Bleue est la mer, blanche est la mort...

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".

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.

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 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 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!!