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19 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :- Images you've never seen before, 3 February 2004 Author: Jens (lukey78) from Egringen, Germany
It's a very nice feeling watching a documentary like this on the big screen. You can feel the overwhelming power of waves bursting against rocky coastlines and experience the vastness of the ocean."Deep Blue" takes you on a journey from the coast to the coral reefs, then to the icy lands of the (ant-)arctic, and finally down to the most fascinating part of this movie: the deepest depths of the ocean, where not a single beam of light shatters through.Most scenes are greatly composed of very clear, sharp and absolutely stunning images harmonized with the orchestral music of the Berliner Philharmoniker.In one very nice and humorous scene where you see hundreds of fat penguins shambling over a sheet of ice, I nearly got the impression, also induced through the music, watching the marching scene of Edoras citizens in "Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers". Might sound odd, but I guess I have a faible for "large" scenes with many actors moving on the big screen, supported by a big orchestra. There is another scene like this with little crawfish on the coast choreographed like a sports event.But in "Deep Blue" you have no special effects. There are literally thousands of "actors" in some scenes. You watch birds falling from the sky, shooting into the waters, grabbing one fish out of a vast swarm. You watch penguins gaining speed under water, jumping out and finally (more or less) safely landing with their round bellies on the sheets of ice. And you're worried about little fish hiding under rocks when carnivore fishes arrive searching for food.You might have seen most of the animals before, but when they take you some kilometers down you enter a completely different and very fascinating world, which I have never seen before in another documentary - at least not in this clarity.Down there in this seemingly live threatening environment very, very odd and sometimes scary looking creatures are lingering around. Sometimes you wonder yourself if they just dropped you out of the documentary throwing you right into a science fiction movie.There are tiny creatures, partly transparent, with moving light bars on their bodies pulsating in rainbow colors. There are little ones generating bright flashes to baffle their enemies. And, well, if you've seen "Finding Nemo" you might recognize the scary looking carnivore with a "light bulb" on his head attracting innocent little fishies.....So... I rated this documentary 8/10. It's not perfect in my opinion. There is a narrator sometimes throwing in some sentences which are more or less describing the current scene. I think he speaks about 10-15 times in the whole movie. This goes well with the pace and the atmosphere (would be disturbed by too much speaking), but gives you nearly no information about the animals you see on screen. A tiny subtitle in one of the lower edges might have been great showing you the names of the creatures you're currently looking at.Also I would have done the cutting in a slightly different way. Some scenes are perfect, just beautiful and overwhelming, where other scenes are very much like in the usual TV documentaries.Overall, this movie is worth watching in the cinema if you have the opportunity to do so. Also, the more people learn to admire the wonders of the ocean, the more chances mankind may have to protect it in the future.
14 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :- Don't hesitate, but watch it (preferably on a large TV and with a good surround system), 13 September 2005 Author: Philip Van der Veken from Tessenderlo, Belgium
Ever since my childhood I've been fascinated by all life under water. I was only two years old, had severely burned my arm and my parents didn't know how to make me forget about the pain. They decided to buy me a little fish tank with a couple of goldfish in it. And it worked, as I sat on my knees in front of it, I forgot about all the pain. My arm healed, but the passion remained and I've always kept fishes as a pet ever since (I've got two aquariums and a large pond now). I will also never miss any documentary about this wonderful creatures on television, but I hadn't seen this one before. Last Christmas, my mom found it on a double DVD and thought it would be a good present for me. She was right.Even though the entire documentary is situated in the water, you'll get to see more than just a lot of fishes in all kinds of colors and sizes. You'll also get penguins, polar bears, whales, dolphins,... But there isn't just a diversity in the creatures that are shown. Also the environments change and that's a good thing. The polar sees are completely different from the tropical sees, the Atlantic different from the Pacific and together they make sure that you keep watching it with your full interest. More than once I found myself watching it with my mouth open. All the images were incredibly beautiful, but if this had been situated in one spot, than the 92 minutes would have been too long. Now I just couldn't get enough of it. And that's also where this movie's main weakness if you ask me. I wished that it would keep on going on for another 30 minutes or more. It just ended too soon.If you are interested in everything that happens in that magnificent world under water, but don't want to learn scuba diving first, than this documentary is definitely a must see. The images are just wonderful, the music that accompanies it all is great,... Just let yourself be overwhelmed by the beauty and the powers of nature. It's an excellent documentary made by the BBC Natural History Unit. I give it a 10/10. (Just one last word of advice: try to watch it on a large screen and with an excellent surround system if you can, it can only add something extra to the experience.)
