Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Shark in Venice Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 17, 2019

'Shark in Venice' is currently only available as part of a two-disc, eight-film 'Meg-A-Shark' collection from Echo Bridge. The set also includes 'Toxic Shark,' 'Malibu Shark Attack,' 'Hammerhead,' 'Shark Attack,' 'Shark Attack 2,' 'Shark Attack 3: Megalodon,' and 'Shark Zone.'

While a team of divers is unearthing an ancient find in the watery depths of Venice, Italy, a shark attacks. When college professor David Franks (Stephen Baldwin) is informed his father may be amongst the victims of a “propellor accident,” he travels to Venice alongside the beautiful Laura (Vanessa Johansson) where he finds himself not facing off against a shark but a mafia connection to what his father sought: long-sunken treasure dating back to the days of Marco Polo.

The movie is a reworking of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with a shark thrown in for good measure. Really: it’s set in Venice, involves a missing father, and follows a college professor who goes looking for him. Other influences within plot details are obvious, too, and it’s almost as if the filmmakers decided a shark was necessary to help offset it a little more from feeling like a straight rip-off.

Shark in Venice Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sharks in Venice's 1080p transfer is decent enough but doesn't impress beyond its ability to deliver core basics. Essential details are adequate. Faces and clothes and environments reveal baseline textures, never with any kind of screen-commanding dominance but rather with a decent boost to clarity thanks to the 1080p encode. Colors are dull. The palette lacks depth and detail, leaving even bright primaries looking flat. Black crush is evident in an underground scene in chapter five. A strange artifact appears around Stephen Baldwin's body as he walks into a police station at the 13-minute mark. In fact, the entire scene looks as if grain is frozen and moves with the actors in globular masses. Heavy banding infests underwater scenes.

Shark in Venice Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is surprisingly full bodied. While the front end carries the majority of the material, there's a good feel for stage fulfillment, general detail, and a proper low end. The track does a good job at creating underwater depth and blending it with often foreboding music. Light effects such as splashing water and radar pings are sufficiently clear and detailed. Chaotic action scene din, such as screams and shark attack sounds, are fine. Dialogue is clear with good front-center positioning.

Shark in Venice Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Shark in Venice contains no supplemental content.

Shark in Venice Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

An Indy rip-off with sharks. Need more be said? Echo Bridge's featureless Blu-ray delivers flat video and decent audio. For genre fans only.