that initial attack is almost-witnessed first-hand, with the story actually being sparked by an animal-rights activist heading to outback Australia from New York to expose illegal poaching, being terrorised by a couple of deranged locals, and eventually killed by the titular Razorback boar, with her husband then following to try to find out what happened to her.
Yes, our 'hero' is ineffectual, and some of the effects look terrible and dated by today's standards, but what we've got here is a genuinely rock-solid, atmospheric as all hell, animal-attack thriller with an antagonist that actually looks terrifying up close. It's just a shame that the protagonist is so terrible. Hell, even the two deranged locals who are illegally poaching the wildlife to make pet food are fantastic!
That's not to say that this is at all intended as little more than a rip-off of Jaws, or that it's in any way bad. It's actually a genuinely good genre movie that excels in almost every way - aside from the aforementioned, crappy, 'hero'. Where it differs is that, here, that initial attack is almost-witnessed first-hand, with the story actually being sparked by an animal-rights activist heading to outback Australia from New York to expose illegal poaching, being terrorised by a couple of deranged locals, and eventually killed by the titular Razorback boar, with her husband then following to try to find out what happened to her.
Yes, our 'hero' is ineffectual, and some of the effects look terrible and dated by today's standards, but what we've got here is a genuinely rock-solid, atmospheric as all hell, animal-attack thriller with an antagonist that actually looks terrifying up close. It's just a shame that the protagonist is so terrible. Hell, even the two deranged locals who are illegally poaching the wildlife to make pet food are fantastic!