Brian Raftery on
Apocalypse Now 1979
Raftery rewatched it for the podcast and still isn't sure what to make of the last third; Vietnamese American viewers he interviewed love the film but note its Vietnamese characters are barely named.
The Big Picture · Interview · Discussion
Sharks, Alligators, Piranhas, and the Top 10 Garbage Fish Movies
August 4, 2023/ 87 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
Brian Raftery stops by to preview his Vietnam War movie podcast, then Chris Ryan joins Sean to trace 'garbage fish' cinema from Jaws through Meg 2.
40 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Brian Raftery previews 'Do We Get to Win This Time?'his new podcast on Hollywood and the Vietnam War
Brian Raftery on
Full Metal Jacket 1987
One of the titles Raftery says defined watching Vietnam movies as a kid, alongside Platoon.
Brian Raftery on
Hamburger Hill 1987
Raftery watched it at 13, unsupervised, and says it traumatized him.
Brian Raftery on
The Deer Hunter 1978
One of the films Amanda names as the obvious first-thought Vietnam movies.
Brian Raftery on
All Quiet on the Western Front 2022
Cited as one of the rare recent examples of the kind of big, ambitious war epic studios used to make constantly.
Brian Raftery on
Dunkirk 2017
Named alongside All Quiet on the Western Front as a modern exception to the dead war-epic genre.
Brian Raftery on
Brotherhood of Death 1976
A Tarantino recommendation Raftery finally tracked down: three Black Vietnam vets return home to find their town infiltrated by the KKK. Raftery calls the last 10 minutes electrifying.
Brian Raftery on
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse 1991
Eleanor Coppola's documentary of the Apocalypse Now shoot, which Raftery interviewed her for; he says he'd happily watch a 12-hour cut of the raw footage.
Brian Raftery on
The Green Berets 1968
John Wayne's pro-war, by-the-book Vietnam movie, which Raftery says hovers over the whole podcast since it shaped how Oliver Stone and Ron Kovic saw the war growing up.
The Garbage Fish CanonChris Ryan joins Sean to define and trace the subgenre, prompted by Meg 2
Jaws 1975
The genre's founding text and, they note, an unusually rare case of a genuine classic spawning decades of imitators.
Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954
Named as a pre-Jaws predecessor of the subgenre.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1954
Also cited as an early predecessor.
The Shape of Water 2017
Guillermo del Toro's Oscar winner, which Chris calls a garbage fish movie underneath the prestige — a direct riff on Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Frogs 1972
Ray Milland plays a nature-hating estate owner besieged by killer frogs, with Sam Elliott, pre-mustache, as a photographer. Predates Jaws and used real frogs.
Orca 1977
Michael Anderson's killer-whale movie with Richard Harris and Charlotte Rampling, shot with real orcas. Chris calls it the first artistically strange, upsetting post-Jaws entry.
Piranha 1978
Joe Dante's satirical entry, written by John Sayles, ahead of Dante's run into Gremlins.
Piranha II: The Spawning 1982
James Cameron's directorial debut, which he later tried to disown. The piranha fly out of the water in this one.
Alligator 1980
Paired with Piranha as the era's low-budget gator entry.
Jaws 2 1978
The sequel they'll defend as genuinely good, not great, and a legitimate rewatch.
Jaws 3-D 1983
Set in a SeaWorld-style park and directed by Joe Alves, Jaws's production designer, in his only directing credit.
Jaws: The Revenge 1987
Ellen Brody is followed to the Bahamas by a shark that seems to remember her, with Michael Caine and Mario Van Peebles. Poster tagline: 'This time it's personal.'
Leviathan 1989
George P. Cosmatos's 'Alien underwater,' with Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, and Stan Winston creature effects. Chris names it his all-time favorite of the genre.
Deep Blue Sea 1999
Genetically enhanced sharks turn on a research crew hunting an Alzheimer's cure, and deliver one of the most quoted shark kills in movie history.
Lake Placid 1999
Steve Miner's giant-gator comedy with Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, and Oliver Platt.
Anaconda 1997
Added to the canon mid-conversation after Chris's wife rules that a snake attacking from water counts.
Ghost Ship 2002
Adjacent to the genre, but Chris says it plays more as a supernatural movie than a garbage fish one.
Open Water 2004
A three-actor, real-shark independent production loosely based on a true story of two divers stranded at sea.
Open Water 2: Adrift 2006
Connected to the original mostly by title — divers can't get back onto their boat after leaving the ladder down.
Rogue 2007
Greg McLean's Australian crocodile movie with Radha Mitchell and Michael Vartan, part of what they call an Australian revolution in the genre.
The Reef 2010
A similar setup to Open Water: a capsized boat and sharks between the survivors and the shore.
The Shallows 2016
Jaume Collet-Serra's film with Blake Lively stranded on a rock, part of a run of mid-budget genre hits Chris wishes studios still funded.
Crawl 2019
Alexandre Aja's hurricane-and-gators movie with Kaya Scodelario, reportedly a favorite of Quentin Tarantino's for its year.
Underwater 2020
William Eubank's Mariana Trench monster movie with Kristen Stewart, buried by a pandemic release.
The Meg 2018
Liked well enough, though the CGI shark drew complaints.
Meg 2: The Trench 2023
The new release that prompted this whole conversation.
Sharknado 2013
Explicitly carved out of the canon as a self-aware, purposefully cheap Syfy phenomenon rather than a real garbage fish movie.
The Host 2006
Discussed as a borderline case; Chris calls it a foot in both ponds with Godzilla, and ultimately not quite garbage fish.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing GodzillaPacific RimHow to Train Your DragonAlienEvent HorizonSunshineThe AbyssSharksploitationThe Deepest BreathAfter the BiteOppenheimerBarbieTheater CampThe Little MermaidAvatar: The Way of WaterCocaine BearSnakes on a PlaneJurassic ParkTigerlandThe French ConnectionEscape from New YorkAvengers: EndgameShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten RingsThe CommuterOrphanUnknownNon-StopRun All NightJungle CruiseBlack AdamDie Hard 2CliffhangerThe Long Kiss GoodnightClose Encounters of the Third KindStarman
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Tour of DutyAliasWandaVisionLokiSecret InvasionHijackThe Bear
Comics The Nam
Theater The Shark Is Broken
Ads TremfyaCarvanaTalk About PDClinic KidsWhole Foods Market