Volcans des abysses

We went to the New Jersey Liberty Science Center on Thursday for the premiere of the Imax film, Volcanoes of the Deep Sea, a production conceived by Rich Lutz, a Rutgers University marine biologist. For more than a decade, Dr. Lutz has been working thousands of feet under the ocean, studying life unexpectedly discovered in the late 1970s, down in the deepest abysses of the ocean. These hitherto unknown life forms are growing in the most poisonous atmosphere in the world, the area around hypothermal vents--the volcanoes of the deep sea. Scientists now believe that these life forms hold the secret of the origins of life on earth. The scenery is awe-inspiring, never before seen by anyone as it is in the film, since even the researchers have never before been able to flood areas the size of a football field with intense illumination, as director Stephen Low's crew did for the film, by attaching lights to the deep sea explorer Alvin. Animations of the actual volcanic explosions were so good and so well integrated into the film that it was hard to tell if they were real or not. The deep sea creatures themselves are as marvelously bizarre in their appearance as they are in their biology. This is the most impressive, spectacular, absolutely incredible Imax film I've ever seen. Forget The Matrix and Kill Bill. Volcanoes of the Deep Sea is the most thrilling film ever made.

This was the worst IMAX movie I have seen to date. The script was fragmented and didn't fully explain much about the things we were witnessing. I expected to see a show about volcanoes and got a show about hot water organisms which was never fully explained or explored. The subject matter was broad and superficial, with a completely unnecessary glossing of the big bang theory and the formation of the universe. I admit the actual footage of the underwater structures/creatures was amazing, but those shots were spliced with animated/fictional segments which were not introduced as being fake and would mislead or confuse most people. All the good shots were repeatedly obscured by the faces of the explores being superimposed on a porthole so that we could share in the expression of their poorly acted surprise. When I see an IMAX I expect a tightly focused exploration of a special topic and a minimal use of fake graphics, and this one didn't have either. Save your money.

The only reason I didn't give this video 10 stars is because the audio could be a little louder. This is a modern day mystery about a fossil imprint made by an organism on the seafloor near the hydrothermal vents that apparently still exists, and continues to make these imprints even today - Paleodictyon. The images are awe-inspiring, the ecosystem is fascinating, the Alvin (the deep sea submersible) is incredible. And BTW, in response to another reviewer's comments - animated sequences are common in these science documentaries, and I'm pretty sure the scientists' smiling faces are not fake or acting, since every time they go down there, they discover a half dozen new species. Peter Rona, Rich Lutz, etc are like our modern day Magellan and Columbus they are a privileged few (like the astronauts) that get to see, first hand, things that no living person has ever witnessed before. I show this film in my high school Marine Biology class each semester, and the kids watch with jaws dropped. I have met both Peter Rona and Rich Lutz and I know these guys bleed deep blue (sea), they couldn't be more authentic. If you've always wanted to go on a deep sea expedition, this is your last chance!!!