Los Angeles, CA – In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, MGM Home Entertainment honors the primal predator with three never before released on DVD shark films, available July 31. Rising from the deep, the film that inspired the literary creation of Peter Benchley’s “Jaws”, Blue Water, White Death makes its long-awaited, passionately petitioned DVD debut.
This history making film chronicles the real-life expedition of four deep-sea divers on a quest to capture the first-ever 35mm underwater film footage of the majestic-but-deadly Great White Shark. Armed with only their cameras, underwater adventurer and director Peter Gimbel, world renowned shark and underwater experts Ron and Valerie Taylor and underwater cinematography expert Stan Waterman, embark on a 12,000-mile odyssey traveling from Durban, South Africa, and across the Indian Ocean to study and capture the powerful predator in its native depths.
Protected only by aluminum cages and with the help of shark attack survivor and diving coordinator Rodney Fox, the crew captures the first-ever underwater film footage of a Great White Shark near Dangerous Reef, off the South Australian coast. The film also includes pioneering footage of the divers swimming and interacting with sharks in their natural habitat without protective cages. Released theatrically in 1971, this groundbreaking documentary boasted an impressive $5 million box office debut, a landmark at that time. The DVD features additional insight into the crew’s journey through vivid, never-before-seen, expedition footage and exclusive commentary from Ron and Valerie Taylor, Rodney Fox and Stan Waterman.
Blue Water, White Death will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98 U.S. / $25.98 Canada. Pre-book is June 6, 2007.
Blue Water, White Death Bonus Features:
Widescreen Format
Commentary
Diver Valerie May Taylor
Diving Coordinator Rodney Fox
Underwater Photographer Ron Taylor
Associate Producer and Underwater Photographer Stanton Waterman
“Diving into Blue Water, White Death” featurette
“Rodney Fox Great White Shark Expeditions” featurette
Stanton Waterman profile
Other films in the collection making their DVD debut include, Peter Benchley’s Creature, an, action-packed adventure thriller with bite starring Craig T. Nelson (Coach) and Kim Catrall (Sex & The City). Based on the book by the same name, Creature is the story of a biologically engineered shark-like monster that terrorizes an abandoned secret military base and its inhabitants. Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S Indianapolis is a gripping tale based on the true story of a naval crew’s struggle to survive in shark-infested waters after their ship is sunk by enemy action during World War II – resulting in the United States Navy’s second-greatest loss of life from a single ship. The film stars actors Stacy Keach (The Long Riders, Prison Break) and David Caruso (NYBD Blue, CSI: Miami).
Each of these titles will be available for the suggested retail price of $14.98 U.S. / $15.98 Canada. Pre-book is June 6, 2007.
Synopses:
Blue Water, White Death DVD Catalog# M108022
They traveled 12,000 miles at sea over a six-month period. They went to South Africa, Ceylon, Madagascar and Australia, and they had only one goal: to find the most dangerous predator in the world. Join in the adventure as four divers search for the elusive Great White Shark in Blue Water, White Death.
Adventurer Peter Gimbel and his crew of expert underwater specialists swim with sharks and other creatures in some of the most beautiful locations in the world. But when they finally reach Dangerous Reef, Australia, they find what they’ve been searching for. Descending in the underwater cages that Gimbel patented, they come face to face with the most-feared man-eating beast in the sea. Will the bars of the cages be enough to protect them? Find out for yourself in this thrilling documentary that “includes some of the most smashing, man-against-beast footage ever filmed by anyone anywhere at any time” (Vincent Canby, The New York Times)!
Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis DVD Catalog # M108028
Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis is a true story about the sailors who gave their lives for freedom and the horrible cost of war. Upon completing a top-secret mission to deliver an atomic bomb to a U.S. port at the end of WW II, the U.S.S. Indianapolis is torpedoed by enemy fire and sinks. Because of the classified nature of its mission, its surviving crewmembers become helplessly stranded in shark-infested waters for five grueling days.
The tragedy that occurred on the U.S.S. Indianapolis is the worst at-sea loss of life in the history of the U.S. Navy…and a horrifying indictment of covert motives, corruption and scandal. Captain Charles Butler McVay III (Stacey Keach) survives the ordeal and becomes a scapegoat as he is court-martialed and subsequently convicted in a highly controversial U.S. military cover-up.
Peter Benchley’s Creature DVD Catalog# M108031
On a remote island in the West Indies, a top-secret Navy team attempts to genetically engineer a biological weapon...only to find they’ve instead created an unstoppable monster. Adapted from the Peter Benchley novel, Creature stars Craig T. Nelson (Blades of Glory) and Kim Cattrall (Sex in the City) as research scientists who visit the island and find themselves in sudden peril as the monster continues its reign of terror. Now they must hunt down the voracious beast…before they become its next prey! With spectacular special effects and a jolting, guess-where-it-can-pop-up-next storyline, this thriller unfolds with the terrifying precision of the great white horror itself!
About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,000 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 110 countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit www.mgm.com.
A recognized global industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC (TCFHE) is the worldwide marketing, sales and Distribution company for all Fox film and television programming on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) as well as acquisitions and original productions. The company also releases all products around the globe for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets -- from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce - throughout the world. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company.
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