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However, I have to say that like an unacute seal next to a great white this DVD didn't last long. There are some amazing shots of divers on coral reefs and wonderful footage of an encounter with a whale shark but it is there that the list stops as I began to become more and more disappointed as I carried on watching. The DVD is not that long, only around 40 minutes, but I understand that is common with IMAX films, but the actual encounters with Great whites are not that impressive. There is a wonderful moment when 6 whites circle an aging australian diver but then it is bluntly interupted by painfully post-event filming which has obviously been spliced in. The viewer feels like they are involved, in that you feel like a bucket of cold water is thrown over you whenever you have to put up with (if you would excuse the meat analogy) "ham acting" by a girl wearing make up and a microphone. The one shot of a shark attacking of any note, is when a great white takes the bait which has been spoon fed to it on a rope, and then with the wonders of slow motion viewing and clashing symbols and whatever music is played over, we see it's savage mouth and rows of teeth put to good use. A bit artificial but it gets the job done.
However, what concerns me is that the IMAX team would have felt satisfied with their finished product when they have not done anything particularly ground breaking. I have been cage diving once, and I saw 11 Great Whites and the killing of a seal where the 'white' came out of nowhere beneath it and caught it in its mouth and landed on the side of our boat. I was holding a disposable happy snap camera and it makes me wonder if perhaps I could have released a 'searching for sharks' documentary myself.
Alas, it seems that despite the moments of film making magic, which occassionally captured sharks in crystal blue waters, it seems that the team should have kept on searching for sharks for a bit longer so they would have had something a bit more impressive show for.
A.T.
So my review of this DVD may be viewed as biased from the start, hence a high 4 or 5-star rating may be expected. Unfortunately, I've seen the disc and am somewhat disappointed. For one, how can you call a disc "Search For The Great Sharks" when you essentially featured just two species (the whale shark and the ever crowd-pleasing great white)? Nothing about hammerheads? Makos? Tiger sharks?
Nevertheless, I give it 3 stars if only for the overall audio and video quality (expect nothing less from IMAX - I own a couple others myself). Also interesting trivia which would probably please an audience of all ages. The film, unfortunately, is only 46 mins long (how come all IMAXes are this short? grrr!), with nine chapters as follows: 1. Domain of the Shark; 2. Behavior; 3. Steel Cage; 4. Western Australia; 5. Spotted Whale Shark; 6. Great White Shark; 7. Ancient Survivors; 8. Credits; 9. "Making Of".
I intend to order the Operation: Shark Attack 5-disc set soon, hopefully there'll me something more there. For shark freaks out there I'd also recommend getting a copy of the Discovery Channel Great White video (on VHS or VCD) or even the DVD of "Deep Blue Sea" with its interesting featurette(s).
