Shark!, made in the late 1960s, was one of Burt Reynolds' first starring roles. Obviously produced on a shoe-string budget, it's hilariously bad -- landing squarely in the genre of So Bad It's Good.

The plot, such as it is, presents us with Reynolds as a failed gun runner in Sudan on the Red Sea coast. He meets up with an icthyologist couple who are actually treasure hunters, secretly trying to raise a load of gold bars from the bowels of a wreck sunk smack dab in the middle of shark-infested waters. Their previous accomplice was eaten by sharks in the opening scene, so they enlist Reynolds' help without telling him what it is they're actually doing.

As we said, Shark! is laughably bad. In one shot, you'll see a diver wearing a two-hose regulator. In the next, he's wearing a single-hose reg. Before you know it, he's back to the two-hose again. Divers jump off the boat facing in one direction only to land in the water facing another. And the state of Reynolds' facial hair goes back and forth like a metronome. At one point, they even attempt to rip-off the famous beach scene in From Here To Eternity.

Through it all, the dive scenes, particularly those inside the wreck, are pretty cool. Several shark attacks take place, none particularly gory, but more than a few where the sharks seem way too close for comfort.

If, like us, you're a fan of So Bad It's Good, you'll love this movie. If you're not, the dive scenes probably won't be enough to salvage it for you. This movie is available on DVD and also goes under the title Maneater.