Visually spectacular nature documentary which explores Earth's final frontier, the ocean, from its wave-tossed surface teeming with myriad marine life to its unfathomable depths, revealing both its sublime beauty and indiscriminate cruelty. Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Andy Byatt and narrated by Pierce Brosnan, this awe-inspiring tour through liquid space, with its breathtaking, up-close, underwater photography (culled from the BBC series "The Blue Planet"), is highly emotional and imparts a deeper appreciation for the wonders of God's creation. Some disturbing predatory images. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (G) 2005
Full Review
"Deep Blue" (Miramax) is a visually spectacular nature documentary that explores our planet's final frontier: the ocean.
Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Andy Byatt, this journey through liquid space allows viewers a fish-eye view of Earth's underwater realms, from its wave-tossed surface teeming with myriad marine life to its unfathomable depths.
In delving into its impenetrable mysteries, "Deep Blue" reveals both the ocean's sublime beauty and indiscriminate cruelty.
Among the underwater inhabitants encountered are pirouetting dolphins, stealthy hammerhead sharks, haunting manta rays, giant blue whales, kaleidoscopic jellyfish and bizarre alien-like deep-sea critters.
The film takes the audience on a globe-spanning tour from the azure waters of the tropics, home to exotic -- and fragile -- coral-reef communities, to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic, where emperor penguins are king, to the equally inhospitable environs of the ocean floor, where hardy life surprisingly abounds amid toxic fumes. It even offers a peek into the Marianas Trench, an abyss seven miles deep (the deepest on Earth).
Among the film's many highlights is a rapturous (or ravenous) ballet of life and death -- involving dolphins, sharks and seabirds -- triggered by an underwater cyclone of sardines.
The feeding frenzy is interrupted when a leviathan rises from the inky depths, dwarfing the proceedings and bringing the grand gorging to a close.
"Deep Blue" shows a harsh side of survival which may be too intense for young viewers, including grisly (and arguably gratuitous) shots of killer whales violently picking off seal pups who stray too close to the surf.
With Pierce Brosnan's lilting brogue providing narration, this awe-inspiring film includes breathtaking underwater photography culled from the filmmakers' earlier BBC television series, "The Blue Planet."
Though overwrought at points, George Fenton's full-bodied orchestral score befits the movie's majestic tone. And while the footage assembled is truly stunning, it unfolds as isolated vignettes.
Still, "Deep Blue" is highly emotional and will leave you with a deeper appreciation for the wonders of God's creation.
The film contains some disturbing predatory images. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences.
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.