Drain Alcatraz (TV Movie 2017)

Drain Alcatraz: Directed by Wayne Abbott. With Craig Sechler, Russell Boulter, John A. Martini, John Cantwell. Using cutting edge visual effects to ‘drain’ the waters around the notorious island of Alcatraz. With the waters drained away the secrets of Alcatraz are revealed, including exactly why the island’s infamous prison was so inescapable. With no water in the way San Francisco Bay is revealed to be a fascinating and chaotic place. On the dry bay floor we see the scars left by epic earthquakes. These fault lines give scientists an idea as to when and where the next ‘big one’ will strike. With the whole area drained it’s possible to see what could happen to San Francisco when the next giant quake hits, as well as what will be left of Alcatraz once the dust settles.

“The creators act like this is the first time the bottom of san Francisco bay has been mapped but there has been an accurate recreation open to the public for almost 60 years in the city. the narration also mentions many threads of thought that it fails to follow up or subsequently ignores. when discussing the escape attempts, they make it sound impossible to safely swim from the island to the shore but thousands of people have done it and continue to do so on a regular basis. For some reason they mention the risk of sharks, which is 1) blown out of proportion and 2) has no bearing on the underwater topography – the professed focus of this show. the only reason I even gave this 3 stars was for the computer animation.”