Blue Water White Death
- Rating:PG
- Distributor:Umbrella
Remember the scene in Jaws when Richard Dreyfus is in the shark cage and the...
Remember the scene in Jaws when Richard Dreyfus is in the shark cage and the Great White attacks him? The scene is also in Peter Benchley's novel, and he was a fan of this classic doco, which features, you guessed it, a scene where a hapless diver has to beat off a Great White. In fact, it is only one of the terrifying (and admittedly exciting) scenes in this fine but flawed film.
The undoubted highlight comes when Australian filmmakers and dive and shark experts, Ron and Valerie Taylor, are surrounded by what looks like hundreds of sharks as they feed off a dead whale (Valerie beats off any predator that gets too close with what looks like a big metal stick!) The thin story involves the filmmakers' attempt to shoot a Great White up close; it was the first time that anyone had tried it. Actually, despite its rep as a groundbreaker, Blue Water White Death is full of whimsy and dead air, and none of the real-life characters really come alive on screen. The disc includes an excellent mini-doc where we hear from the surviving participants and their stomach churning memories, which easily eclipse anything in the film.
