cant wait to see this. Reviews have been stellar.

It's the kind of film that makes you angry - like, once you leave the theater you want to do something to stop the injustices that occur here. That's a real testament to how powerful and effective it is. I'm usually not a huge fan of documentaries, but found this one incredibly engrossing and often thrilling. The sequences where the filmmakers actually tried to infiltrate the cove in the dead of night had me on the edge of my seat. And you couldn't help but feel for Ric O’Barry, who spent so long doing the things he now rallies against. Some of the stories he told, namely the one about his experiences on "Flipper," were heartbreaking. And the scenes of the actual dolphin slaughter that were recorded with the hidden cameras were horrific to watch - I felt disgusted and wanted to turn away. It's pretty one-sided in its approach and can get kind of manipulative at times (namely during the ending, which I found kind of cheesy to be honest), but it's a skillfully made and undeniably effective documentary that truly is eye-opening. A-

can't wait

9/10 -> A-

You always have to be careful with activists. They're no strangers to using the false propaganda in order to fulfill their goals and the irony is, they almost always fight against something that's strongholded by a powerful propaganda machine.

But the shots in this movie speak for themselves. Immediately after watching the documentary I wished dolphins had a nuke so they could bomb Taiji. Not that they would, as they're far too good for that. But someone should. That's cruel. I loved the look of that Japanese official that claimed how dolphins were killed humanely when they showed him the footage of that monstrous way of killing dolphins. It's basically a torture. They stab them and let them die a slow and painful death.

And considering the reports (not just in the movies, but those reports have been around for quite some time) about dolphin meat being unsuitable for food, it's obvious there's no reason for killing them. Not even as a vermin control that Japan is trying to portray them. For such a developed nation, they're stupid to claim that the lack of fish in the ocean is because of cetaceans. It's because of the humans, and humans only.

And the docu even managed to portray governments dirty play. Japan helping to build various fish stocks and most of them sit empty or serve as a chicken storage/farm. And I loved how that island girl didn't even know if there are any cetaceans living in their waters and she's in the committee???

It's an important documentary and hopefully it will help to stop these killings.

I have had this movie rented out since the day it hit DVD. I feel I should see it, since I love dolphins and it's one of the best reviewed movies of the year (and will be nominated for Best Documentary at the Oscars), but I'm afraid to.

The solemnity and seriousness with which these people approach their 'mission' is downright hilarious, as is their sense of supreme self-righteousness and self-importance. It'd be like Man on Wire, if Philippe Petit walked across the Twin Towers to save the rainforests or some shit.

Egotistical liberal bullshit run amuck.

The condescending nationalism showed toward the Japanese by these western eco-terrorists is truly offensive.

The point seems to be "don't kill dolphins because they are smarter and cuter than cows." I think they sensed this argument was weak, so there is awkward stuff in the second half about high mercury levels in the dolphin meat--which is so beside the point, you'll get whiplash.

well, I just can't deny that it was very effective

even if the point of this doc. is questionable

B


It reminds me a bit of Michael Moore's "documentaries". The informative value is not very high. It is biased and distorted as hell. But they are somewhat entertaining and one cannot deny that they are well-shot. It's weird to say, but I absolutely agree with yoshue's assessment of the film. The main point of it just seems to be: "Oh look at the dolphins! Aren't they so majestic, beautiful and smart? No way anyone should be killing them!". It doesn't really try to make an argument about them being endangered or anything, it mostly tries to emotionally manipulate the viewers into hating the evil Japanese dolphin murderers!!

It does have its nice and genuine moments. I liked the look behind the scenes of the International Whaling Commission. So I suppose it is wrong to say that it holds no informative value at all. But mostly it is just going for the feelings rather than for reason.

The parts of the film that come across as Ocean's Eleven are actually quite fun and effective. But whenever the documentary tried to make a point and pull the viewer on its side, I found it to be rather annoying. To put it simple: it did not convince me.

Now I don't condone the brutal killings of the dolphins at all, but the way the whole thing is set up and portrayed and the sheer fact that it would have never worked this well with the audiences had it been about...um...cows...shows that the film just needs to heavily rely on that the audiences like dolphins and are willing to humanize them.