Product Details

• Actors: Rob Stewart, Paul Watson, Patrick Moore, Erich Ritter, Boris Worm
• Directors: Rob Stewart
• Writers: Rob Stewart
• Producers: Rob Stewart, Brian Stewart
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: April 8, 2008
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0013D8LHW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,168 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Sharkwater" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of mankind's greatest fears--the shark--is convincingly cast in a sympathetic light by the award-winning documentary Sharkwater. Wildlife photographer-turned-filmmaker Rob Stewart is the driving force behind the film, and if his on-camera presence occasionally tilts towards self-aggrandizement, it's countered by the breathtaking quality of his footage of sharks and his compassionate argument for their protection. Stewart's coverage of the sharkfin trade is equally compelling, and scenes of wholesale slaughter of sharks for their fins (a delicacy and alleged medicine in Asian countries) are likely to disturb. Viewers may be split on Stewart's hands-on approach to combating the practice, which includes taking on pirates and police, but his intentions are honorable and do much to bring this alarming situation to light. The DVD includes a '60s-era Navy training film about sharks, which is amusing until one realizes how much its fearful tone has been echoed through decades, as well as a making-of featurette and theatrical trailer. --Paul Gaita

Product Description

For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it turned into was a beautiful and dangerous life journey into the balance of life on earth. Driven by passion fed from a life-long fascination with sharks, Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas. Filmed in visually stunning, high definition video, Sharkwater takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world's shark populations. Stewart's remarkable journey of courage and determination changes from a mission to save the world's sharks, into a fight for his life, and that of humankind.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Say NO to Shark fin soup ! September 4, 2008

By Guy Rogers

Format:DVD

This is one thing you will certainly come away with after watching the film.

As a scuba diver, sharks are what you want to see, especially the whale shark, but they are generally so shy they will certainly keep their distance.

The film sees Rob Stewart explore the `Darwin's theory of evolution' Galapagos islands and Costa Rica. Rob is a professional underwater photographer and videographer so the images he captures while gliding through the depths are stunning. That is until they turn to the finning operations, the corruption and images of sharks caught in a long lines where you can but ponder `what is humanity doing'.

This film really gives you a wake up call to the importance of the oceans and the sharks place at top of the food chain to keep everything balanced.

The books emphasis goes more on the role of the Sea Shepherd, the ocean's eco systems and gives you a chance to look again at the gracefulness of the shark.

A must watch/read.

Sharkwater: The Photographs

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Essential Viewing! March 31, 2008

By Sean M. Palmer

Format:DVD

I was fortunate enough to be in Canada last year when this amazing film was being shown at a university theatre. Having won over twenty international film awards and garnered much critical acclaim, it's shocking how little exposure and theatrical play this film has had in the US. Regardless, this is easily one of the very best documentaries I've seen.

I was taken off-guard by how little I really knew about sharks aside from the terrible misconceptions so many of us have been fed since childhood. Rob Stewart does a magnificent job of thoroughly dismantling the caricature of sharks as ferocious monsters deserving of our fear and hatred, instead capturing the gentle beauty and vital importance of these creatures to life as we know it. The frightening ordeal Stewart finds himself in while filming is worthwhile viewing in itself. You don't need to be an environmentalist to appreciate Stewart's courageous documentation of the heart-wrenching barbarity imposed upon sharks (and other aquatic life).

Watch this film with as many friends and relatives as you can. We all need to be more aware of the impact humans are having on the environment. Sharkwater is a milestone effort in raising this awareness.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible February 27, 2008

By Giles

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

A stunning and remarkable documentary film about the illegal fishing of sharks for the Asian food market that is both riveting and beautiful to watch. The film documents director Rob Stewart's discovery and determination in letting the public know about the plight of sharks being killed off. The High Def imagery/cinematography is simply incredible and I'm sure the Bluray disc will look equally impressive as when I saw it on the AFI' Silver Theatre DLP system in March of 2006. The film is essential in educating all about the misconceptions and slaughter of sharks, it is both enlightening and ultimately heartbreaking - highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sharkwater November 28, 2010

