Jaws in the deep blue sea The great white shark is one of those predators of the wildlife world that instill animal fear in a person and enjoy a bad reputation. In this documentary, we are talking about an expedition to film it in its natural habitat – underwater.
Since the story here is not about the shark itself, but about its search, it is possible to admire the majestic predator only at the beginning and end of the film. At the beginning, several underwater footage and black-and-white photos show the sharks killed. Behind the scenes at this time, they explain that this is a terrible monster that can snack in half or even completely swallow a person - there were such cases. This information takes a few minutes, that's all. Then you need to wait until the end, where the expedition still finds and shows the viewer the predator. Then even a survivor of the attack appears, who tells his story, and a color picture of his terrible wounds flashes on the screen.
The film is called "Blue Water, White Death," and there's plenty of blue water here, but there's not much white death. A couple of shots, pictures and words of statistics at the start and a little more at the finish line - that's all. One could expect something more from a documentary with such a catchy and bold title. You could tell more about attacks, documented data, eyewitnesses and all that, but the film does little to illustrate the danger that sharks pose to humans. And there is not as much scientific data as one might wish. A person who is fascinated by nature and has read several books will probably not learn anything new from the film. Perhaps it would be better to use the name “In Search of the Great White Shark”. Then it would be clear in advance what to expect. And if you put aside everything that concerns the big white ..., then this remains.
Three-quarters of the film is just watching people aboard a ship and sometimes underwater. It was shot almost in the spirit of an amateur video. Like someone on the crew took a camera and used it for fun. There is also a folk singer on board, and the corresponding music, which does not fit with the plot in any way, sounds and irritates the ears three times per film. It’s not about the songs themselves, it’s just that they just don’t match the sound and mood of the events on the screen. Neither the town nor the town.
The spirit of travel is not felt, the film can truly capture and captivate only in certain successful moments. This is mainly about dives. Initially, the expedition uses the services of sperm whales, which were ruthlessly killed to lure sharks for filming. Sharks arrived, but among them was not the one that was waiting. The whales were pulled to the appropriate place where they were cut. Then they scored again, the sharks came again, but the one they wanted to lure did not show up again. So it turns out that twice resorted to barbaric violence against nature, and it did not bring the desired results. You can’t say, “No animal was injured during filming.” It doesn't look good. And watching half-naked men walk on the ship is not very interesting either.
A couple of dives in the water, the dangerous force of the current, the pressure — sometimes these things make the film interesting, and as for the great white shark, it was given terribly little time. Of course, the film is old, and its age should be guided, but this does not make it more interesting. Yes, the shark was shown a little, a little was said about it, but this is clearly not enough when a conscious and serious search is started for the sake of such a famous and formidable animal.
5 out of 10