''Megalodon'' is a 2004 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

focused on a

megalodon ''Otodus megalodon'' ( ; meaning "big tooth"), Common name, commonly known as megalodon, is an extinction, extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Earl ...

, a large extinct species of

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

. It takes place out on a deep-sea

oil rig An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construc ...

. When a deep sea drilling platform penetrates the sea bed in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, it unleashes a prehistoric shark of enormous power and proportions. It is known in the UK and other territories as ''Sharkzilla''.

Plot

In the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

off the coast of

, a highly advanced deep sea

has been recently constructed by the company Nexecon Petroleum, and named "Colossus" for its immense size. This "new" type of oil rig can dig deeper and extract more

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

than any other in the world. The fact that this huge rig has been built on fault lines alarms

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

s, who are concerned that the delicate ocean floor fault lines in that region might be disturbed through deep drilling, with catastrophic consequences. A

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, Christen Giddings, has been invited by the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Nexecon, Peter Brazier, to the oil rig in an attempt to address the concerns of the geologists. Christen is accompanied by a trusted

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

Jake Thompson, who will record their findings. The oil rig's crew seem to be convinced that nothing bad will happen, and are skeptical of the geologists. Brazier hopes that a documented report on "Colossus" will reveal that his rig has all the necessary safety arrangements and that the region is stable enough for a drilling operation. As the drilling commences, a rich oil deposit is discovered. However, further drilling is not stopped and an "ocean floor fault line" ruptures, which opens a portal to a "mirror" ocean, hidden under the normal ocean for millions of years and containing

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

life. An explosion occurs and the drilling system collapses. A team of

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

s descend through a glass

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

to assess the situation. A giant animal is spotted approaching, which turns out to be the most powerful and fearsome oceanic predator that ever lived, ''

Otodus megalodon ''Otodus megalodon'' ( ; meaning "big tooth"), Common name, commonly known as megalodon, is an extinction, extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Earl ...

'', a giant, prehistoric shark. A struggle for survival ensues as the crew and geologists attempt to escape from "Colossus", during which several people fall victim to the beast. In a desperate move to stop the monster shark, one of the crew members, Ross, lures it to an open space with his small

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

and overloads the fuel tanks of the machine, resulting in a gigantic explosion that kills both him and the beast. The ordeal is not over yet as another megalodon ventures into open waters, passing below a boat with Christen Giddings on board, but she is unaware of its presence.

Cast

* Leighanne Littrell as Christen Giddings *

Al Sapienza Al Sapienza is an American actor who has had numerous roles in television, stage and film productions. He is best known for his role as Mikey Palmice on the HBO series ''The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, cr ...

as Ross Elliot * Robin Sachs as Peter Brazier * Jennifer Sommerfield as Amanda "Maz" Zablenko * Fred Belford as Jack Thompson * Evan Mirand as R.P. McGinnis *

Mark Sheppard Mark Andreas Sheppard is an English actor and musician. Sheppard is known for playing the demon/King of Hell Crowley on ''Supernatural'' and for his recurring roles as lawyer Romo Lampkin on the ''Battlestar Galactica'' reboot, Interpol inves ...

as Mitchell Parks * Steve Scionti as David Collen

Releases

The film was released in Japan during October 2002, and in the United States during February 2004.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0284303, Megalodon 2002 films 2002 horror films American natural horror films 2000s monster movies Giant monster films Films about shark attacks American monster movies 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language science fiction horror films

Plot

Cast

Releases

References

See also

External links