The Best Shark Movies And How To Watch Them
I have to hand it to Warner Bros. for their genius idea to open Meg 2: The Trench — director Ben Wheatley’s follow-up to the 2018 creature feature, The Meg — on the 2023 movie release schedule so soon after Shark Week. It surely got audiences pumped to see Jason Statham take on more prehistorically large, sharp-toothed sea-dwellers, even though they probably did not need any further incentive.
Considering how common galeophobia (fear of sharks) is, it is no question why shark movies already make up a pretty good chunk of the best horror movies of all time — with some being favored as earnest and truly frightening thrillers, while others are beloved for being entertainingly cheesy. We cover everything under the sun (or under the water, we should say) in our following showcase of picks for the best shark movies streaming online right now — starting with the predecessor to the genre’s latest outing.
The Meg (2018)
A disgraced U.S. Marine (Jason Statham) and others try to hunt down and kill a Megalodon — a 75-foot, aquatic predator assumed to be extinct, that was released from a deeper section of the Mariana Trench.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: It may not be the best shark movie of its (or any) time, but the titular monster from The Meg — director Jon Turtletaub’s entertaining adaptation of Steve Alten’s novel — is bigger than any of the sharks from the movies on this list and that alone makes it worth watching, even if we never get to see the R-rated cut it deserved.
Stream The Meg on Max.
Rent or buy The Meg on Amazon.
Jaws (1975)
A police chief (Roy Scheider) teams up with a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a grizzled, veteran sailor (Robert Shaw) in the hope of putting a stop to the 25-foot Great White terrorizing his quaint beach community.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: Not only was the terrifying summer horror movie classic, Jaws — one of the best movies of the 1970s — the first thriller to make audiences fear sharks, but it was also the first movie by Steven Spielberg to become a hit and gave birth to the modern blockbuster as we know it.
Open Water (2003)
After their scuba diving tour boat accidentally leaves without them, a couple vacationing in the Caribbean (Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis) find themselves stranded in the middle of the ocean, helpless against the hungry threats that surround them.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: Out of the many shark movies released in the years since Jaws, perhaps the scariest would have to be writer and director Chris Kentis’ intense, intimate, and uniquely shot drama, Open Water, especially because it is inspired by a shocking true story.
Stream Open Water on Freevee through Amazon.
The Reef (2010)
After an accident causes a sailboat holding five people to capsize over the Great Barrier Reef, four of them swim out into the ocean looking for safety, only to come face-to-face with a Great White.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: One could refer to The Reef as the “Australian Open Water,” since it is also inspired by a true story of people stranded in shark-infested waters, but that does not make the sophomore effort of writer and director Andrew Traucki — whose career is full of fact-based creature features — any less of an effectively horrifying drama.
Stream The Reef on Amazon Prime.
Stream The Reef on Tubi.
The Shallows (2016)
After she is attacked by a Great White Shark, a lone surfer (Blake Lively) struggles to make it back to shore as her attacker circles the shallow area she has taken refuge in.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: While not based on a true story, director Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows is similar to Open Water and The Reef in how it succeeds as an intimate and absorbing story of survival against the ocean’s greatest predator from a singular perspective.
Stream The Shallows on Tubi.
Rent or buy The Shallows on Amazon.
47 Meters Down (2017)
After a malfunction during a cage diving trip in Mexico, a woman (Claire Holt) and her sister (This Is Us cast member Mandy Moore) find themselves stuck at the bottom of the ocean with their air supply running low and sharks surrounding the one thing keeping them both safe and confined — their cage.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: While not based on any specific real-life incidents, the plausibility of co-writer and director Jonhannes Roberts’ 47 Meters Down is what makes it such a terrifying monster movie that would quickly spawn a sequel.
Stream 47 Meters Down on Starz.
Rent or buy 47 Meters Down on Amazon.
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)
While exploring an underwater city, four teenage scuba divers discover that the submerged village is not completely empty and struggle to find a way to the surface without becoming their stalkers’ next meal.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: As the title of the follow-up to his shark movie hit suggests, returning co-writer and director Roberts’s 47 Meters Down: Uncaged does away with the cage and brings in a new, younger cast, but still keeps things claustrophobic in a unique way — amounting to another fun, visually pleasing, and spine-chilling chapter of the franchise.
Stream 47 Meters Down: Uncaged on Netflix.
Rent or buy 47 Meters Down: Uncaged on Amazon.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
After testing a potential cure for Alzheimer’s Disease on sharks, a team of researchers and others in a remote, underwater research facility begin to fall prey to the trio of predators with enhanced intelligence.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: While easily one of the more ridiculous entries into the shark movie genre — which some believe has not aged well since the ‘90s — director Renny Harlin’s Deep Blue Sea is still considered by enough people to be a nice slice of cheesy creature feature fun, especially for its classic jump scare moment involving star Samuel L. Jackson.
Stream Deep Blue Sea on Max.
Rent or buy Deep Blue Sea on Amazon.
Shark Night (2011)
A group of college students (including Sara Paxton, Avatar’s Joel David Moore, and Schitt’s Creek cast member, Dustin Milligan) are shocked to discover that the lake where they have chosen to vacation together is inhabited by several hungry sharks.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: The concept of a common lake infested by wild, man-eating marine life is also pretty ridiculous, but director David R. Ellis’ Shark Night — originally released in 3D — is not without its thrilling moments that make it a good time for shark movie fans.
Stream Shark Night on Tubi.
Rent or buy Shark Night on Amazon.
The Sharknado Movies (2013-2018)
A Santa Monica Pier bar owner (Ian Ziering), his estranged wife (Tara Reid), and others must fend for themselves when a hurricane sends a group of sharks spiraling through the air and eating everything in their path… six times.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: I do not think there is a more notoriously ridiculous collection of shark movies than the surprisingly popular SyFy original movie, Sharknado, and its five increasingly absurd sequels, which I honestly would say I admire for figuring out a way to incorporate the animal into an urban disaster movie plot.
Rent or buy Sharknado on Amazon.
Stream Sharknado 2: The Second One on Amazon Prime.
Stream Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! on Amazon Prime.
Stream Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens on Amazon Prime.
Stream Sharknado 5: Global Swarming on Amazon Prime.
Stream The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time on Amazon Prime.
Shark Tale (2004)
A lowly blue-streaked cleaner wrasse with big dreams (Will Smith) and a vegetarian shark (Jack Black) whose gangster father (Robert De Niro) is disappointed in him form an alliance to help each other.
Why it is one of the best shark movies: If watching people fall prey to sharks over and over becomes monotonous for you, a fun way to break the pattern is putting on one of the best Jack Black movies, Shark Tale, because this animated, Oscar-nominated family film puts the spotlight on a nice shark for once.
Stream Shark Tale on Hulu.
Stream Shark Tale on Peacock Premium.
Rent or buy Shark Tale on Amazon.
Looks like not all shark movies are the same, but all can be a great time for thrill-seeking, marine-life-fearing audiences. See how Meg 2: The Trench measures up to these favorites by checking it out on the big screen.
