Megalodon!

[Trekker4747]

Anyone else catch this "mockumentary" that aired during "Shark Week" on Discovery this past week? The movie purported to be about people exploring the ocean to find evidence of the existence of megalodon, a prehistoric shark that's been extinct for millions of years.

The Discovery Channel has caught (rightfuly) a lot of flack for this show since, well, it was complete fiction and the only sign that it was so was a 3-second disclaimer flashing on the screen at the end of the movie.

Anyway, it re-aired last night and it's available on OnDemand or similar service on your cable-box.

I find this an interesting but dumb move by Discovery given that, by and large, the stuff on it should be grounded in fact and learning and not, you know, complete fiction.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I was camping last weekend and someone was talking about a Megalodon and certainly seemed to think it was real.

 

[Trekker4747]

Well, it's a real animal in the same way dinosaurs are real. They DID exist but they don't any longer.

 

[TheSeeker]

I caught most of it when it first aired and I'm not sure how anyone took this seriously. Right from the get go the "found footage" felt pretty staged as did the interviews with "experts".

Still, I think it was a crappy move on Discovery's part. Wil Wheaton did a good job slamming them for it.

 

[davejames]

Yeah I caught the first 10 minutes, and it was pretty clear from the horror movie-style found footage that it was fake. And another tip-off was the fact this so-called "investigation" took place as recently as a few months ago, and the way the interview subjects were all shot in the most dramatic way possible.

 

[Cap'n Crunch]

I haven't seen this, but didn't Discovery (or similar channel) do something similar a year or two ago with a "documentary" about mermaids being found?

 

[TheSeeker]

Yes. There were a couple of them and they had the same format. I find it hard to believe that anyone who watches the Science Channel or Discovery on a regular basis could fall for something like this.

 

[DonIago]

Good thing Orson Welles isn't alive today to do his "War of the Worlds" broadcast... if this is any indication it would result in a nuclear holocaust.

 

[FreezeC77]

They have other reality shows that are "staged" more or less, but I think the fact that it was trying to show a scientific side which is what the channel used to be and instead just do this is what touched a nerve.

What bothered me the most was that during the whole thing they talked about finding video and footage and then they just recreated the footage. Why not show the actual ****ing footage? I don't care if you have to mosaic out a person's face, you can show the footage.

Such a bogus show. It was hilarious how the "sharp photographer expert" that was in it kept saying how he didn't believe it existed then during the show he kind of acted like he changed his mind, but by the "shark after dark" talk show that was held at 11PM each night during shark week he again said it was completely untrue and Megalodon doesn't exist. Guess he got his paychek for the Megalodon show and it was over.

The other thing that I found ridiculous was when they supposedly shot a tracker onto a big shark that was claimed to be megalodon right at the end and they go back and watch it descend.

Couldn't it just be sinking to the ocean floor because it didn't hit anything? They never talked about the speed of the descent or anything just that it was going down. Meh.

BTW, my Dad and brother both think Megalodon exists and its being covered up because they watched this show and I got calls from them the next day... double Meh.

 

[TheSeeker]

What bothered me the most was that during the whole thing they talked about finding video and footage and then they just recreated the footage. Why not show the actual ****ing footage? I don't care if you have to mosaic out a person's face, you can show the footage.

You can't recreate footage which never existed. I think they just blocked out faces to make the footage look more authentic.

 

[sojourner]

I was disappointed that there was no "money shot" of the shark at the end. If you're going to do a fake documentary you should at least have some pay off for the audience.

 

[TheSeeker]

I was waiting for that too then I missed the last 20 minutes when my daughter decided to throw up all over her bed. Sounds like I may have gotten the better deal though.

 

[sojourner]

I was waiting for that too then I missed the last 20 minutes when my daughter decided to throw up all over her bed. Sounds like I may have gotten the better deal though.

Dealing with puke or watching 20 minutes of underwhelming tv, hmmmmm.

I'll take the tv.

 

[Trekker4747]

I was waiting for that too then I missed the last 20 minutes when my daughter decided to throw up all over her bed. Sounds like I may have gotten the better deal though.

Dealing with puke or watching 20 minutes of underwhelming tv, hmmmmm.

I'll take the tv.

Okay, but for fun let's see what you passed up, Alex open Door #2!

 

[DonIago]

Screw Door #2, go for the Mystery Box!!!

 

[thumbtack]

I was disappointed that there was no "money shot" of the shark at the end. If you're going to do a fake documentary you should at least have some pay off for the audience.

Definitely.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

I found it fishy when I kept thinking the lead researcher looked familiar , like I'd seen him in some other show , I just couldn't place, the only thing that could have passed for a barely reasonable 'maybe', was the rescue at sea.

 

[Starbreaker]

I watched it for five minutes and turned it off. I thought it was going to be something informative at least.