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.
22 Reviews
Be careful of what you ask for...
NewEnglandPat7 May 2009
An interesting film and seafaring adventure of an expedition tracking a great white shark through hundreds of miles of open sea spanning three continents. The search finally bears fruit some 83 minutes into the film which has a leisurely pace throughout and captures the feeding frenzy of white tips on whale carcasses, and barracudas also manage to get screen time for several minutes. Peter Gimbel and his crew are frustrated by their failure to spot a great white but finally get lucky at Dangerous Reef on the south coast of Australia. Here, Gimbel is finally rewarded with great footage of the huge fish. Shark cages are used to film the great white that seems more intent on the cage and the divers inside than the bait dangled before it. An Australian diver relates his run-in with a great white in the ocean, detailing his injuries and his miraculous escape. The footage of the underwater sequences throughout the movie is expertly done.
Will be re-issued next week in HD; 7_29_07
LPorko29 July 2007
Ahoy... I was in Wood's Hole, MA this weekend and was fortunate to be at the screening of this flick in HD. It is an interesting film, with many memorable moments and beautiful ( and sometimes horrifying ) photography and images. The film standing alone is passable, and seems campy within our current cultural frame of reference. However, watching in context, you realize this was the ancestor to many of those glossy animal shows we all love. In general, shoddy craftsmanship technically, but very real. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the genre. In a nutshell, it's allegedly where "Jaws" came from. Dare I say it 're-mystifies' the Great White Shark, and our re-introduction is a brutal experience.
One of the most Historic Movie of all Time
ebiros29 January 2013
It's amazing that when this movie was made, no one has ever filmed a great white before. And it's only been about 40 years since this movie was made.
When I first started taking scuba diving lesson, this movie was all the rage of town. There just wasn't any movie that had shark cage in it before this one. I think this was also the first movie to feature "chumming" technique to lure the sharks. My friends were telling me how huge the sharks were. Later I found out that it wasn't so big, but still it's a really big fish. Did Peter Benchley get his idea from this movie when he wrote "JAWS" ?
This was a ground breaking movie that raised the bar on underwater documentary features. In every underwater documentary there's little bit of influence from this movie. It's also amazing how much more we've learned in such a short time since this movie was made, mostly due to ubiquity of underwater filming.
A very important movie historically in the annals of underwater documentaries.
When I first started taking scuba diving lesson, this movie was all the rage of town. There just wasn't any movie that had shark cage in it before this one. I think this was also the first movie to feature "chumming" technique to lure the sharks. My friends were telling me how huge the sharks were. Later I found out that it wasn't so big, but still it's a really big fish. Did Peter Benchley get his idea from this movie when he wrote "JAWS" ?
This was a ground breaking movie that raised the bar on underwater documentary features. In every underwater documentary there's little bit of influence from this movie. It's also amazing how much more we've learned in such a short time since this movie was made, mostly due to ubiquity of underwater filming.
A very important movie historically in the annals of underwater documentaries.
The Granddaddy of Them All
hmgcpa5214 July 2008
I had first heard about this movie in the 1970's from a guy I worked with. He was a diver and boater, and loved the movie. I just finished viewing it at home on my Hi Def. I thought it was a decent movie. Good concepts, a little rough around the edges. Peter Gimbel seemed like an interesting character, kind of an NYC man about town. Probably a good guy to have a few beers with. As many people have commented, there are so many programs over the past twenty or thirty years that have dealt with sharks, that it is easy to forget that this was the first full length documentary dealing with the Great White. So, it deserves much respect as an historical piece. I was thinking that when these people were on the ship for that many months they missed a lot of 1969 things, Super Bowl III with Namath, The Village Gay riot, moon landing, Tricky Dick Nixon's first year in office (that was OK). And of course Woodstock. All for a fish.
Real Sharks
AaronCapenBanner18 July 2014
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.
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.
The First Expedition to film the Great White Shark.
SharkmanAB7 November 2003
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.
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.
This Movie Changed My Life! I want this film
sharkman200121 July 2001
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.
A True Masterpiece!!
THE_SHARKMAN19 March 2001
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!!
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!!
First time ever, a great white shark is shown in their natural environment.
bitmap2010-9-77675113 August 2012
This movie was made in 1971. There was no talk about great white sharks, or sharks for that matter. I saw this in the movie theater and the last 10 minutes when they finally find the great white shark is exciting. Of course, tons of studies have now been done about the great white and this movie is out dated. But the most important information in the movie was that the crew had absolutely no knowledge where to look for great whites and that is why the movie took so long to find one. And the cage scene is real, the shark did get his fin caught and the pressure of him trying to get out of the bars bent the titanium metal. That's power. Members of the crew and the cage was brought to the Johnny Carson show and it have great exposure, so did Spielberg get his idea for his movie from this 1st movie, who knows?
