Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Excellent, a Must See

Better Late Then Never

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I was a child in Port Orchard when the captive orca was penned in Rich Cove. As a depiction of an orca in captivity the story is fine. There are some pretty significant fictions depicted in the movie however.One is that the orca was intensively studied while penned there; he was actually being held captive while the captor attempted to sell him.Also, there was no community enmity towards the creature. The bullies in our town were far too busy beating some of us humans up to bother with the orca.We kids loved seeing him and rode our bicycles or stopped on family outings to admire him. Port Orchard is not a fishing town, and even then this region admired and loved the orcas as one of our greatest regional icons.Set aside reality and enjoy the film if you like. But come up to Puget Sound and see them in the wild, where they belong.

Robert Lansing plays marine biologist Hank Donner, who befriends an Orca who won't leave his cove after some fishermen shot and killed its mate. Named Namu, the whale proves himself to be intelligent and playful after Hank, and a local woman and her daughter(played by Lee Meriwether and Robin Mattson) gain its trust. Those same fishermen are determined to get Namu out of the cove, by any means they can... Fine film is suitable for the whole family, being quite warm and respectful toward nature. Despite being subtitled "The Killer Whale", DVD is subtitled "My Best Friend", which is certainly nicer! Compare this with later film "Orca"(1977) to see what I mean...

This is an outstanding film about a killer whale named Naumu who is being protected by an oceanographer, Robert Lansing,(Hank Donner) and has a very hard time trying to tell the local towns people that this whale is not harmful. John Anderson, (Joe Clausen) is more worried about his salmon business and does not want a whale eating up his profitable business. There is a little boy and girl and Hank Donnear who even communicate with the whale and ride on his back in a row boat all around in circles. There is Comedy, Drama and excellent photography and the background music flows throughout the entire picture. Lee Merriweather, (Kate Donner) is a shop owner in town and has some secrets that she keeps to herself until the time is necessary to tell Hank Donner. If you are an animal lover and enjoy a good fish story, this is the film for you.

This beautifully remarkable movie was produced in 1966 and provides any family member a chance to enjoy the interaction between benevolent humans and a creature considered a threat. It pits an ignorant, small town against an oceanographer (Robert Lansing) and a shop keeper (Lee Meriweather) in working to educate the local township that Namu is not a threat, but a lonely animal needing attention. The scene in which Lansing and Meriweather engage in play with Namu inside the lagoon is priceless and the background music is equally so. Moreover, when Namu miraculously rescues the very man (John Anderson) who tried to kill him, makes this movie unbelievably precious. Mandatory viewing for everyone.