People of any age will be fascinated by the Imax documentary Under the Sea, a riveting look at submarine life around the coast of Australia. I've never experienced such good use of 3D.
Under the Sea 3D (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:39
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.3/10
Theatrical Release:13-02-2009
Synopsis: Actor Jim Carrey is the narrator/tourguide for a stunning 3-D journey into the world's most beautiful and remote coral reefs. With his amazing underwater Imax camera, director Howard Hall travels... Actor Jim Carrey is the narrator/tourguide for a stunning 3-D journey into the world's most beautiful and remote coral reefs. With his amazing underwater Imax camera, director Howard Hall travels to Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Australia's Great Barrier Reef, and some of the world's most isolated spots in order to bring audiences truly jaw-dropping 3-D experiences. Great white sharks swim right up, sting rays flap sand all over, and there's up-close and personal time with sea lions, sea turtles, clown fish, nautilus and dwarf whales, and the leafy-looking sea dragon (at such close proximity, these creatures make typical movie monsters seem pretty tame). The sealife can be hypnotic in the clear, flowing waves--as in the dance of the cuttlefish, or the fields of eels--but beware of sudden attacks from well-camouflaged predators like the spiny scorpion fish. Hall is a pro photographer of these Imax soirees, having also helmed DEEP SEA 3D and INTO THE DEEP 3D, and his great patience, skill, and obvious love for his subject matter pay off in fully immersive images that add urgency to the film's serious environmental concerns: acidification and global warming are endangering the reefs, and action must be taken if these creatures are to survive into the future. [More]
Director: Howard Hall
Director: Howard Hall
Screenwriter: Howard Hall, Toni Myers
Producer: Toni Myers
Composer: Micky Erbe, Maribeth Solomon
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Under the Sea 3D
This is a raw, brutal arena of cold-eyed predators chomping the weakest and inexpressibly ugly beings that have evolved so as to be disturbingly well camouflaged, utterly invisible until they make a deadly lunge at some poor vulnerable little fishy.
Entertaining, beautifully shot undersea documentary with stunning 3D effects and a worthy environmental message, this is exactly like deep sea diving only without all that tedious faffing about with wetsuits and diving equipment.
It’s that kind of detail that makes a the film such an immersive experience. An educational one, too.
Carrey remains an acquired taste but Under The Sea is a fine example of the 3D form and Hall's mastery of it.
If you have children who might be diverted by 40 minutes of natural wonders, and you can get to an Imax cinema, then Under the Sea 3D is a treat.
The footage is spectacular, the colors electric, the life aquatic trippier than anything you'll see in even the most wildly imaginative animated fare.
While some of the content may go over younger viewers' heads, it introduces them to complex issues while entertaining them with footage of playful sea lions and slithering snakes that appear to swim right toward your face.
Under the Sea 3D offers a rare and gorgeous look at marine life from the heart of the Coral Triangle.
It's impossible not to be wowed by some of the images in Under the Sea 3D, the coolest of which are a nice reminder that, even in the age of CG wizardry, the best special effects still come straight from Mother Nature.
Under the Sea 3D is a beautiful reminder that movies can take us to places we've never been before. There are still worlds to conquer out there that don't require the gussying up of CGI effects to hold our attention.
At times, the writing becomes a bit like a sermon about the woes of the oceans, but, in all honesty, I think we can't hear it enough that our environments are changing ----- and not for the better.
This incredibly ambitious undertaking could only be accomplished by people with a strong love of what they are doing, and patience to match.
A delightful, breathtaking, lively and gently illuminating documentary that must be experienced on a giant IMAX screen.
Even about halfway in, even having settled into your seat with those plastic glasses nestled on your nose, you'll still find yourself dazzled again and again by the impossibly breathtaking beauty of the IMAX adventure Under the Sea 3D.
The plot may not be much -- amazing creatures live in the sea and if we keep polluting the world a bunch of them will die, so let's stop being such jerks -- but the visuals are absolutely fantastic.
If you’re not taking the family on an exotic beach vacation anytime soon, consider this a reasonable alternative.
The 3-D effects are uncanny; much of the audience ducked when sea snakes lunged at it. You can't get that on your TV set. Yet.
Oceanic movies in actual science museums are far more interesting and nuanced than this documentary -- not to mention the wildly popular Planet Earth series, which even in 2-D looks better.
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