Sharks’ Treasure

• Written, Produced, and Directed by Cornel Wilde
• April 1, 1975

A charter skipper and a group of fortune hunters fight sharks and escaped Mexican convicts to recover treasure off the coast of Honduras. Yes. Mexican convicts off the coast of Honduras.

At 95 minutes this certainly counts as a movie. Sharks’ Treasure tries to be edgy adventure as well as simple guy humor. It’s a treasure hunt movie with plenty of beautiful water and underwater shots. Really what sold me was the title. I didn’t expect a proto-Jaws or anything but there was the implication in my mind that this would be closer to a Nature’s Revenge film (a popular genre of the 70s) than what ultimately made it to the screen.

The thrust of the story is that the characters are at each other’s throats from the start with the arriving escapees pulling the crew together enough that it is the convicts and crewmembers at each other’s throats instead. The titular sharks are not nearly as important as the title might suggest. They certainly are a tangential part of the story but it’s more about the characters going at each other and then fighting the criminals who take them hostage. This is putting two sides against each other in a game of what amounts to a metaphorical sword fight. Who is tougher or the more manly man.

On a budget is fine but you must maintain the illusion. One thing that really bothered me about Sharks’ Treasure is there are several shots where this group or that group are supposed to be on a moving boat and it’s obvious the boat is not moving at all. This contradicts establishing shots which show them moving. I understand there’s difficulties in filming on a moving vehicle but if you’re going to have it implied the characters are moving then you better be moving in your shot or attempting to create that illusion. 

The real bugger is that just before the end credits, this is made out to be a just an inconsequential adventure. All the danger and the death that they experienced is forgotten about when they learn that there is another boat out there with more treasure on it. And it looks like our heroes are going to turn around and go after that.

The characters are pretty stock. They end as they begin. No real growth. And they are far from interesting. I don’t even know their names, nor did I care what they were by the time this movie was over. This should have been more a battle of wits than a battle to determine the more macho. You could have cut the cast and developed the remainder.

Sharks’ Treasure is an okay piece escapism. You won’t feel bad about wasting your time, but you’d be hard-pressed remembering too much about it afterwards.