Miscellaneous Blogs
Essential Movies for Divers
From the 1960’s onwards, we pick our favourite films that are dive related. We have picked 9. What would be your favourite – to bring our list to a neat and tidy 10?
Jaws
The film that instilled a fear of sharks into a generation. A masterpiece of film-making by Steven Spielberg and writing by Peter Benchley. Most of the shark shots used an animatronic model, called Bruce, however some shots were filmed at the Neptune Islands in South Australia with Rodney Fox. We chatted with Rodney about Jaws, and he recalled stories from the filming, one of which included the use of a tiny cage, with a dwarf body-double inside, to make the shark look much bigger! The Great White Shark managed to get its mouth all the way round the cage and the actor within decided that was enough for him and vowed to fly back to LA!
Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo is the ideal movie for divers, and their kids, to while away a rainy afternoon. For divers, watching this film and seeing the attention to detail on the marine creatures characters is a joy. Bruce, the shark, is named after the model shark used in filming Jaws. Soon we will have the sequel to enjoy – Finding Dory.
Thunderball
A classic Sean Connery Bond film, with plenty of underwater scenes, filmed in the Bahamas. One of the sites used in the film is now called Thunderball Grotto and is a great place to spend the day snorkelling. The film is a 1960’s 007 homage to orange wetsuits, twinsets and spearguns.
After reading the sequence in the script with the sharks in Largo’s pool, Connery feared that his life would be in danger, so he insisted that production designer Ken Adam build a special Plexiglas partition inside the pool. However, the partition Adam built was not a fixed structure and one of the sharks managed to pass through it.
“He never got out of a pool faster in his life – he was walking on water,” said Adam.
Big Blue (le Grand Blue)
Luc Besson’s cult film about freediving is a must watch for any diver. Sporting rivalry, friendship, romance and freediving wrapped in wonderful cinematic underwater scenes.
The Abyss
James Cameron combines his sci-fi expertise with a love of the depths and creates a classic. To make the film, the cast and crew endured over six months of grueling six-day, 70-hour weeks on an isolated set. At one point, actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio had a physical and emotional breakdown on the set and on another occasion, actor Ed Harris burst into spontaneous sobbing while driving home. Following the film’s release, Harris publicly refused to ever again discuss the film, saying “I’m never talking about it and never will.” Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio said of the film “The Abyss was a lot of things. Fun to make is not one of them.”
Men of Honour
Robert De Nero and Cuba Gooding Jr star in a US Navy classic. It is inspired by the true story of Master chief petty officer Carl Brashear, the first African American master diver in the United States Navy.The film features the classic US Navy Mark V diving equipment used by the Navy from 1915 until 1985.
Sphere
Another heavy-weight cast and director combine to make another underwater alien encounter. In this case, the alien is called Jerry! The film is based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton.
The Life Aquatic
Completely nuts! Bill Murray and the cast have a blast, but does anyone know what is going on? And do you care?
Though the characters were inspired by such American novels as The Great Gatsby and The Magnificent Ambersons, the plot has been compared to Moby-Dick.
Deep Blue Sea
Samuel L. Jackson’s second film in our list. This has all the makings of a classic B movie. Sit down and prepare to laugh out loud! Scientists experiment on sharks to cure Alzheimer’s and it all goes horribly wrong.
Have you got a favourite dive related film that’s not on our list? Let us know in the comments section below!
For more from Nick and Caroline, check out our Underwater Photography Section or visit www.frogfishphotography.com.
Blogs
The BiG Scuba Podcast Episode 173: DEEP – Making Humans Aquatic
Gemma and Ian visited DEEP and were hosted by Phil Short, Research Diving, Training Lead, and were given a tour of the facility at Avonmouth and then over to the Campus at Tidenham.
DEEP is evolving how humans access, explore and inhabit underwater environments. Through flexible, modular and mobile subsea habitats that allow humans to live undersea up to 200m for up to 28 days, work-class submarines, and advanced human performance research, DEEP completely transforms what we are capable of underwater and how we conduct undersea science and research.
You can listen to Episode 173 of the BiG Scuba Podcast here.
We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone +44 7810 005924 or use our social media platforms. To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:
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Visit https://www.patreon.com/thebigscubapodcast and subscribe – Super quick and easy to do and it makes a massive difference. Thank you.
Blogs
The BiG Scuba Podcast Episode 172: Dr. Joseph Dituri
Gemma and Ian chat to Dr. Joseph Dituri. Dr. Jospeh Dituri lived undersea for 100 Days in a mission combining education, ocean conservation research, and the study of the physiological and psychological effects of compression on the human body.
Dituri enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985. He served continuously on active service upon various ships and shore stations where he was involved in every aspect of diving and special operations work from saturation diving and deep submergence to submersible design and clearance diving. Now that he is retired from 28 years of active service to the United States, he is the president of the International Board of Undersea Medicine. He also volunteers his time as the CEO of the Association for Marine Exploration. He is an invited speaker on motivational, sea and space related topics.
Fuelled by his passion for exploration, discovery, adventure, and making the greatest possible positive contribution to the world, he is fighting for change in a big way and with great enthusiasm.
You can listen to Episode 172 of the BiG Scuba Podcast here.
We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone +44 7810 005924 or use our social media platforms. To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:
We are on Instagram @thebigscuba
We are on Facebook @thebigscuba
We are in LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian%F0%9F%A6%88-last-325b101b7/
The BiG Scuba Website www.thebigscuba.com
Amazon Store : https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/thebigscuba
Visit https://www.patreon.com/thebigscubapodcast and subscribe – Super quick and easy to do and it makes a massive difference. Thank you.
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