Classic for any shark lover
seekmycounsel8 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This is an older documentary and one of the reasons I dive with Great Whites today. This movie has all the pioneers in shark research and videography. The late Peter Gimbel, as well as the famous couple Ron and Valerie Taylor make this film very exciting to shark geeks. They do not actually meet up with a white until close to the end of the film but the journey is amazing. They dive outside the cage with feeding sharks, which is a terrifying feat in itself. The footage is mesmerizing. This is a must see if you love white sharks! Remember people, sometimes it is all about the journey, not the destination. When you finally see the cast meet the infamous whites, it is as exciting to the viewer as they must have felt to them. Of course, this is not a Jaws kind of movie...this is real life. Before the days of commercial shark eco-tourism. At this time people were terrified of diving with these predators because we did not know anything about them. That makes the mystique of this film more tantalizing. Searching for the great monster, and then realizing that they are not the indiscriminate killing machines we thought they were. Beautiful film. :)
Stands the test of time
jeff-nadler28 November 2006
Besides seeing Blue Water, White Death in a theater in 1971, I first saw a preview of segments of this film some months before its premiere at the first Our World Underwater film festival in Chicago. The preview was narrated live by cameraman Stan Waterman and he took questions after the preview. Everyone in attendance was sitting on the edge of their seats, because no one had ever filmed Great White Sharks before.
In today's world of dozens of documentaries on Great White Sharks and Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, the shark footage can seem a little tame. But the significance of this film shouldn't be minimized. At the time this expedition took place, very little was known about Great White Sharks and most experts of the day thought that getting in the water with a Great White was instant death. This film (with its accompanying book, Blue Meridian), were Peter Benchley's inspirations in writing Jaws.
This excellent film would be a worthy addition to any wildlife documentary aficionado's library, if only it were available on VHS or DVD (I'm just glad I taped it off of TV many years ago). With all the retread junk that's being released on DVDs today, why isn't a great film like this available?
In today's world of dozens of documentaries on Great White Sharks and Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, the shark footage can seem a little tame. But the significance of this film shouldn't be minimized. At the time this expedition took place, very little was known about Great White Sharks and most experts of the day thought that getting in the water with a Great White was instant death. This film (with its accompanying book, Blue Meridian), were Peter Benchley's inspirations in writing Jaws.
This excellent film would be a worthy addition to any wildlife documentary aficionado's library, if only it were available on VHS or DVD (I'm just glad I taped it off of TV many years ago). With all the retread junk that's being released on DVDs today, why isn't a great film like this available?
A masterpiece brought back to life
joceCU2 July 2007
This phenomenal documentary, acclaimed for inspiring JAWS, chronicles the first ever expedition to capture the Great White Shark on film. Peter Gimbel and his team of world famous underwater filmmakers, Ron and Valerie Taylor, and Stan Waterman, travel from Durban, South Africa to South Australia in this tension-filled journey for the ocean's most dangerous creature. The underwater shots in this film are spectacular, and the team captures the mystery and awe surrounding the Great White with artistry and clarity. I found an LA Times review below, be sure not to miss its DVD debut! "This handsome, high-adventure presentation is something special: a film that is actually for the entire family. Crammed with beautiful vistas and exciting underwater scenes." Los Angeles Times
Dated, Overlong Shark Documentary
TheExpatriate7004 January 2012
Blue Water, White Death is largely remembered as being the first film to feature great white sharks on screen. Although it has some great footage, time has not treated this documentary well.
The main problem with the film is that it drags on for entirely too long. In an attempt to emulate verite film makers, the movie incorporates several scenes of the divers and ship crew doing not much of anything. These include people arguing over how to rig the cameras and musical interludes featuring a folk singer who joined the crew. The film could easily have cut out twenty minutes or more.
Another factor dating the film is the depiction of whaling without any real commentary on its environmental impact. The divers accompany a whaling company hunting sperm whales so that they can watch sharks feed on a carcass. Viewers are treated to such inspirational sights as a harpoon being fired from the harpooner's perspective, and whales bleeding out from their wounds. The only objection to this that we hear is one diver commenting that the whales will be wiped out if humans keep hunting them.