14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :- Blue World, 9 April 2005 Author: Carlos deVillalvilla (carlosdev@yahoo.com) from Apopka, Fla
Liked "Winged Migration" and "Microcosmos," "Deep Blue" is a big-screen nature documentary patiently filmed over a period of years. As "Winged Migration" concentrated on the creatures of the air, so "Deep Blue" focuses on creatures of the sea. Reminding us how little we have explored the liquid space of our own oceans, the images here can be beautiful and graceful (dolphins playing in the surf), humorous (a mass of crabs laying eggs on the sand) as well as grim and deadly (killer whales attacking and eating seal pups). The moments of beauty are poignant indeed, and "Deep Blue" has it's share of "wow" moments. It divides itself into various themes; the shallows, the shoreline, the open seas, the polar seas, and the deep. The latter is shot near the deepest places on earth, and several creatures never before photographed are displayed in all their bioluminescent glory. The penguins shooting out of the ocean like biological missiles is quite amazing, and the feeding frenzy of the sharks is terrifying. Michael Gambon's narration is rarely intrusive, but it isn't as informative as I would have liked; they could have used some graphics to at least give you an idea of what creatures you were seeing, or where the shots were located. Still, this is a beautiful film, much of which was filmed for the "Blue Planet" BBC series. It looks frightfully gorgeous on the big screen, although parents should be warned that the seal pup death scenes can be terrifying to younger or more sensitive viewers.
8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :- Visually Arresting Snapshot of Oceanic Life, 10 June 2005 Author: nathan_i_todd from United States
I had the opportunity to watch this movie during the Seattle International Film Festival, and I was amazed. I haven't seen the documentary series "Deep Blue Sea" on which it was based, so I cannot comment on how the film compares to that series. What I can say is for any of you who are interested in animal behavior above and below the ocean's surface, you will be amazed. This film has few interruptions between wonderfully paced and edited clips of animal behavior. While I had seen almost all of the animals and plant life that appear in this movie before, this gave me a new and thrilling opportunity to see their lives as the animals themselves do. You hear their voices and experience their emotions. The soundtrack kept me emotionally captivated for the entire 90 minute run time. The filmmakers don't try to narrate the behavior, but let you experience it first hand, to a thrilling effect.However, this movie is not for the faint of heart. The filmmakers spare no detail in showing close up the threats posed to smaller sea life by larger and more voracious variations of life. With that in mind, I recommend keeping young children away from this movie. The children sitting a few rows in front of me in the theater gasped and held onto their parents during the violent scenes in the film.If you do see this movie, make a point to do it on the biggest screen you can find, and sit as close as you can.
6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :- Despite the lack of detail this is a natural visual feast, 25 September 2005 Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK
Water makes up most of the Earth and, unlike the surface ecosystems, it is the hardest for man to explore, inhabit or bulldoze. It is the closest thing to having a different planet, except right here on Earth. As such I was looking forward to watching this film because of the excellent footage of the many amazing creatures and ecosystems that ever improving technology allow us to get closer to. I'm not really one for nature programmes so maybe that is why I was extra impressed by the film – because such stuff has not become "ordinary" to me. At the start of the film I must admit that I was watching the "ordinary"; whales, crabs and seals fitted into that category to me but once the camera went deeper into the oceans it only became more and more fascinating with such weird and wonderful creatures on display.This goes for the shallower depths as well, as fish, whales, sharks etc are all very well presented and gorgeous to watch. Indeed that is the strength of the film – the beauty of it. It is fascinating to watch and the expertise in filming shines through from start to finish. However it is the appreciation of the view where the film is weak. Gambon's narration is sparse and even but it only occasionally gives out nuggets of information. I didn't expect detail like David Attenborough would give but it could have done with something more to compliment the visuals. The music covers the lack of narration and generally the score is well pitched to support the air of wonder or pace to the film.Overall this is a great visual treat, even if it is mostly going to be seen on the small screen. It all looks impressive and is fascinating but a bit more narration and detail would have been useful. Best viewed as a visual experience or as an entry into the wider genre of nature programmes.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :- Astounding., 19 April 2006 Author: Michael DeZubiria (miked32@hotmail.com) from Luoyang, China
I studied marine biology for a couple years in college, and this movie has some of the most amazing underwater footage I've ever seen. It's a fascinating journey into the ocean, particularly the parts that most of us will never see, like the arctic regions and the deepest reaches of the deep ocean. Some of the shots themselves are incredible just in the way the camera crew were able to immerse themselves in the biological communities that they were filming, especially the feeding scenes. Anyone with even a passing interest in the ocean and the mysteries of life on this planet should definitely not miss this. This movie is an explanation for why so many people believe that our planet should be called Oceanus rather than Earth.
