Customer Reviews

The Living Sea [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I've only ever seen 3 IMAX films and this is one of them. I was totally blown away by the incredible sound and photography. I had to study every shot because there is so much in it.

It's not actually a movie like other IMAX films (such as Across the Sea of Time and T-Rex) but more of a documentary about how we are all islanders and how we live because the sea lives. It was surprisingly effective in this sense. My fave part was the discovery of the new underwater fish and the fish that had, what looked like, thousands of little lights flashing on and off.

A scene with a boat fighting waves and crashing back down onto the sea was better than anything in The Perfect Storm. The sound in this particular scene is IN-CRED-IBLE.

Whenever you pass by an IMAX check to see whether or not they are showing this masterpiece. You'll love it.

The DVD is in DTS/Dolby 5.1 and is in fullscreen

This is an educational film which also has hypnotically beautiful visuals and a lovely score put together by composer Steve Wood that includes a lot of music and vocals by Sting, as well as having Meryl Streep give us a stream of information in her well-spoken narration.
It documents the sea and its creatures, and also how people connect with it, either for pleasure, commerce, or survival. We get to see the Coast Guard boat traveling through 15 foot waves, some outstanding surfing footage, and how the inhabitants of the West Pacific island of Palau interact and respect the water that surrounds them.

One one level one can use this film to learn some facts about the ocean, and on another, one can sit back and enjoy the wonderful cinematography. Fascinating parts include the jellyfish in Palau, the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Research Institute showing us a Siphonophore, which is about half the size of a football field, and visible through their underwater probe, and of course, the whales !

The film is 40 minutes long, and the video contains a 27 minute "Making of" documentary, which has interviews with Producer/Director Greg MacGillivray, among others, like photographer Howard Hall describing the difficulty of filming in water.
I found this documentary particularly interesting, and think it deserves 5 stars, because it gave me knowledge I did not have before, and the filmmakers made some painstaking efforts to bring it to us, like the timelapse photography of the tides. It was nominated for a 1995 Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award, and seeing it is definitely time well spent.

One of the best IMAX videos available. Great visuals. Great sound (thank you Sting).

If you're fortunate enough, watch this on widescreen TV & crank up the surround sound system & enjoy. And thank you DVD producers for making this with DTS.

Most enjoyable moments (no order):

* Everything on Palau

* Migrating jelly fish (also in Palau)

* Watching a cuttlefish change color to camouflage itself while moving

* Coast guard boat going through horrendous ocean waves.

Highly recommended!

If the ocean and all of its moods fascinate you, then watch this movie. It really is that simple. The music of artist such as Sting gains its greatest impact with visuals like these.

Perhaps some of the scenes are not the most exciting and the science may be lacking but, IMAX was not envisioned to take the place of the Discovery Channel or a good book. The beauty of the IMAX format and those who choose to work with it is the awesome clarity and richness of picture it delivers. More than any other feature shot for this medium, The Living Sea delivers on both counts.

Maybe this movie is just a well shot travel video with background music by a living music legend but, then again, without an unlimited travel budget and a personal friendship with Sting how could you ever see such a breath taking and consuming experience? Turn off the phone, set aside an hour, and go on a multi-continent diving experience that statisfies the eye, the ear, and the mind.

Have you ever left a IMAX presentation that left you completely astounded? I have not seen this film in 4 years, but March 21 could not come soon enough. With a mesmerizing score by Sting, and great narration by Meryl Streep, not to mention underwater and aerial photography that would make David Doubilet jealous. A Must for serious DVD owners who want to truly enjoy nature in a beautiful visual and audible experience

I purchased this DVD hoping it would relay information on coral reefs and the myriad of life living in them. While the focus of the movie was on the endangerment of the reefs due to global warming, overfishing, etc., most of the movie was spent above the water focusing on the the filmmaker and his wife and their trivial lives. The imagery was beautiful when they were under the water, but it's only a small percentage of film. Very disappointing.

I've been watching DVD at home for three years and after watching this one immediately concluded that this was the best audio/visual experience I've had so far from any movie of any genre. In terms of content, sometimes I wish there was a little more science incorporated into this production, but a vital element in science is observation and this movie certainly allows the viewer to do just that. Overall the sound is big and rich, and the music tracks are a perfect match to this incredibly beautiful visual experience. If you are an IMAX fan and don't have this one yet, don't wait any longer.

This movie takes you on a whirlwind tour of how mother nature will always rule the earth. The sound track is incredible, and the photography will blow you away. I saw it in original IMAX format at the premier in Seattle and it was awesome. My favorite part is the U.S. Coast Guard sequence at Cape D (mainly because i'm in it-the guy on the left). That 2 minutes you see was 40 hours in the surf of pounding the crap out of everyone, director included. Just a great movie all the way around.

"The Living Sea", is more a documentary on HOW TO (or NOT) to make a film than it is of the LIVING SEA. About 10 of the 77 minutes is worthy of the IMAX 70 mm film and chosen title. The remainder of the footage is about Coast Guard rescue drill, Surfers surfing, ROV (remote operated vehicle), Stunning pictures of the ROV's MONITOR depicting a Siphonophore, sailing ships and boats (accelerated), Monterey Bay sea otters, time laps of OceanTide, speed boat driven through islands of Palau, history of one family on Palau, interior and exterior of an aircraft, aerial shots of Monterey Bay, Hawaii, Alaska, Palau, The red waters of red bacteria, the TOTAL BLACK of the toxic anaerobic layer of the ocean, interviews of and commentaries by the producer, director, and other film makers. All this could just as well have been filmed with a HOME Video Camcorder. However for about 10 minutes I was stunned by the extraordinary footage of Humpback Whales, Cuttlefish, School of Jelly fish, Kelp fields, and reef fish, very fast schools of fish, a few Clams and Corals. The few minutes of narration by Meryl Streep and SIX other nameless people are annoying to say the least. No MENU selection to turn it/them OFF. The music by STING was very well chosen, but would fade into the background and is over shadowed by narration.

This is the reason I buy Imax films. The movie has a series of semi quick hit's on different subjects involeing the sea. This is eye candy at it best. I am not a big Sting fan but his score really hit's the mark in this film and is a big plus. The story is not deep but very enjoyable. You get the feeling that the people whole made it really love the sea. They give you more than a few thrills with the photography. There is a wow scene with thousand's of jelly fish. The surfing shot's were great and will really give your sound system a work out. This is a Imax film that goes for the visual's and the sound. The stories are brief but not preachy. It is not a Imax film that tell's a dumb story at the expence of the sceneary. In this film they go for the thrill and show there love for the sea.