Furthermore, the film focuses too much on the hunt for the great white, as it takes the film makers the better part of a year to find a white. This comes across as particularly tedious in our modern age of Shark Week, when a simple flip through the dials can find a documentary about great white.
For all these flaws, the last ten to fifteen minutes of the film, focusing on the divers' encounter with great whites, are truly exhilarating. Even today, their footage is a chilling document of the power of these sharks.
The main problem with the film is that it drags on for entirely too long. In an attempt to emulate verite film makers, the movie incorporates several scenes of the divers and ship crew doing not much of anything. These include people arguing over how to rig the cameras and musical interludes featuring a folk singer who joined the crew. The film could easily have cut out twenty minutes or more.
Another factor dating the film is the depiction of whaling without any real commentary on its environmental impact. The divers accompany a whaling company hunting sperm whales so that they can watch sharks feed on a carcass. Viewers are treated to such inspirational sights as a harpoon being fired from the harpooner's perspective, and whales bleeding out from their wounds. The only objection to this that we hear is one diver commenting that the whales will be wiped out if humans keep hunting them.
Furthermore, the film focuses too much on the hunt for the great white, as it takes the film makers the better part of a year to find a white. This comes across as particularly tedious in our modern age of Shark Week, when a simple flip through the dials can find a documentary about great white.
For all these flaws, the last ten to fifteen minutes of the film, focusing on the divers' encounter with great whites, are truly exhilarating. Even today, their footage is a chilling document of the power of these sharks.
Excellent movie! Wish it would come out on tape!
PrncssG25 July 1999
Although I was young when I saw this movie, it has stuck with me all through the years. This is the movie that spawned my interest in sharks! I praise the makers for such a wonderful idea, too bad it got lost in all the Jaws "wake".
We should do more to preserve these sharks, for without them we will drastically cause a terrible imbalance of our oceans.
mb289 April 2000
We in this fragile world of ours should do whatever is necessary to educate, everyone, children, parents, etc. We must at all costs, not eliminate these great sharks, that have been put into the oceans for many ions. If we out of ignorance, or greed, destroy these magnificent animals, we will regret our actions. For once they are gone forever, the balance in our oceans will create havoc. No more predators to control the all the seal families: Example: (sea animals with flippers.) Once we create an imbalance such as this, we will not survive as the human race. Beside Blue Water, White Death, there have been many other documentaries on this subject, if we choose not to learn from the past, we will have no future.
A courageous and historic first documentary of Great White sharks and shark species!
Ecofact2 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This is an amazing, early - 1971 - documentary about Great White Sharks. Forty- plus years (egad!!!) of research since this film was shot, gives me a greater respect for these explorers! This team pretty-much only had anecdotal insights and few first-hand observations, from which to generate reliable behavioral-models for Great Whites. All the more courageous for them to get up close and personal with these magnificent sharks! This film also provides some interestingly tense-moments of teamwork issues that could have compromised any field expedition.
Fifteen years after the whale-bait sequences were shot, the International Whaling Commission accomplished a moratorium on whaling, as was wished for by these researchers as they trailed behind the harpoon ships to film some sharks' behaviors. This is an historical film and should be inspirational to those who wish to be first observers or researchers in any field!!!
Fifteen years after the whale-bait sequences were shot, the International Whaling Commission accomplished a moratorium on whaling, as was wished for by these researchers as they trailed behind the harpoon ships to film some sharks' behaviors. This is an historical film and should be inspirational to those who wish to be first observers or researchers in any field!!!
An interesting but unsatisfying documentary
wolfriver5-112 October 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This movie's poster shows a great white shark with its mouth wide open. Thus when I entered the theater, I expected something spine-tingling. On this point the movie did not deliver.
It was, in fact, a story about a scientific team searching for a great white to study. Most of the movie is spent searching rather than studying. To my way of thinking the movie was not a total waste of my time. There is footage of sharks (none of them great whites) feeding on a whale carcass. In addition some of the researchers leave the safety of the shark cages and swim among these unjustly maligned fish.
Eventually they find a great white which they study from the ship and in shark cages. Huge and formidable these sharks certainly are, but anyone expecting "Jaws" type of excitement will be be disappointed. Ditto to those who would have preferred more information about great whites than was offered. Such is my reason to call "Blue Water, White Death" 'interesting but unsatisfying'.