3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :- Wonders of the deep, 24 March 2007 Author: lastliberal from Florida
I have just watched three hours of the Galapagos on the National geographic Channel, and am preparing to watch 11 hours on Planet earth on Discovery. What a joy to see this film, narrated by Pierce Brosnan in between.Fi9lmed at the deepest ocean where no light can pierce, the colors and lights that are created by the inhabitants outshine any laser show that you can imagine.This is the wonder and beauty of our planet at its best. I cannot imagine why we have to travel to other worlds, when we have this one waiting for us.
3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :- Mystery of the ocean's world, beauty and variety of life, 9 April 2006 Author: Marcin Kukuczka from Cieszyn, Poland
"So far we have only touched the surface (...) the greatest experience of nature on screen" proclaimed the leaflets advertising the documentary. Since such films on big screen in cinema are a rarity, as a matter of fact, not many people felt encouraged to see DEEP BLUE. Perhaps, we are too much addicted to action films and all fictions possible. In this way, many of us have forgotten that it is also possible to admire real nature on screen. I also must admit that I am not a fan of such documentaries. What usually bores me in them are the number of sophisticated terms provided to the viewer, which makes it all too scientific. Nevertheless, I went to see DEEP BLUE for the sake of images that addressed my curiosity. And I do not regret! It was wonderful throughout. The film is, foremost, a stunning image which pays tribute to the variety of life, mostly the life under the waters.First of all, it is important to mention that the documentary is not very long and serves a useful purpose not being a too detailed insight into some facts of life in the ocean. Besides, the film is really visually stunning. You see the underwater world as if you were there. All kinds of fishes of various shapes and colors are a feast for the eyes. You see the entire joy and freedom of their lives as well as the necessity to defend themselves from deadly dangers. The atmosphere is great and the "action" is very involving. Moreover, the philharmonic orchestral music in the background makes the experience even more unforgettable. The most impressive moment for me was when the journey to the deep began and the pictures we could see were fewer and fewer due to darkness. How unbelievable it is how much the sunlight provides to the earth. These creatures that have never seen the light look completely different, as if not from this world. Some of them surprised me totally. Yet, they also have the desire to live... There are also other wonderful moments showing life on the ground, particularly the polar bear and penguins. This is filmed with great commitment, indeed.DEEP BLUE is not a film for everyone. Some people may not find anything special in it. Perhaps, that is why the cinemas in Poland had it for only 10 up to 15 days while other films are being showed for two months or even longer. Yet, I would recommend DEEP BLUE to anyone who can still admire the variety of beauties on "the planet of life" that the earth, not unintentionally, is. But remember to see it on the big screen. The film is foremost an experience of image!
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :- Insightful, 24 September 2005 Author: cspaced1
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
"Deep Blue" is a major documentary film shot by the BBC Natural History Unit.Set to a sweeping score by George Fenton (Dangerous Liasons, Shadowlands) and narrated by Sir Michale Gambon, "Deep Blue" is an epic cinematic roller-coaster ride for all the ages with footage that will amaze viewers with their beauty and stun them with their grandeur.Despite the fact that the sea constitutes two thirds of our planet, we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our deep oceans.Assembly 20 specialized camera teams, over the course of 5 years directors Alastair Fothergill and Andy Byatt shot over 7000 hours of footage in more than 200 hundred locations around the world for more than 5 years.New species of ocean dwellers were discovered and many were photographed for the first time ever.
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :- First class movie, 5 September 2005 Author: kennymac-1 from United Kingdom
When I sat down to watch this movie I thought I would be watching another wildlife programme but how wrong was I.The camera shots were out of this world and how they managed them I cannot imagine.The shots of the killer whales separating the baby whale from its mother defies logic and the Emperor penguins shooting out of the water like mini rockets has to be seen.The highlight of the show to me was the deep sea creatures who can generate their own light and the diversity of them can not be imagined.I thought The blue planet was a classic piece of photography but it has no comparison to this film which has both Aeriel and underwater shots of the highest magnitude.I would say to anyone who enjoys wildlife programmes to watch this film .
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