Customer Reviews

IMAX: Coral Reef Adventure [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a half-century scuba diver who has been diving Fiji, the Great Barrier Reef, Moorea and Tiputa Pass in Rangiroa over the years, I can vouch for the authenticity and genuine beauty of this splendid documentary, as well as for the unfortunate reality of the threats to these areas. In particular, we have been diving Fiji's Bligh Waters for years, most often with Rusi Vulakoro (also an excellent singer) who appears prominently in this production. Rusi and Jean-Michel Cousteau demonstrate some of what they are doing to preserve this paradise.

The McGillivray-Freeman production and Michele and photography is top notch, and our friends Rob and Cat, owners of the liveaboard dive boat NAI'A used for the filming, guided Howard and Michele Hall to all our favorite sites - their cinematography is superb, in spite of the major problems faced by using the huge and unwieldy IMAX system. Those interested in scuba diving, some of the world's best dive spots and the state of the ocean will love this DVD - and come away convinced we should never have called this planet, 70.78% of which is covered by the world's oceans and water, "Earth."

I just ordered this from Amazon because of the selling price of $11.00 free shipping. I'm SO glad I took the chance. This is an AMAZING blu-ray disc. The quality of the sound is as good, if not better, than the picture quality. Fantastic underwater photography will have you in awe. If you're into this sort of thing, this is a MUST have for your blu-ray collection.

This was disappointing because the potential was there to do some wonderful work. Like many of these films, it becomes about the people making the film instead of the fascinating subject it pretends to show. I, personnaly, think there should be as little as possible human depiction in these nature films. If I am buying a film on Coral Reef, I do not want to see diving gear, boats, people plotting courses etc...

since having HD TV and Blu-Ray player. This is the DVD I have been looking for.
This DVD really makes 1080P outstanding in color and sharpness. I have had Planet Earth for sometime which is also very good HD. Coral Reef really is a good show to
let one know just how good Blu-Ray HD is.
This is the DVD I show to new viewers to Blu-Ray HD.

Carl Weiche

There's not too much adventure here despite the title. There is one dangerous deep dive, but it is visually a dud. The rest of the disk is beautifully photographed and the images are sharp and clear. The problem is with the writing and editing and what has gone into the production. There are too many people and not enough reef. It should have been titled Fiji adventure, because that is where most of it is filmed, with a bit in Australia and Tahiti. That represents a miniscule portion of the world's reefs. Yet even these are not described and identified in much detail. The narrative is annoyingly preachy about global warming and the soundtrack is improbably Crosby, Stills, and Nash, though what they have to do with scuba diving is never explained. As a documentary it is also Imax-short, and does not rise at all above what you can see on Nature or National Geographic every week on TV. It is unbelievably stated that this production cost $10 million, though where it went is not evident. You also have to wonder why on earth the National Science Foundation is funding something like this with tax dollars. I'm increasingly coming to realize that Imax documentaries really fall short when you bring them down to TV, even on a large wide-screen model. This is not something you're likely to watch more than once so you should save your money and avoid purchasing it.

If you want to see a good documentary, get The Living Sea. I agree some of the other reviews that there was too much talk, dive gear and not enough underwater footage. The last straw was the soppy part about a diver who ended up with decompression sickness (the bends) because they intentionally entered a very dangerous (stupid) situation. What kind of message is that supposed send? Coral Reef Adventure? More like Coral Reef Vacation. If you really want to watch it, rent it. If you really want to buy it, wait until it gets discounted to about $3. Ok, $4 - to cover he packaging expenses. They got me, you don't have to let them get you.

I agree with the other reviewers who were disappointed with this DVD. The video is only about 40 minutes long, and way too much time was spent watching divers on the boat getting ready to dive, viewing Fiji greeting customs, and hearing that global warming is a really bad thing. I fully agree with that, but I don't need to be "educated" all the time - I get it, now let me watch coral reefs, and fish, in amazing hi-def. I'll write a check for the rest! I don't dive, and I never will. Videos like this can be my substitute for the real thing. The actual coral reef photography was really pretty amazing in Blu-Ray, there just wasn't that much of it and that is what I was looking for, not a South Pacific travelogue and environmental education. There are quite a few of these I-Max videos available in Blu-Ray and I'm sure the photography is amazing. Based on experience with this video I'll try these out on Netflix, see if they really devote the video to the the subject advertised in the title, and then decide if I want to really buy for myself. I guess I give it a 5 for the (way too short) actual reef video, and a 1 for the rest of the dreck.

O my gosh ! within the first 5 mins of watching it, it became surprisingly clear that this is one of the best blurays out there ! the perfect music, the breathtakingly colorful video on bluray, the wonderful narration...wow ! For just for $14, it puts to shame many of the other documentaries on bluray out there that are more expensive but deliver much less !

This was a wonderful documentary on the problems encountered today with reef destruction, causes and recommendations for cure. The underwater scenery was spectacular and really brought home the destructive forces at work and how it can be stopped.

I bought Coral Reef Adventure Blu-Ray from Amazon because it seemed like the perfect setting to enjoy high definition clarity and colors. In that respect, it delivers.

If I had a complaint, it's that there's simply too great an emphasis on the people who made the film. I greatly enjoyed the colorful fish and coral reef footage, I simply feel as though there wasn't enough of it.