By Lam Hoon Leong

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

I like to eat shark fin soup until I read reports and watch this title.. This show speak a loud for Sharks.
It is a wake up call for humans. I am not only concerning about sharks but all other animals too. Eg Tigers hunted for the skin and other product, Fur creatures skinned for their furs.(Just to name a few.) This young man risk his life to produce this show to warn all of us, The message is simple. Do not upset of food chain of the ocean as Sharks has live in the ocean longer than any of us. It is maintained the food chain of the ocean well until man started to hunt them for their fins. If the world comes to an end, it is not God's ideal but we end this mother world by ourselves.
Be kind to animals as we are all created by God.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent dramatized documentary August 19, 2010

By Peter Sinclaire

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

This movie should be watched by everybody! It shows how we are allowing the killing of millions of sharks for just obtaining their fins! It is unbelievable. I hope that with more and more people aware of this fact, if they know who are paying lots of money to eat shark fin soup, will stop them doing it. As soon as we stop paying for shark finning, there will be nobody willing to do it. I sincerely hope this is easier than stopping people to pay for drugs.
Even if you are not militant on the conservationism troops, this movie will entertain and leave a strong feeling about the importance of sharks in Nature, before we discover it the hard way.
The bluray transfer quality is very good. I just hope a new version with multilingual subtitles is made available soon to increase its effect around the world.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharkwater blu-ray March 21, 2010

By T. Stadler

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an amazing documentry!! I've seen it before my purchase but wanted my own copy to share with others. Great filming, great message. As far as Amazon go's very easy to order and very fast delivery. You got to see this movie!!! Thanks

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars compelling truth-is-stranger-than-fiction documentary July 9, 2011

By Roland E. Zwick

Format:DVD

The documentary, "Sharkwater," by filmmaker and naturalist Rob Stewart, has, essentially, a twofold purpose: to rehabilitate the reputation of the shark by countering many of the myths and misconceptions that, over the millennia, have grown up around the creature, and to raise awareness in the general public that the shark is basically being hunted out of existence by poachers eager to sell its high-priced fin - shark-fin soup being one of the priciest delicacies in Asian cooking. Compounding the tragedy is the fact that the fin is largely inedible and used mainly for ornamentation. According to Stewart, 100 million sharks are killed each year to support this billion dollar industry, resulting in the world's shark population declining by an estimated 90%. Yet, because they are not cute and cuddly creatures, there is no real constituency fighting for sharks as there is for dolphins and seals. Stewart's film is a small-step attempt to rectify that situation.

Stewart begins by demonstrating that sharks and humans can exist in harmony together. This he does by donning scuba gear and plunging into shark-infested waters where he proceeds to pet, cuddle and play with the animals, all without incident. He also cites a number of statistics to back up his assertion, the prime one being that only five people per year on average are killed by sharks while a hundred or so are killed annually by elephants.

Then he moves on to the more political aspects of the issue. The movie sets up an interesting dichotomy between two realms of existence, juxtaposing the beauty of nature with the ugliness of the human world.... For while we're being shown eye-popping, multi-colored images of life under water - all in gorgeous hi-def, I might add - there's plenty of drama taking place on the high seas, as Stewart joins up with Paul Watson, a "direct action" conservationist who has devoted his entire adult life to roaming the oceans, trying to put a halt to the wholesale slaughter of the creatures who reside therein. We see Watson and his crew getting into tense confrontations with poachers, only to find THEMSELVES the object of pursuit by Costa Rican authorities. Stewart points out how corrupt governments like the one in Costa Rica outlaw shark hunting on an official level - in order to maintain their appeal to eco-conscious tourists - then secretly profit from it by looking the other way as poachers illegally operate off their coasts.

And it isn't just out of compassion for the shark that Stewart and his buddies have mounted a crusade against this mass poaching. It's out of concern for the ecosystem itself, as the diminution or, heaven forbid, the elimination of one of the world's great predators could upset the delicate natural balance in ways we can not yet fully comprehend - including potentially increasing the amount of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere if plankton-eating creatures that are current shark prey are allowed to flourish in ever-greater numbers.

But there is hope. At the time this film was released (2007), sixteen countries had already banned shark-finning (hopefully more effectively than Costa Rica), and the general public had begun to fight back, as evidenced by mass street protests that began springing up in places like Costa Rica to help raise awareness of the issue - much as this film itself does.

Stewart - who wrote, directed, produced and served as cinematographer for this amazing and inspiring film - can be justifiably proud of both his mission and his work. Read more ›