Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse a... Read allUsing state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 39 wins & 18 nominations total
- Self - Earth Island Institute
- (as Ric O'Barry)
- Self
- (as Captain Paul Watson)
- Self - U.S. Deputy Commissioner for the IWC
- (as Doug DeMaster Ph.D.)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPeople Concerned for the Ocean, a local Taiji activist group, distributed DVDs in March of 2011 of the film, dubbed in Japanese, to all 3,500 residents of Taiji.
- Quotes
Richard O'Barry: The thing that turned me around was the death of Flipper, of Cathy. She was really depressed. I could feel it. I could see it. And she committed suicide in my arms. That's a very strong word, suicide. But you have to understand dolphins and other whales are not automatic air breathers, like we are. Every breath they take is a conscious effort. And so they can end their life whenever life becomes too unbearable by not taking the next breath. And it's in that context I use the word suicide. She did that. She swam into my arms, looked me right in the eye, and took a breath... and didn't take another one.
- Crazy creditsAfter the end credits there is a humorous scene involving the team's Whale Blimp and local police.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Paul O'Grady Show: Episode dated 15 October 2009 (2009)
- SoundtracksMagic
Written by J. Ralph
Performed by The Rumor Mill
Published by Tubby & The Spaniard Music Publishing
This movie is about the exploitation and brutality man has shown towards a gentle, intelligent and harmless creature. It can be added to a long list of films with a simple message - man is raping his environment, exploiting life, and quite frankly caring for little else than the profit nature holds.
The movie will hold you to the last 10 minutes, at which point it becomes apparent to all why Ric O'Barry's life has changed. It must be seen as the story tellers wanted it to be seen.
If I have any criticism of the film it's the amount of time dedicated to dramatizing the message with the Special Ops segments. I appreciate the risk taken to get this footage however I think the danger element was overstated by the film. You gain the belief all through the film the OPS is being followed closely by authorities, that they're every move is being noted, their purpose known, they're faces ingrained in the minds of the people, yet on two occasions they load up a van full of crew and high tech equipment and head unchallenged into the "great secret". This aspect of the film, along with the early segments showing paranoid Ric O'Barry moments in which he says things like "they would kill me if they could" leads me to believe the filmmakers we hedging between taking the viewer on a adrenaline fuelled trip of espionage and a journey of education and awareness.
It has it's moments of contradiction as well. It goes to some great length to show that Japanese don't eat dolphin meat but this is not adequately reconciled with the fact that the Taiji school program served dolphin meat to it's children as part of it's mandatory lunch program.
An obvious cherry picking of interviewees in the cities of Japan with questions about their food supply chain elicited responses that I would expect to find in most urban centres. I live in Toronto, where I suspect many people would be surprised to find restaurants here serve alligator and other exotic protein. I know that slaughter houses provide my area beef but I would be hard pressed to tell you where they are or the methods employed. The effort to show the Japanese as oblivious to the scandals going on right under their nose failed to be convincing in my opinion.
Still, a very informative and inspiring film. I would recommend it to anyone who cares about these creatures. I have had the benefit of encountering these wonderful animal at open sea and know them to be curious, intelligent, playful, with strong ties to the family unit. They are better than we are and this film helped me realize this.
- earl_sibley
- Nov 25, 2011
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $857,005
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $57,640
- Aug 2, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $1,187,434
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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