Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

The Life Aquatic: ‘Sharks 3D’ makes a splash at the Luxor

Ever since Steven Spielberg terrified the moviegoing public with the blockbuster "Jaws," sharks have taken a bad rap.

The film's tale of a great white shark that terrorized a sleepy island town off the New England coast fostered the perception of sharks as mindless, man-eating machines.

Since then, numerous movies, books and TV shows have continued the legacy of sharks as oceanic villains.

Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of late oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, disagrees.

"It's very unfair to the shark," said Cousteau, president and chairman of Oceans Future Society, in a recent phone interview from his office in Santa Barbara, Calif. "First of all, of the more than 400 species of sharks, it's only four or five of those animals that you have to be careful about in certain circumstances. The others are merely harmless.

"How many people die from bee stings? We never talk about it. Never."

According to statistics from the International Shark Attack File (an organization that tracks shark attacks worldwide), there were five fatalities because of shark attacks in 2003 less than half the average of 12 shark-related deaths reported annually.

Compare those numbers to the estimated 100 million sharks killed each year mostly for their fins, the chief ingredient in shark fin soup and Cousteau said humans have it all wrong: It's the sharks that should fear us.

"The sharks are caught by fishermen. Their fins are cut off and they're thrown overboard into the ocean, where they bleed to death," he said. "These animals play a very critical role in the environment. Like the hyena, lobster, shrimp and crab, they are scavengers. Their job is to clean the mess.

"What we tried to do is foster a fascination for these animals not fear."

Which is why Cousteau is lending his name to the just-released "Sharks 3D," an IMAX documentary produced to showcase sharks not as frightening monsters of the deep, but as wondrous animals that play an important role in nature.

"Sharks 3D" is showing at the Luxor IMAX Theatre throughout the year.

"I wanted to show audience members what sharks really are like and how they evolve in their natural environment," said "Sharks 3D" director Jean-Jacques Mantello via e-mail from his home in France. "They are, admittedly, the ocean's greatest predator but certainly not the man-eating creatures people are used to hearing or reading about in the media; in fact, they are an endangered species."

All species of sharks shown in the film are on the endangered list, including the great white shark and the whale shark, the largest fish in the ocean.

While "Sharks 3D" is scheduled to play in IMAX theaters throughout North America, as well as Germany, Israel, Russia, Slovakia and Malta, it's too early to determine what if any impact "Sharks 3D" will have on halting the decimation of the shark population.

Still, Mantello said he believes the film makes a convincing case for the need to protect the species.

"The film itself doesn't provide audiences with a solution to the problem; it tries only to show sharks in their natural habitat," he said. "As you know, 'we only protect what we love,' so if my film can make people think differently and, ultimately, positively about sharks, our mission will have been successful.

"I am motivated by the desire to educate and inspire people."

Realizing the importance of the film's message conservation Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay partnered with the Luxor for the "Sharks 3D" world premiere in mid-December at the IMAX Theatre. Shark Reef even offers a combo-pack with the theater for a discount admission to both the film and the attraction.

"The conservation messages in the film parallels what we try to tell people about sharks, that they are overfished and that many species are threatened," Brian Robison, director of Shark Reef, said.

"The film is the best I have seen thus far in giving a conservation message of the shark. It doesn't do what 'Jaws' did, that (sharks) are out there waiting for you and they're going to take your boat and everything else. You don't hear about that very often," Robison said.

In filming the documentary, Mantello and his crew spent more than 500 hours diving in oceans worldwide over six months. Ultimately, he ended up with 100 hours of footage, which he edited down to the 42-minute documentary.

To create the documentary's realistic 3-D effect, Mantello said two different 3-D camera rigs were used during filming.

"The first weighs about 300 pounds (including the weight of the twin cameras)," he said. "We needed a crane just to get the first 3-D rig in and out of the water."

Then, between filming excursions in late 2003, Mantello acquired a new, more versatile rig, which weighed only 140 pounds.

"That allowed us to penetrate the sharks' habitat more quietly and discreetly," he said.

Despite the challenges in using the stereoscopy, or 3-D, equipment, Mantello is pleased with the results.

"Stereoscopy is a highly specialized medium and you have to know how to use it," said the veteran director of more than 25 stereoscopy films, including the successful IMAX documentary "Ocean Wonderland 3D," released in February.

"With 3-D you take the audience to another dimension that is very close to reality. When people see my 3-D movies, I often hear the same remarks, such as, 'I felt like I was diving!' " Mantello said.

He's also quick to point out that the documentary is "an accurate representation of the reality of the situation, with no 'corrections' or enhancement."

In addition, the crew never had shark cages, except while filming the great white -- although crew members opted not to use the shelter.

"You have to be vigilant when diving with (sharks), but we also spent 500 hours with these animals last year and are all back here, safe and sound," Mantello said. "This doesn't mean that just anybody can swim with sharks, however.

"Sharks are predators and it is like facing lions and tigers, i.e., you must know what you are doing before entering that type of situation."

Even absent the safety of a cage, Mantello said he never felt threatened while filming -- although there was a scary moment for his brother, Francois, an executive producer on "Sharks 3D."

"Between two shoots, he decided to jump in the water with only a snorkel to observe some silky sharks that were swimming close to the surface. Quickly, between 10 to 15 of them had surrounded Francois and proceeded to hit him in the ribs while he tried to return to the boat," Mantello said. "They had mistaken him for a wounded animal and were checking him to see if their prey was ready.

"Francois, however, disliked the idea of being a prey, so he kicked a lot and, fortunately, got back onboard safely."

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