Deep Sea

This was a great movie experience. A major part of this was the 3D effect.

My children were frequently reaching out in front of them. To be honest I wanted to do so as well.

The visuals would be great even if they were not in 3d.

There was a lot of good information on the biology of the ocean.

Most of the film consisted of one creature eating another. My four year old seemed to be OK with it though.

Cool!

A nit: At times there was bleed-through on the polarized 3d glasses. I don't know if that was due to the glasses or a general side-effect.

This is a review of the DVD which, unfortunately, is not in 3D so I am unable to rave about those "effects" as others have here, and was unable to enjoy the film as much as others did at the IMAX theaters.

However, I am not complaining. I still thought the photography was amazing and the colors just spectacular. I've never seen underwater footage this good. This also is the first time I've actually heard the sounds that some of these marine creatures make. I just presumed, like many others, there was mostly silence underneath the surface. That's not so; there are some amazing sounds.

More so, there are some amazing creatures that most of us have never heard about or seen. Some of them are downright weird-looking, repulsive yet fascinating. They are so strange you think you're looking at some animated film with cartoon characters.....but these creatures are real. Some of them are frightening and brutal killers.

I've read complaints about the narration by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, and have to agree on a couple points. Winslet does make an attempt to put some reflection in her voice but Depp sounds like he's sleepwalking through this. His voice is flat, a monotone, and it sounds like he's reading the material for the first time. Neither of these two add much life to his documentary.

Others complain that it's just under 40 minutes and thus, the DVD overpriced. Well, not having compared it to the IMAX 3-D experience, I found it very interesting and stunning to view. I wouldn't mind adding it to my collection because this is something I would watch multiple times.

Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet provide very pleasant narration for this IMAX film which I watched on DVD. At home, it is not in 3-D. However that did not detract at all.

The movie is not a 40-minute story, but instead is several episodes covering different, interesting parts of life in our seas. The photography is in beautiful color.

My personal favorite was the story about the California Mantis Shrimp. It is about 10 inches long, very colorful, lives in a burrow, but in the water moves much like a cartoon figure in superb digital animation. But this shrimp is real. It has fast, powerful legs that strike a blow similar to a 22 rifle shot, to crack open shells. But we also get to see an octopus trying to invade this shrimp's territory, and the shrimp is one cool customer, chasing him away with a few choice strikes.

Overall a very fine film, worth a viewing or two.

This is a good documentary and the shots and coverage of the deep ocean is quite pleasing(and harrowing in places). However, with the advent of instant access to so much content, there isn't anything here that you won't find in better resolution on Netflix or Amazon. Still, if you enjoy documentaries or have even the slightest of fascination with sea life I feel you can spend an hour and some time with Deep Sea.

If cavemen were thawed out from a block of ice and saw a program on a TV, they would look at each other and say (in their cavemen tongue) "that's magic!" If the same cavemen were at a screening of Deep Sea 3D at the IMAX theater they would rip out their own eyes and try to beat each other to death with them because it is dark dark magic that will grab you by your very soul. I had been waiting a long time to see the sights in this film and I was not disappointed. But the keyword here is "sights." Although this film definitely merits a 9 out of 10, there were a few small things that kept it from hitting that "10/10" mark.

I have no problem with Johnny Depp or Kate Winslet, or their voices. However, the back and forth narration with them basically finishing one another's sentences was distracting.

I can understand why they added their own sound effects to "enhance" the movie, but it got a little over-the-top at times, and I think if one wasn't particularly perceptive they might not realize that what they were hearing was essentially special effects added to a nature documentary. Now don't tell me "well 3D is a special effect too but you're not complaining about that!" The difference is, they are up front about the 3D effect. Simply adding a disclaimer at the beginning of the film to the effect of "some audio effects have been added" would have been a nice gesture.

I know IMAX films are expensive to produce, and I guess it could be interpreted as a compliment when one comes out of a movie saying "I wish there were more," but it really was too short. As long as you know when you're shelling out your $11.50 that you're only getting 45 minutes, you'll be okay. (Really, for me, the bits with the Humboldt squid and the Pacific octopus made it money well spent) So apart from these minor annoyances, Deep Sea 3D is definitely something you should treat yourself to in the theaters while you can! Hopefully in a couple of years they'll have the expertise to give us a 3D IMAX film about the weird and grotesque sea creatures in the abyss!