It was, in fact, a story about a scientific team searching for a great white to study. Most of the movie is spent searching rather than studying. To my way of thinking the movie was not a total waste of my time. There is footage of sharks (none of them great whites) feeding on a whale carcass. In addition some of the researchers leave the safety of the shark cages and swim among these unjustly maligned fish.
Eventually they find a great white which they study from the ship and in shark cages. Huge and formidable these sharks certainly are, but anyone expecting "Jaws" type of excitement will be be disappointed. Ditto to those who would have preferred more information about great whites than was offered. Such is my reason to call "Blue Water, White Death" 'interesting but unsatisfying'.
The documentary that woke the world to the awesome and sublime beauty of sharks
vampire_hounddog3 October 2020
It's 50 years since this documentary was made and in that time our perception of sharks has been a rocky one. It is clear since Peter Gimbel began making this film that our and even the knowledge of Oceanographers is not as great as it is today. The crews pursuit for Great Whites off the coast of South Africa, the Indian Ocean and finally off the coast of Australia is followed as though an odyssey for the team. They even trail a South African whaling ship as it harpoons sperm whales in one of the saddest and upsetting moments in the film with the carcass attracting a number of predator sharks. We then see sperm whales being cut up for their resources. Thankfully this is a depleted industry today.
Of course it is very much a documentary of its time, but nevertheless is beautifully shot with the contrasting blue of the sky and the Indian Ocean being particularly striking, as well as the boats silhouetted against the sunsets, all played to the beautiful hippy folk songs of Tom Chapin. What else than a 60s/70s documentary film crew would bring a folk singer along with them?
There are some well known name personalities involved in this film. Gimbel had been approached by Steven Spielberg to assist in the making of JAWS (1975), but declined as he said he was a filmmaker not a cameraman. The pair who feature strongly in this documentary, filmmakers, former champion spear fishermen couple Ron and Valerie Taylor did agree to film the underwater sequences in Spielberg's film and became well known personalities following both this documentary and Spielberg's film and in the process became champions for shark awareness as a conservation issue. Sadly JAWS itself was a part of the problem making sharks a target and prey for "sport" and big game fishermen.
Despite this and the slightly dated look and attitudes, this film is a beautiful hommage to amazing creatures and shows a great deal of respect for the sharks. Also included in the documentary is Rodney Fox, famous as a diver who was badly mauled by sharks but spent a lifetime studying and filming sharks (a photo of Fox's injuries appears in JAWS).
Of course it is very much a documentary of its time, but nevertheless is beautifully shot with the contrasting blue of the sky and the Indian Ocean being particularly striking, as well as the boats silhouetted against the sunsets, all played to the beautiful hippy folk songs of Tom Chapin. What else than a 60s/70s documentary film crew would bring a folk singer along with them?
There are some well known name personalities involved in this film. Gimbel had been approached by Steven Spielberg to assist in the making of JAWS (1975), but declined as he said he was a filmmaker not a cameraman. The pair who feature strongly in this documentary, filmmakers, former champion spear fishermen couple Ron and Valerie Taylor did agree to film the underwater sequences in Spielberg's film and became well known personalities following both this documentary and Spielberg's film and in the process became champions for shark awareness as a conservation issue. Sadly JAWS itself was a part of the problem making sharks a target and prey for "sport" and big game fishermen.
Despite this and the slightly dated look and attitudes, this film is a beautiful hommage to amazing creatures and shows a great deal of respect for the sharks. Also included in the documentary is Rodney Fox, famous as a diver who was badly mauled by sharks but spent a lifetime studying and filming sharks (a photo of Fox's injuries appears in JAWS).
Overrated
zana-292662 April 2018
Not very enlightening. Boring actually.
gridoon27 December 2001
Not a particularly enlightening or exciting or dramatic documentary. It purports to focus on the Great White Shark, but has us waiting 78 minutes (!) before actually showing us one, and then ends about 10 minutes later. The superb underwater photography is the only real asset. Re-watch "Jaws" instead. (**)
Semi Real Semi Acted
throbbinsausage7 January 2021
The underwater shots are beautifully done but the ahem 'real' life scenes are so very very scripted AND badly acted. We are told the dangers of decompression and 'the bends' THEN lo and behold someone resurfaces too fast and guess what...... gets the bends ! The ONLY reason this docudrama is getting such high scores is because its the first sighting of a Great White Shark on moving pictures ! They went out to deep sea to see the OCEANIC White Tip (clue here OCEANIC) looking miles from home, when the bloody Great White eats surfers near shore for breakfast ! The dialogue IS golden though just have a listen ? You will piss yourself !
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
