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Confession time: We love Shark Week on the Discovery channel.

There's just something incredibly primal and unpredictable about the show, intensely shocking and breathtaking, that we can't look away when it's on TV. Perhaps what draws us in is being submerged into such an untamed environment, seeing incredibly dangerous creatures in their own world while still feeling safe and cozy in our own comfortable living rooms. Whatever the reason it's definitely had a lasting hold, with Shark Week now celebrating 25 years on TV.

We wanted to mark that milestone in some way, which got us thinking about man's fascination with sharks and how these killers have often been the focus of numerous thrillers. Some gripped our hearts with fear (the original Jaws) while others made us laugh with campy joy (Sharktopus, anyone?), and all of them featured enough skin for some titillation during the evisceration. So with that in mind, we compiled a list of hot men who starred in shark movies over the last 25 years. Sure, we could have done some cheesecake, but for a manly-man event like Shark Week we thought beefcake was more fitting. Enjoy.

Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
The third sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws may have earned the lowest amount of money in the film series franchise, and it's loaded with so many plot holes and inconsistencies that you could swim through, that it's often considered one of the worst films ever made. (It's got a very rare 0% rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.) And yet, it's got dreamy Mitchell Anderson, sexy Mario Van Peebles, and Lance Guest rocking the hipster beard 25 years before it was hip– so at least that's something.
<a href="http://firsttoknow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Jaws4_Lance_Guest_Mario_Van_Peeples.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3870" title="Jaws4_Lance_Guest_Mario_Van_Peeples" src="http://firsttoknow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Jaws4_Lance_Guest_Mario_Van_Peeples.jpg" alt="Mario Van Peeples and Lance Guest starred in Jaws The Revenge" width="497" height="400" /></a>

Shark Hunter (2001)
Never heard of it? Who cares! It's got Antonio Sabato Jr. in it, and that means good eye candy.

Oh, the plot! (Yes, there is one.) Years after his parents are killed by a megalodon (an enormous shark that has supposedly been extinct for millions of years), Dr. Northcut (Sabato Jr.) is obsessed with the idea of hunting down and killing the monster. He gets his chance when he's assigned to investigate the destruction of an undersea research station and the hunt for the creature is on. Sadly, it's not as skin-baring as we'd like, so for that we turned to one of Sabato, Jr.'s old Calvin Klein campaigns. You're welcome.

Red Water (2003)
This made-for-TV movie became one of the highest-rated films when it initially aired on TBS in Aug 2003. And how could it not with a cast that included Lou Diamond Phillips, Kristy Swanson, Coolio, Gideon Emery and Jaimz Woolvett. (That was meant to sound ironic, BTW.)

This thriller is about a bull shark that wreaks havoc in Louisiana as it makes its way up a river– which is no more scientifically implausible than half the films on this list. Gideon Emery serves up some handsome, rugged realness the whole way.

12 Days of Terror (2005)
Based on true events (which already makes this sound so much more intense), this docudrama recounts people being terrorized by a shark along the Jersey coast in July 1916. It happened over 12 days– hence the name of the movie– and was based on a book of the same name by Richard Fernicola. Colin Egglesfield, Mark Dexter, and Jenna Harrison starred, and while dreamy Egglesfield didn't bare this kind of skin in 12 Days, we figured you wouldn't mind us including this pic anyway.<a href="http://firsttoknow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/12_Days_of_Terror_colin-egglesfield445x314.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3878" title="12_Days_of_Terror_colin-egglesfield445x314" src="http://firsttoknow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/12_Days_of_Terror_colin-egglesfield445x314.jpg" alt="Naked Colin Egglesfield skinny dips" width="445" height="312" /></a>

Megashark Versus Giant Octopus (2009)
As if the name weren't camptastic enough, the movie starred Deborah Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas, along with Mark Hengst and Vic Chao– neither of whom we really knew until researching this movie. It's about the hunt for two prehistoric sea monsters causing mayhem and carnage off the California coast, as the two creatures battle to dominate one another. Evidently it was chilly at that time of year in California, because Chao's headlights are on.

Dinoshark (2010)
This horror film from SyFy was presented by Roger Corman, which despite the silly name garnered 2 million viewers. The plot follows a man named Trace (sexy and swarthy Eric Balfour) in his quest to convince and alert people of the ferocious predatory dinoshark that kills tourists and locals offshore from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Random trivia: Balfour starred on one season of Kids Incorporated, which also featured Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas and Martika of "Toy Soldier" fame. Greatness came from that show. GREATNESS!

Sharktopus (2010)
Any SyFy movie starring Eric Roberts is going to be so bad it's good. And with a name like Sharktopus, this film was a hit long before it even aired.

An eight-tentacled nightmare hybrid of shark and octopus called "S-11" was created by genetic scientist Nathan Sands (Roberts) as the U.S. Navy's next super-weapon. But when its control implants are damaged during a training experiment off the Mexican coast, the beast escapes to Puerto Vallarta to sample the local fare — bikini babes, jet-skiers, and spring-breakers. Kerem Bursin dives in as our sexy stud of this horribly good movie.

Shark Night 3D (2011)
It's got the perfect scenario for fantasy thriller fun: Seven college friends pack their swimsuits for a weekend of fun-in-the-sun activities at a lake house. They think it will be the perfect vacation. They're wrong. The sexy summer weekend turns into a blood-soaked nightmare when they realize they're trapped on the island, surrounded by voracious underwater predators. The hunky men include Chris Carmack, Dustin Milligan, Sinqua Walls and Chris Zylka.

Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2012)
Oh, those Jersey Shore kids. Love them or hate them, people certainly understand their campy pop culture appeal and that got exploited fully in Jersey Shore Shark Attack, which starred Jack Scalia, Daniel Booko, Dylan Vox, Joey Fatone, and Grant Harvey as the guys.

The story surrounds a holiday weekend on the Jersey Shore and, unbeknownst to anyone, underwater drills have attracted dozens of albino bull sharks to the pier. After a famous singer is eaten alive during a performance on the pier, the shark hunt begins. The Preppies must work together with the Guidos to save the inhabitants of Jersey Shore from another vicious slaughter. Let there be peace on earth!

Okay, enough with all that. Want some real underwater fun and fear? Check out the trailer to Shark Week, which premieres Sunday, August 9 on Discovery Channel.
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