Sharkwater (2006)

Powerful

Absolutely the worst movie.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I have heard nothing but great praises about this movie. Since I also love documentaries and animals, I set out to see it with great enthusiasm. The movie started off quite well, so I figured I was in for a treat. There were beautiful underwater shots, and it seemed like a legitimate documentary, although the narrator's lack of commentary skills, and low audio quality were foreshadowing bad things to come. I have seen enough documentaries to know to take every one of them with a grain of salt. The problem with documentaries is that (while they should be presenting facts objectively) they are all created to serve one purpose in mind: to convince the viewers of the author's ideas/ideals/point of view. In the case of Sharkwater the ideas and ideals of the author were at the level of an elementary school student. His 'scientific' reasoning makes perfect sense if you are either 6 years old, or are completely brain-dead. Don't get me wrong, I am all for saving this planet, and I agree, eradicating animal species one after another is unacceptable. However, a marine biology themed movie made by a complete amateur without any scientific training is probably going to do more damage to the cause than good. Introduce a complete hack of a Greenpeace activist as a 'subject matter expert', and some shameless self-promotion tactics in a pathetic attempt to be recognized as a hero, and you have a complete disaster. These guys filmed themselves sinking fishing vessels in international waters, armed with the argument that out there no one has authority over them, claiming themselves to be heroes for enforcing local laws. Get it? They were enforcing local laws outside of the country's borders. Needless to say, they were also outraged for being arrested by authorities for attempted murder. I guess, enforcing local laws in international waters has made them forget about the existence of international laws... no matter where you are, attacking other people, and trying to sink their boats (even if they are engaged in illegal poaching) is attempted murder. There is also a completely unnecessary section about the author being attacked by flesh-eating disease. Apparently the doctors had to amputate his leg. Then he made some phone calls to his relatives, assuring them that he had things under control, and that everything was going to be fine. All this with astounding confidence from a person who's about to have his leg amputated. Then guess what happened? He was tougher than the flesh-eating disease! He defied all odds against him, saving his own leg, ripping out the IV tube from his arm, and and then immediately rushing off to the very country that had an arrest warrant against him for attempted murder, just because his cause for saving the sharks was more important than his health, leg or life in prison... For these reasons I found this movie extremely pathetic. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people that loved this movie... however, now that I think about it, they all had the IQ of a tadpole...

Sharkwater If you watch one Docu/Film, then I urge you to watch this one.Before I explain what this Documentary is about I want to explain to you that the human race isn't some divine species that has the right to choose what lives and what dies because we were brought here by some high and mighty God. The reality is far simpler – the human race is an evolved species of Ape who in the last few thousand years since the population of the species has accelerated has become an over destructive out of control ape that won't stop breeding. A good definition for all human beings is: "Parasite". To truly understand by what a Parasite is, please allow me to give you the definition of a Parasite: "An organism that lives on or in a different kind of organism (the host) from which it gets some or all of its nourishment. Parasites are generally harmful to their hosts, although the damage they do ranges widely from minor inconvenience to debilitating or fatal disease. A parasite that lives or feeds on the outer surface of the host's body, such as a louse, tick, or leech, is called an ectoparasite." Hence the reality is we are ectoparasites – we feed on the surface of Planet Earth sucking the life dry from this planet. Human beings are currently causing the greatest mass extinction of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If present trends continue one half of all species of life on earth will be extinct in less than 100 years, as a result of habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, and climate change – the only parasite responsible for all this destruction is the human race! Now most of us are aware of the threat to Polar Bears, Whales, Panda's and Tigers – yet in recent years the Shark Population on Planet earth has reduced by more than 90%. Does the human race give a damn – it doesn't seem to. The Orient continue to believe Shark Fin soup will solve their health problems and the west still portrays the Shark as a killing machine – but the reality is Elephants kill more people a year than Sharks. The Drinks machine in your canteen is going to kill more people each year than the humble shark – so because of the Spielberg effect with Jaws people don't give a damn if Sharks are wiped out.They are intelligent and peaceful creatures and yet in the last 100 years we as a race have replaced them as the oceans number one predator. The illegal trade in Shark Fins is now 2nd to the illegal trade in drugs in terms of profitability.Rob Stewart who narrated and Directed Shark Water is one of a small percentage of people on this planet that actually give a damn about other species. In his Documentary Sharkwater he sets out to highlight the destruction of the Shark Species. Rob meets up with fellow Eco Warriors on the Sea Shepherd and sets sail with the great Captain Paul Watson on a mission down to Costa Rica and then later to the Galapagos Islands to experience first hand the illegal trade in Shark Fins. We witness is graphic bloody detail Guatemalan and Costa Rican Fisherman Long lining international waters dragging Shark after Shark onto their boat – cutting the Sharks Fin from their bodies and then throwing the still alive Shark back to sea where it will sink to the bottom and die a painful death.In witnessing the illegal trade and capturing it all on film you would think the Sea Shepherd would be in the right when it towed the boat to Costa Rican waters ready for arrest – but because the Costa Rican Government is corrupt like most governments of this world the Costa Rican Police proceeded to arrest the crew of the Sea Shepherd putting them under house arrest because the government was earning to much money from the trade of Shark Fins with Taiwan to merit Eco Warriors disrupting that trade. Strangely Ironic for a country that boasts its main GDP is from Eco Tourism.I could go into more detail about the journey Rob Stewart takes in Sharkwater but I think that would spoil the emotional experience that needs to be experienced by everyone who believes they have a heart for something other than themselves.People need to sit up and realise that the fishing industry is globally responsible for the destruction of sharks as well as every other species in the seas. The next generation will look upon our generation with such disillusionment if we allow this to continue just like we look upon those in the past who took part in Slavery.A 5 star – 10/10 Docu/Film

A great documentary film worth watching for its education value on the topic of the shark-finning industry alone. It goes a couple levels deeper than the usual documentaries you'll catch on discovery channel type shows which made the film quite captivating. Underwater scenes are well shot, although if all you want is some oceanic eyecandy go see 'Blue planet' instead. The real worth of the film comes from some of the undercover and handicam shooting of illegal sharkfin set ups, boat chases, etc...Director Rob Stewart does a bit too much mugging for the camera which takes some focus away from the sharks, and the way he ends it left me scratching my head for a bit. But despite that, you can tell he is passionate about this topic. His narration and on-screen presence isn't all that hard-hitting, though some of the footage (the finning sequence especially) makes up for it.Bottom line: As a shark lover, if I had my way I'd make everybody I know watch this movie. I've always felt it a shame that because sharks aren't cute and cuddly they've been left on the back burner of public conservation interest, and I hope it's movies like this that will start to change that.

I mean, if you see this movie, and just watch the news in general. Like one of the guys in this movie says. Humans are just primates out of control. Couldn't agree more. This movie is about the Shark dilemma, a species that has survived for over 400 millions years, and now finds itself close to extinction, do to humans. Now you might say am generalizing people, but its hard to argue against the complete destruction we have done to many species, and ecological systems of the planet earth.The movie just doesn't deal with the dilemma of the Sharks, but also the dilemma for the people that try to actually do something about it. The corruption in this business, the fact Sharks are not as dangerous as we have been told.Must watch.