Blue Water, White Death

I saw this movie when I was 12. It was the movie that sparked my interest in sharks and the ocean. I have dived with 1000's of sharks in my life and I remain devoted to their salvation. I would pay a lot of money for a copy of the film or a tape of it. I have tried to locate it a number of times. This film needs to be saved and preserved for all time. It is the most important film on the subject of sharks ever made because it is the first of it's kind. It contains historic footage of whaling and the first search and filming of The Great White Shark. This movie is why I became a diver and a dive instructor. This movie needs to be seen by people for years to come.

In 1969 Peter Gimbel set off on the First ever Expedition to Film The Great White Shark. His Team included other World famous underwater Photographers: Stan Waterman, Ron & Valerie Taylor, and also Shark Attack Survivor Rodney Fox.

Their search for the Great White lasted for 9 months and it took them from South Africa to South Australia. A lot of the footage that was Filmed had never been seen before. Some highlights like the dives with the feeding Oceanic Whitetips, and the final encounter with the Great White Shark are simply awesome.

This Documentary is an All Time Classic and is a Tribute To Both the Expedition Team and to the Sharks.

Peter Gimbel wrote, produced, and co-directed(with James Lipscomb) this historic documentary film that portrays Gimbel and his team of underwater photographers on their multi-month oceanic journey from South Africa, Madagascar, and finally Dangerous Reef Australia in their brave attempt to find and film great white sharks in their natural habitat that had never been documented before. Film also shows the camaraderie of the crew, and even what they do on their downtime...

Ambitious film has gorgeous underwater photography and effective climatic footage of the great whites, but is marred by a slack pace and too much talk. Still, worthwhile viewing nonetheless.

Peter Gimbel and his team were the first to introduce me to SHARKS, when I watched this Epic Documentary. Since then, my life has never been the same again.

Sharing this incredible journey in search of the Great White Shark, Gimbel and his team have managed to capture some of the most incredible and memorable Shark Scenes that will live in your memory. i have watched it hundreds of times.

a True Masterpiece!!

The wealthy Peter Gimble, model for Mr. Hooper of Jaws, hires a ship and a crew and staffs it with a truly mixed bag of professional underwater naturalists and photographers (and one folk singer) and sets off in pursuit of the great white shark. By the film's midpoint, cast and crew are in open mutiny. Peter Mathiessen, hired as voyage historian, thought the product of the trip would be the world's most expensive home movie but it is considerably more interesting, detailing in surprisingly vivid terms some real highs and lows for a trip that is part carnival, part nature study. Contrary to expectations, the most striking sequence involves not a great white shark but a group of sharks (primarily blues) feeding on a sperm whale carcass. By exiting the shark cages and photographing the feeding up close, the divers raised the bar considerably on this kind of filming. There are also memorable moments as when Stan Waterman and Valerie Taylor struggle through high seas to get back aboard the boat and Mr. Waterman promises the cameraman that if he ever films them struggling like that again without helping them, he will find himself in the water with them. The sequences involving the great white are not surprisingly very striking. I suspect there was a little after-action photography added to the sequence showing Peter Lake trying to cut the rope holding the great white to his cage. A minor point in a great film. There are also some great moments under the credits, my favorite being Stan Waterman describing how to drive off a shark with a SCUBA knife. A real treat if you ever get to see this.