Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives (2013)

Directed by

Doug Glover

Genre

mockumentary

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 23m

Rating

5.1 of 10 from 11 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A fictional story is presented as a real documentary about the possible return of a giant prehistoric shark. It shows fake evidence and interviews that suggest the creature is still alive.

suspensefuldeceptivefast-pacedsensationalmisleadingprovocativecheap-thrillscontroversial

What happens

Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives is a 2013 television film by Doug Glover and written by John McLaughlin presented as a documentary, that aired on the Discovery Channel as part of their Shark Week series, about the potential survival of the prehistoric shark. While pretending to be a documentary; the story revolves around numerous videos, "photographs", and firsthand encounters with a megalodon and an ensuing investigation that points to the involvement of the prehistoric species, despite the long-held belief of its extinction. The film is presented as factual, including accounts from professionals in various fields such as marine biology. The show, similar to the Animal Planet's pseudo-documentary Mermaids: The Body Found, came under heavy criticism by both scientists and viewers due to the blatant attempt to present something fictional as a documentary. Despite the disclaimers, viewers were offended that docufiction aired on Discovery Channel—the preeminent US network for producing educational and credible scientific programs. Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives ranks as the most-watched Shark Week show to date, with 4.8 million viewers. Much of the attention garnered by the film was the result of the backlash, though host Brian Switek said that the film "gave science communicators like me an easy target". The so-called special received a sequel titled Megalodon: The New Evidence. During Shark Week 2018, Discovery aired Megalodon: Fact vs. Fiction, presented as a new so-called special but is actually another movie, with actors playing so-called experts that reflect on the original. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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