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Laramie Movie Scope: Oceans

Fantastic creatures, fantastic underwater photography

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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May 15, 2010 -- “Oceans” is a film filled with extraordinary images, mostly filmed underwater, featuring many exotic creatures like the “leafy seadragon,” the “blanket octopus” the “Spanish dancer” and many other animals that look like they came from another planet. Of course there are whales, sharks, penguins and many well-known fish, mammals and birds in the film too, filmed in oceans across the globe by an expert underwater camera crew. Originally released in French, this English language version of the film is narrated by Pierce Brosnan. The narration loosely ties the images together into some semblance of a story, but this is a film about extraordinary animals. There is a minimum of preaching about pollution and over-fishing, just enough to remind the viewer that the oceans are in big trouble from the hand of man. This is way beyond the average sea life documentary film.

From the blue whale, the biggest creature in the history of the earth, to the tiniest fish eggs, the film covers a vast array of life over vast expanses of ocean. Of course there are cute sea otters, seals and sea lions and some beautiful tropical fish, but there is also savagery, killer whales preying on sea lions and a great white shark flying through the air with a seal in its mouth. Later, we see a man swimming peacefully alongside another great white shark. Using innovative camera equipment, the film captures dolphins racing along the ocean in pursuit of a large school of fish off the coast of South Africa. Amazingly, the camera keeps pace with the speeding dolphins as they herd the fish into a circle. We see both overhead and underwater shots of the encircled fish as seabirds dive into the circle. Later, humpback whales surface into the same circle of fish.

In addition to divers equipped with cameras and re-breathers to eliminate the kind of scuba bubbles that would disturb the fish, the crew also used cameras mounted on boats and towed by boats that could keep up with fast-swimming fish and dolphins. Helicopters, both manned and remote-controlled, grabbed a lot of aerial footage for the film. The filmmakers not only captured the sights, but also the underwater sounds of the ocean, from the crashing of the waves to the sound of a crab walking on gravel on the ocean floor. What the filmmakers have achieved here is remarkable. They have put the audience deep into the intimate world of undersea creatures, up close and personal. I felt like I was not just observing this amazing adventure, but that I was a participant. This is not your run-of-the-mill nature documentary. It is the result of a seven-year effort, comprising 75 expeditions in 50 locations, many of them remote and wild, capturing 480 hours of film, including two years of pre-production planning and one year of post-production work after film and digital images had been captured.

One of the more amazing shots in the film pulls back from the surface of the ocean, giving the viewer a wider and wider view until the camera seems to end up in space, viewing the world from behind another satellite. This whole film is loaded with amazing “how did they do that?” kind of images. Don't worry about how they made this amazing film, just be glad they did it. By the time another ocean film comes out that is this good, some of these amazing creatures depicted in this film will probably be extinct. This film rates an A.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2010 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)