Have you seen the movie Open Water?

[Stormbringer]

As an ex-serviceman myself I certainly would never demean the memory of any service man's sacrifice. But there is no way one can equate what happened to the crew of the USS Indianapolis as a typical example of shark attack...it was extremely unusual, tragic and no doubt horrific experience for all involved. Not a typical example of shark attack. But the reference many use of the incident is that its characteristic of shark attacks and that is not only wrong but misleading. Yes many were attacked in the water by sharks...after 5 days I am really surprised by how many were not attacked by sharks. If they were truely the man eaters that many suggest I doubt we would have had a single unattacked survivor, especially with all the wounded and dieing in the water. There were 877 who died and 317 who survived that tragic, horrific experience. But it was not a typical scenerio and shouldn't be used as an example of how sharks are after man in the water to prove a point about the use of sharks and shark attacks in the film "Open Water." That demeans the sacrifice of those crewmen of the Indianapolis.

I do marine research and have studied sharks up close in the water for years and know many experts in the field who also study sharks. Absolutely sharks are wild animals and as such and there are conditions where they will attack and sometimes even feed opportunistically on the sick, injured and wounded, especially the pelagic (open ocean) sharks that attacked the crew of the Indianapolis. No one is disputing that...merely pointing out the overly zealous attempt by Hollywood to perpetuate and captialize on the somewhat irrational fear of sharks held by many and depicted in the film "Open Water" suposedly based on "True Events." In ending with the two divers eaten by sharks "Open Water" went for the cheap thrill and all the advertising of the film perpetuates that fear of sharks mentality. They couldn't just have them drift out sea to some unknown fate. "Open Water" is another typical example of Hollywood's and media's atempt to further scare the public of sharks in the water.

Bro, I love sharks but you gotta be kidding. You are taking the biggest screw-up in the history of the Navy and treating it was a clerical error. Do more than google some quick information before you make a statement like that...read the book "In Harm's Way", watch a documentary on the tragedy, and you will change your mind about the role the shark played in that event. Listen to a crewman who, after 60 years, cannot go into the water and still wakes up screaming from fear of the sharks. Do the math, 570 men did not make it out of the water. That's not insignificant, my man.

I agree with you that Hollywood is responsible for continuously blowing the shark's reputation out of proportion. But let's not forget that these are wild animals who have/do/will attack humans. And let's not disrespect the memory of the men of the Indy by slighting the tragedy that ended their lives.

 

[BIGG_BUDD]

The more I read this thread, the more I realize we are actually on the same page:

But there is no way one can equate what happened to the crew of the USS Indianapolis as a typical example of shark attack...

Agreed.

...merely pointing out the overly zealous attempt by Hollywood to perpetuate and captialize on the somewhat irrational fear of sharks held by many and depicted in the film "Open Water" suposedly based on "True Events."

Once again, agreed.

The only exception:

They couldn't just have them drift out sea to some unknown fate.

That's called a boring movie, my man.

 

[Bluey]

I thought the movie was ok but not great.

On the dvd there are some extras:

One is a guy from PADI outlining many of the precautions and equipment that can prevent being lost at sea.

Another is a series of interviews regarding shark behavior and info on how endangered they are as a species. It was pretty good and encouraged a view of sharks as beautiful creatures and not generally dangerous.

 

[BarryNL]

I liked it a lot. I wonder if I could get permission to use clips from it for examples of "what not to do"?

Terry

For a scuba course, or a film making one?

 

[ScubaCatgirl]

i liked the movie - a good suspense and well played, great indie flix. whether it is based on real events or not - in the "special features" they claim that it's based on an newspaper article about 2 divers who were accidentally left at sea. so the film is the director's interpretation of events, so i view this film from as a fictional story. who cares if it's really happened; it's a movie not a documentary.

I so totally agree, plus, if anyone watched shark week they would know that sharks are not out to hurt humans or are man eaters. Most incidents of shark attack are due to experimental bites. Hmm, wonder what this is? Will it taste good? Unfortunately some of the sharks are so huge & their bite is so big that their experimental bite can take off part of a human's body.......if the human decides to go out into the water during a shark's normal feeding times, dawn & dusk, which is infiniately more dangerous than any other time in the water. Shark attacks are also more prevelant in murky water when they cannot see the prey clearly, all they know is that there is splashing & interepet this as a possible meal, thus the experimental bite. Is this the meal I'm looking for?