Product Description

Take a once in a lifetime journey across the South Pacific for a spectacular IMAX adventure. Joy; ecstasy; a spiritual high: these words describe the exhilaration of diving a pristine coral reef, and ocean explorers Howard and Michele Hall bring their love of the ocean into action. With Jean-Michael Cousteau, deep reef scientist Richard Pyle and Fijian diver Rusi Vulakoro, they explore and capture on film the dazzling underwater world of coral reefs, magical places here on Earth. This tropical excursion through the South Pacific will surprise and delight you as you fall in love with the reefs, and your heart will ache at the tragic, irretrievable loss of these fragile worlds.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11797 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2004-01-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 45 minutes

Amazon.com
Like any IMAX movie, Coral Reef Adventure is so vivid, vast, and colorful that you can't help but be astonished by its visual splendor. But this undersea exploration has a deeper, more serious agenda as well, warning its viewers that the natural magnificence of the world's most impressive coral reefs is, in most cases, a mere 30 years away from extinction due to the devastating effects of global (and oceanic) warming. Whether or not that timeframe is accurate (and there's not enough solid science presented here to prove it either way), it's tragically obvious that we are in the process of losing entire ecosystems that cannot be replaced, and when you witness these awesome coral reefs in their still-thriving vitality, you experience a sense of urgent responsibility toward our stewardship of planet Earth. By showing us the commitment and potentially life-threatening work of reef explorers and world-class undersea cinematographers Howard and Michele Hall, the film provides an all-access pass to some of the most exotic, playful, and dangerous creatures in the ocean, presented with the kind of intense, almost three-dimensional clarity that can only be achieved in the IMAX format. The ultimate conclusion remains: If we don't do something to protect these delicate, endangered wonders of nature, we will lose a part of ourselves. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

We do not inherit the earth but borrow it from our children

I didn't know what to expect from this film that I saw at an IMAX Theater but I knew I had to see it. I'm a scuba diving enthusiast and I love coral reefs. Coral Reef Adventure is an eco tour of reefs and the dangers that exist for this delicate ecosystem. We follow Howard and Michele Hall, underwater photographers and authors, in their study of coral reefs to help Rusi Vulakoro, a diver in Fiji, to discover the cause of a dying reef.

Much of the underwater footage is from the Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, and French Polynesia. To say the images are breath taking is an understatement. Watching this film just re-enforced why I love to dive. I love the sea and all its wonder. At the end of the film a small child sitting in front of me told his parents that's what he wanted to do when he grows up, that is dive for a living. I love that so I told his parents about my dive club that teaches diving and has a program for children to play in to pool with dive equipment. There is nothing like seeing a wee one learning to dive.

As for the diving, it was exciting. The divers in this film are experienced professional divers and therefore they dive to depths all recreational divers should stay clear of. In the film you'll see depths of 350 and get a real feel for the wonder of scuba diving. Also, there was a guest appearance by Jean-Michele Cousteau; son of famed Jacque Cousteau, father of scuba diving. I also took a good look of the equipment that was used and was amazed at the use of re-breathers. I want a re-breather now.

Anyway, you'll see lots of coral, fish, manta rays, gray sharks, drift diving, incredible depths, and beautiful scenery. The film was incredibly educational and made me think of all the adventure I am missing. This is another film to spark your wonder lust for adventure and instill a respect for nature.

girldiver:)
"When diving with sharks during mating season try not to look like a shark"

The best HD content yet!
If you own a high end HTPC (home theater personal computer), and a HD capable display, you owe it to yourself to buy this movie. Simply put, the Microsoft WMV transfer in high definition (both 720p and 1080p) is the best image I have ever seen on our home theater's very expensive projection system($30k JVC Lcos system).

There are some downsides....

1) Requires a very beefy computer. 3.0 Ghz is recommended by Microsoft, although some are getting away with lower powered machines by using the lower-quality 720p verion

2) Proprietary audio codec requires you to have the computer decode the audio, and send it to your amplifier via analog cables. There is no DTS or DD track on the HD version.

3) DRM - You have a choice of one video player, Windows Media 9. The movie has digial rights management on it, which can only be viewed by a Microsoft player. While this implementation is much better than the T2 high definition release (which required you to have an internet connection to get authorization), it's still a bit limiting.

Despite the problems, This is right up there with the best film based HDTV content I have viewed from HDnet or HD HBO.

BUY IT NOW!!!

Disappointing...
I wish I had read a more critical review before purchasing this DVD, so here's mine:

Beautiful photography and wish I'd seen it in an IMAX theatre. As this is supposed to be a film about CORAL REEFS, however, you'd expect that alot of it would take place UNDERWATER..... It doesn't. .... Too much coverage of "human drama", with an islander's disappointment in the dying reef near his island, one of the diver's brush with the bends (but you know it will all be wrapped-up in a happy ending, right?), and photographers flying and boating around tropical islands. Personally, I had been looking for more photography and more real information on coral reefs --fascinating beautiful creatures with plenty of interesting drama on their own.

Soundtrack features great music, but the editing of which makes viewing the film quite annoying. You're listening carefully to Liam's relaxing voice and all-too-brief interesting commentary on the subject matter and then BOOM!, your hit with CSN at a volume that has you scrambling for the remote to turn it down three notches.

Overall, its a film that wants to be everything for all interests. Sure ! ...In 45 minutes?