Journey to the South Pacific

This is a documentary that might have been funny. Or at least ironic. But it is serious. And pointless. There is no evolution, no change. This is only a vacation snapshot. Colorful images. An exploitation of a land like the advertising heavens for the bigger screens. And I am sure the production team members had the time of their lives. And I am happy they got paid for living there. Still, I have seen better wedding movies.

The humor or irony was ironed out as much as possible. Yet, it still surfaces. The people doing their ritual dancing using body paint of unknown origin, but also Colgate toothpaste. In the end I don't know if the villagers playing the savages for the tourists do clean their teeth. Of course their old ways were better. But not without cotton, imported meats, and don't forget gas/oil for their boat engines. I was amused to hear even the fascism budding in the small island where people used to fish with dynamite talk about the big bad foreigners that fish without license.

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Absolutely love nature documentaries and plenty of those made into IMAX short films were quite good and more. As well as that, another big reason to see 'Journey to the South Pacific' to me was the South Pacific itself. It's a beautiful and unforgiving place, not as much as the Antarctic, the Arctic or the African deserts for example (which are also visited a lot more in nature documentaries), while also being fascinating culturally. Which 'Journey to the South Pacific' explores too.

'Journey to the South Pacific' really is not one of the best IMAX/3D short film documentaries. It is interesting enough for the subject matter, which should be explored more in documentaries generally, but a lot more could have been done with it. It is certainly watchable, especially for the production values, but other documentaries go into their subjects in much more depth, are more focused and fare much better in the music and narration. Have generally been impressed by the IMAX documentary short films, but this is one of the few to not do much for me.

Beginning with the good, the production values are exemplary. The Antarctic scenery is a wonder and is as beautiful and unforgiving as ever and spectacularly photographed. The IMAX doesn't cheapen anything.

Did love the animals, with the fish being particularly memorable, and some parts are charming and cute. Cate Blanchett does deliver the narration elegantly and not too over seriously, and the geography was illuminating, learned more about that aspect of the South Pacific than any of my school geography locations.

However, there are significant short comings. There were occasions where the music was nice, but too many times it is really overbearing and it never gels and felt like it was written for something else. While Blanchett's delivery is fine, the narration is far too cutesy and jokey in writing in an attempt to appeal to younger audiences and trying too hard.

Would have liked more of the nature scenes and less of the more human scenes, which did go on for too long and didn't feel real in staging. Pacing is a major issue too, 'Journey to the South Pacific' does try to cram in and cover far too much, which means that the whole thing feels very rushed and severely under-developed. Also wasn't really educated that much outside of the geography, very little here that covers any new ground and it felt over-familiar. Subtlety wasn't a strong suit either, some of the delivery felt too heavy, especially the global message that felt merely there for the sake of it.

Overall, watchable but disappointing. 5/10.

This documentary, as you can guess from the title, is about fish and sea. Unlike many documentaries, this one doesn't just educate you it also tells you a warming story.

This film has a lot of different things that everyone would love. It has education, geography, comedy, music, fish, culture and many more things everyone would enjoy.

The story begins when a young boy lives on an island in gorgeous Indonesia. What is very unique about the story is that it follows a boat that travels to different islands and takes kids from each on a "floating school" where they dive, play fun games and, of course, learn about fish. When the young boy goes on this boat, he leaves home for a couple months for a wonderful aquatic adventure.

My favorite scene is when they talk about the corals singing and they show different marine species making sounds with music-like voice overs and, the funny thing is, they do it in a chorus-like rhythm. I love it because it's light hearted and funny.

Unlike most new movies, this film was taped on a real film, not digital. This gives more in-depth colors. And, it's shot on Imax film which is ten times larger than 35mm which gives better quality because of the larger frame. Not only that but this film is in 3D as well, together making a spectacular IMAX adventure that make you feel like you're in the movie. The director does a wonderful job as does the narrator. I'm impressed.

This movie is definitely suitable for ages 1 to 18. Younger kids would not understand it completely but they would still enjoy the colors and the music. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

Reviewed by Gerry O, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more youth reviews, go to kidsfirst dot org.