To be honest, I thought that with the reputation the film has had and from what I'd heard about it before watching it that it would have focused a lot more on the actual violence against the dolphins than it did. Granted, what they did show was still pretty appalling (really, who wouldn't be horrified at the sight of a large bloody pool of water or a bloody dolphin trying to escape), but for the most part they focused more on getting prepared to take the footage, the hazardous effects of the dolphin meat on humans, and the cover-ups and excuses by the Japanese government and other residents of Taiji. The effect of the actual violence is amplified by showing that dolphins are far more intelligent that many people give them credit for (and the story that caused O'Barry to rail against keeping dolphins in captivity is just tragic)
Another thing that causes outrage is how they are actually able to take the much more hazardous dolphin meat and put in with the rest of the whale meat, and just how few Japanese people are aware of it. That said, Mr. O'Barry's campaign has had an impact by actually causing more protesters to show up at Taiji, and people are starting to get more aware of the problem.
