User Reviews

Whoever says this is "television stooped to a new low" clearly doesn't know anything about presenting an extreme point of view in an unbiased manner. In "Whale Wars", Animal Planet has managed to give us a show that actually chronicles a very controversial group of people without taking a side. There are no endorsements for, or against, the Sea Shepherds or their activities by the production crew or the television network. After watching many biased documentaries of all sorts by all sorts, I thought Whale Wars was a nice change.

Personally, I don't really ascribe to too many environmentalist causes, for a variety of reasons. As such, I was initially skeptical when I heard about the premise of Whale Wars. I was sure I'd be getting another heavily biased faux documentary, the aim of which was to pander to one extreme on the right-left political spectrum. I was also expecting lackluster production with tedious editing.

Fortunately, none of that is the case. While most of the people involved in this venture seem almost foreign to me (I'm a gun owner, I eat meat nearly exclusively, and I consider myself an American patriot), they do not come off as completely insane ecoterrorists. This is perhaps because they're explaining themselves at every turn. There are many sit-down interviews in addition to action sequences; the viewer can then weigh what he sees them doing against what he hears them saying, and is invited to make his own judgment.

The pacing is not boring or slow, nor is it rushed. As we see the Sea Shepherds deciding on tactics and the commission of their actions, we also see the consequences of what they do. They are not glorified or lionized, and I don't come away feeling as if the show has tried to legitimize or marginalize them one way or the other. The same goes for what we are able to see of the Japanese whaling ships.

But this is where the niceties end. After multiple attempts to communicate with the Japanese, the Sea Shepherds become aggressive. When I first heard about this group and some of their tactics, such as throwing stink bombs onto the whaling ships, I felt they were completely outside their rights as activists. However, that's because I thought they were attacking these vessels in Japanese waters, exclusively. When I learned that the Japanese were not in their own territory, I had to reconsider.

Are the Sea Shepherds right, or wrong? That's for individual viewers to decide. Are their tactics effective? I suppose we'll all have to wait for the Japanese and Australian governments to make an action before we can determine that.

I'm forced to admit, though... The Sea Shepherds definitely have guts, and aren't slacking. Their missteps are shown alongside what they consider victories, and I can at least appreciate that they've decided to actually DO something about what they call a problem, instead of asking others to do it for them. I've never liked whiners, which is why I can admire them for being active and aggressive (though arguably nonviolent) instead of just sitting around whining about it.

Please are you guys serious about how Watson's group are terrorists... what they do is go up to a Whaling ship, asks them to stop and then Gives them a letter telling them what they are doing is illegal. Yes OK, they throw the acid stuff on board(harmless except to smell) and jumped on the ship which is being a pirate but it is nothing as bad as what the Japanese do. The Japanese tied them up, attacked them, and attempted to throw them off board? They also throw Grenades at the ship which can hurt the crew and shot the captain.

Anyways This show is great. It's about how a group of "activists" use direct force to stop the Japanese whalers who "are doing research on whales" when they are really whaling. Instead of telling them to stop and while the government does nothing to enforce it they intervene directly by Chasing them and going on their ships telling them to stop. While the Japanese uses Physical attacking and grenade.

Watch this show :]

I can't rate this gripping show about a bunch of idiots talked into risking their lives so Paul Watson can get some air time, because it is great TV that no one should be watching. Capt. Watson says he prefers to use amateurs over professionals, because the former have more heart for the mission. What he leaves out is that the latter wouldn't make (I'm guessing) two-to-five life-threateningly stupid mistakes per day. None of his worthless tactics (glass bottles of smelly acid thrown at the whalers, ropes trailed across their bows to foul propellers, running intercept courses in his slower-than-the-target fragile ship) do diddly to stop the Japanese whalers, but the bumbling landlubbers he lets break, ground, or crack up many thousands of dollars of maritime gear are guaranteed to put on a good show. Very disturbingly, one gets the idea that Watson's preference for amateurs is due to the fact that they will ignorantly endanger their lives where professionals would just know better, and watching people almost kill themselves is something he thinks we'll all be eager to do.

At first, their passion is endearing and their methods seem mildly Ghandi-esq. But, not long after the first time you watch, their monotone recitals of the shipboard party lines ("we only use non-violent means," "we're here for the whales," "we're ready to risk our lives for Paul- I mean, for the whales") start to sound like hypnotic mantras, giving way, eventually, to plain old whining. For example, when the Japanese return "fire" to the Sea Shepherds' glass bottles full of acid with metal nuts and bolts, the environmentalists complain that theirs was a "harmless" attack, while the Japanese are clearly out to do some personal injury. Frankly, the difference between being hit in the head with a thumb-sized bolt and a glass bottle full of liquid is lost on me. Likewise their insistence that fouling the prop on a single-screw ship in antarctic waters is "non-violent" seems pathetically naive. If the Japanese can't clear their propeller, any disabled ship's crew will have to transfer to another craft, over water so cold it kills by hypothermia in minutes. Yet, when circled by Japanese ships so the factory craft can escape, the Sea Shepherds suddenly grow acutely aware of how dangerous any hazard to navigation can be in the far southern ocean.

Watching these knuckleheads capsize boats, knock off outboard props, lose their way, nearly run out of water, oil, and fuel, and commit every other possible screw-up with the millions of dollars' worth of toys apparently bought for them entirely by television celebrities is fun for a while. But only until you realize that the one man on board who knows what he's doing never takes any of those risks himself, happily standing firm at the helm, while a passionate crew of Keystone Kops insures his real purpose: to get himself on TV.

