Aussie Soldiers vs. A Shark! | Beast of War (2025) (REVIEW) | Projector Shorts - video Dailymotion

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Film Brain reviews this Australian WWII horror thriller, where a group of soldiers survive their boat sinking, but soon find themselves up against a shark, in the proud tradition of Jaws!

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00:00A group of Aussie soldiers find themselves up against a shark in the World War II horror

00:04thriller, Beast of War.

00:06Set in 1942, a ship with hundreds of Australian troops on their way to the front line is sunk

00:11by Japanese bombers.

00:13Only a handful survive on a makeshift raft, but foggy conditions means low chance of rescue

00:18and even worse, their injuries have drawn the attention of a shark.

00:23Written and directed by Kea Roach-Turner, who previously held in the Wormwood franchise

00:26and giant spider flick Sting, Beast of War claims to be inspired by truer events, in

00:31particular the sinking of the HMAS Armadale, the survivors of which were not attacked by

00:36sharks in reality, but the director's credits should let you know this is not aiming to be

00:40a realistic war film.

00:42I could tell I was going to enjoy the film from the opening training scenes, which set

00:46up the dynamics of the characters and the camaraderie between them, and while they may not be fully

00:50fleshed out figures, they're distinct enough to watch and cheer for.

00:54Finally charismatic is the film's lead, Mark Cole Smith, as indigenous soldier Leo, who

00:59was haunted by his brother's death in a shark attack, and befriends Joel Nankovic's

01:03will by standing up for him, particularly from bullying coward Des Kelly, who soundelic

01:09makes more than a one-note bigot.

01:11There's a pulpy vibe mixed with a dark, distinctly Australian sense of humour, like

01:16agreeing that having to drink your own piss is still better than having a Fosters.

01:21The Jaws and the famous speech by Quint about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis is a massive

01:25inspiration on the film, and it's also a damn sight better than the rubbish Nicolas

01:29Cage movie they made about the latter, but Roach-Turner also uses a mostly practical shark,

01:35which is a fin above a sea of lazy, cheap CGI-heavy shark films.

01:40Filmed mostly on an indoor water tank, the largest in Australian history apparently, the film

01:45ops for a very stylised, almost comic book look, with a combination of smoke, fog and

01:50LED lights never really hiding that it's a set, but the blood orange and red skies are

01:55very striking looking.

01:57Moreover, Roach-Turner knows to keep a steady supply of tension and limb chomping with plenty

02:02of gruesome injury effects, but also some genuine edge-of-your-seat suspense, like a sequence

02:07where Smith has to jump across debris to get to a motorboat.

02:11As their supplies and numbers dwindle, Roach-Turner keeps things varied and avoids repetition,

02:16even managing to throw in a late-film fight scene and a damaged siren that the shark swallows

02:21is a cheeky nod to the crocodile in Peter Pan.

02:25It might not have the depth that it claims for in the production notes, but Beast of War

02:28is delivered with B-movie panache, especially thanks to a tight 87-minute running time that

02:34makes this a lean, mean, goryly good time, a rare example of a good modern shark film to

02:40watch with your charms.

02:42This and Dangerous Animals proves that the Aussies are leading the revival in this sub-genre.

Aussie Soldiers vs. A Shark! | Beast of War (2025) (REVIEW) | Projector Shorts

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