The Last Reef 3D

The Last Reef is stunning!! The music and cinematography were amazing!! I left wishing it was a 2 hour movie IMAX vs 50 min IMAX. I would have loved to have seen more! It was fun to watch all the kids trying to grab the fish and jelly fish swimming around their faces in 3D. The 3D was spectacular!! A must see if you love the ocean! A must see if you love coral reefs! A must see with the kids! They will love it!!! It was fascinating to see the brilliant colors of life living within the coral reef eco system. I learned so much! I can't wait to see it again!!! The sting-less jellyfish were very cool, and was amazing how they have adapted to their environment with no predators. Really cool IMAX! A MUST see!! :-)

It's superb documentary, really i enjoyed every single detail about THE REEF. The fisherman who do dynamite fishing must be executed.

This opens with a nuclear test at the Bikini Atoll in 1946. After multiple nuclear blasts, the coral reef had been utterly destroyed but more than 50 years later, the reef has returned to health. Nature is resilient but human pressure is greater than ever.

This has beautiful underwater cinematography and I can only imagine how it looks in 3D. It looks nice in 2D. While it tells us that the reef are threatened by global warming, it could be more clearer with the speed and the likelihood of the destruction. It could show the nature of bleaching and the extent of the damage. It may be asking too much from a 40 minute short meant to amaze visually for a 3D audience.

"The Last Reef: Cities beneath the Sea 3D" is a 3D IMAX documentary of coral reefs around the world and their importance to their ocean ecosystems. It sets the audience into a visual3D journey of the various types of reefs and how animals congregate in mutual benefit. The film often uses parallelism by comparing how coral reefs work to our human cities work. Despite surprisingly being an animal, coral provides shelter to a great variety of ocean animals such as fish, sea slugs, and crustaceans. These groups of coral can be compared to groups of city buildings which provide shelter for many humans. Like the human citizens working different jobs within the city, ocean animals each play a role in their coral reef ecosystems. Even the smallest sea animals make up the base of the food web that affects all the animals including the larger predators. A good portion of the footage takes place at the massive reefs sheltering the rocky islands of Palau, which are near the Philippines. Other sites shown include Jellyfish Lake, the mangroves of Bimini, and Cancun, Mexico where multiple underwater statues provide shelter for the local ocean life. With taking over three years to capture all the footage, the people who worked on this documentary clearly put a lot of effort into the cinematography. Most the shots are very visually engaging, showing viewers how beautiful coral reefs and the ocean life that inhabit them can be. This proves to be successful in allowing the viewer to appreciate the coral reefs, and therefore are more likely to show concern for their preservation. The main conflict that the film focuses on is the current threat of rising acidity levels in Oceans as a result of the increasing amount of CO2 dissolving into the ocean with the rise of Global Warming. This can be easily traced to global human activity, such as industry and our agricultural machinery. This proves to have disastrous effects on the coral reefs, as coral reefs continue to crumble, and take a long time to reconstruct themselves. Sadly enough, scientists from the film estimate that the Caribbean has already lost around 90% of its coral reefs, and the same can happen to other reefs around the world as well. They also predict if we don't start giving enough concern and effort to lower the CO2 emissions, then the coral reefs may someday wipe out completely. Thus the domino effect would occur, affecting other ocean habitats across the world. While this environmental message is effective at getting the viewer aware of this increasing threat against coral reefs, it ultimately fails at giving much of one of the most important components of a documentary like this one should; details on the solutions. This ends up making the story far more uneven than it should've been. Sure they make sure to tell us to be concerned with the coral reef problem and we humans need to solve this issue, but they never give many details on how we as individuals can make a difference. They never bring up how we can use more sustainable practices, like using alternative forms of energy or reducing our ecological footprint. By telling the viewer HOW we can solve this issue, they can therefore have a better chance at doing so. However, they do mention which environmental programs are trying solve the issue such as the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation program. This way, viewers can know which programs will be the most effective and thus which to support. Overall, while the film gets uneven about the solutions to the problem, it still does a good job at telling the problem and capturing both the natural beauty and the importance of the Earth's coral reefs.

2012's 'The Last Reef 3D' is one of several documentary short films presented in IMAX 3D. These short films are mostly very interesting, but their overall quality is mostly worthwhile if flawed with some components being less consistent than others. The effects have also varied. Underwater is always fascinating, often re-visited in nature documentaries but it never feels old when re-visited and a lot is learned every time without being recycled.

While not one of my favourite nature documentaries, or one of the best seen, 'The Last Reef 3D' was still absolutely wonderful. Of the IMAX 3D documentaries, it is to me definitely one of the best and one of the few that was nearly perfect. The subject and location may not be new in 'The Last Reef 3D', but the approach taken with the material, what was done to make it accessible and its presentation felt fresh and very professional. The same two guys Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas did nearly everything themselves and execute each of the components they were responsible for to exceptionally high quality effect. There is remarkably not a bite off more than they can chew vibe.

'The Last Reef 3D's' only major debit is the length. Like most of the IMAX 3D documentaries, it does feel too short. With a lot of content, this could very comfortably have been 20 minutes longer perhaps which would have given the viewer more time to take in the information and also learn more.

Did feel perhaps too that the information of the global warming could have gone into more depth and been delivered with more subtlety, but other documentaries have done a far worse job at that than this.

On the other hand, 'The Last Reef 3D' is an absolute stunner. With the photography being particularly awe-inspiring. The Undersea world dazzles visually, those gorgeous colours, though one is aware without being beaten round the head that it poses daily challenges for the wildlife. This is also one of the few IMAX 3D nature documentaries where the 3D actually doesn't look cheap, too gimmicky or/and too reliant upon. The wildlife absolutely dazzle, having an otherworldly alien-like effect in the early stages which was fascinating to watch.

Moreover, the music is accessible in style that has appeal for all ages and suits the theme and content very well. It is also absolutely beautiful on its own terms in its own right. It is relaxing in some parts, but also has edge and a not too intrusive sweep in others. The wildlife are a great mix of adorable, menacing and exotic, as well as beautifully varied in size and whether they are prey or predator. The reefs look amazing.

Also learnt such a lot from the information given. It is not only educational and brings a fresh slant on familiar material, it is also entertaining and emotionally investable without any dumbing down or over-complicated terminology. McNicholas and Cresswell are careful to not disturb younger viewers while not making things too cookie cutter, one does get a sense that daily life pulls no punches. The delivery is sincere, not too jokey or over-serious and clearly understanding who to aim the information at.

In conclusion, very, very good and often wonderful. 8/10.