A Twitter post said it well, "If these guys are their best hope, the whales should start voluntarily swimming towards the Japanese." Sad fact is, saving the whales is neither Watson's purpose, nor is it the act of saving this show most demands. What needs saving is Watson's crew and, if we have any integrity at all, we'll do our part and e-mail Animal Planet that we've decided to watch something else.

Previous comment of this movie bashed the Captain and his crew and the Movie, too. Sure, we must listen to both negative and positive comments. But the details of the movie become irrelevant if we look at the broader picture: how the Animals become extinct, how the Animals have no way of defending themselves against evil human technology and its byproducts: fishing lines, overfishing, drag-netting thousands of years of corral riff beds into thousand year ocean deserts, etc. Regardless of "humorous" film details, "inexperienced crew", "veggies", "idealism", "nothing but the power of hope", "suicidal", But think about it: if not the Sea Shepperd, with their "nothing but the power of hope", then WHO will inform the world and keep the world AWARE of the very sensitive balance of the Nature the humans can destroy? Yes, it might take some "ego bolstering", "getting attention to set themselves up as martyrs", etc, but in this case THE MEANS WELL JUSTIFY THE ENDS: the end result is that the World is AWARE of the fine and very sensitive balance that Humans can destroy at will. It does not matter how we engage the viewer - as long as we achieve the very much needed RESULT - AWARENESS.

Commenting on the aptitude of the Sea Shepherds based on what you see on TV is ridiculous. You are not watching facts. You are watching hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of footage edited together for the greatest dramatic effect. If all we saw was constant perfection, there would be no conflict. No conflict = no drama = no TV show. What is a FACT is that several dozen people spend MONTHS sailing the most inhospitable waters in the world waging a VERY dangerous campaign that HAS reduced the number of whales killed ever year, i.e., success with objective, i.e., making an actual difference - and every member of the Steve Erwin crew has returned from every campaign safely. Not bad for a bunch of volunteers. Hardly an "inept" feat. As to the "terrorists" vs "freedom fighters" debate, it all depends on whether you genuinely believe that the Japanese whalers are conducting necessary "research," or if they are taking advantage of ridiculous loopholes in the IWC Convention so that they can make a lot of money off people who like to eat whale meat. I personally believe the latter.

I didn't have the highest hopes for this show when I first saw the trailers for it and it still managed to disappoint me.

As someone who detests whalers and strongly feels that more should be done to stop them (among others), I feel that this show is frustrating to watch at best.

***Possible Spoilers (I don't know if anyone would consider it so)*** First, they can't actually do anything to stop the whale ships. Last episode I saw they were trowing BUTTER and stink bombs at the whaling ship! Like a whaling ship doesn't already stink. Come on, it's just silly. But again, frustrating to know that this is the best that they can come up with given their situation. They buzz around the whaling ships and just hope really hard to annoy them into quitting what is probably a very high paying job.

The crew is completely ridiculous and inexperienced. The captain is a fanatic. I mean, it's one thing to have your own personal views, but refusing others to eat what they want to or feel is healthy is insane. The camera man lost a serious amount of weight because he WASN'T ALLOWED TO BRING MEAT/DAIRY ONTO THE SHIP. And the crew cries whenever a whale dies? It's pathetic. If you're going to have that sort of a job you need to toughen the heck up and get it together. None of these people are professionals. They are also very bad actors.

There are a lot of people out there criticizing, criticizing, and criticizing but what for? Because I can bet loads of money that you, the criticizers, have no guts to go out there and do what the Sea Shepheards do. Going out there to risk your life to prove a point requires dedication, heart, hope, something you will not, nor ever have. So whatever these guys are inexperienced but they have something the enemy doesn't have, which is dedication. Isn't there a saying that if you really put your mind to something that you can do whatever the heart desires? Last time I checked there is. The desire of the Sea Shepheard is to stop the merciless killing of thousands of innocent whales. So what if their tactics are mediocre but, hey they work. They must work if the whalers put up nets to stop from them throwing stink bombs (that are completely harmless), they install LRAD devices to ward them off, but NEWSFLASH:all of what they do doesn't seem to work because hey the Sea Shepheard keep coming back. These guys aren't terrorists in any way. Terrorist are people who go against international law. These people don't. There is a law that if government forces aren't going to enforce the law, they can. So watch this show it shows real bravery, real heart, and you have to admit real entertainment. I mean every time a show premiers I just can't wait for the next one to premiere.

At one time I wanted to join the Sea Shepherd Society. I can accept the risk but after watching a rag tag crew with no experience or training I'm kinda glad I decided to go back to school and get my degree instead. I admire them greatly but at some point you would think they have better organizational and basic seamanship skills. The First mate clearly had no idea what he was doing. I could care less how long he has been at Paul Watson's side. His inability to lead effectively and perform his deck task was a complete joke. If I were on the zodiac I would have rung his neck after getting back on board. His staring at the chart trying to make sense of time and speed to get distance made me laugh...at him. Caring is one thing. Getting someone killed over relaxed standards of training is just the dumbest thing I have heard of. SSCS needs to train in port every chance they get. As it stands they are the Barney Fife's of the high seas.