Product Description

The Living Sea (40 min.) takes you to the world's oceans, traveling to Palau, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Alaska, Nova Scotia and the Red Sea. Explore the mysterious depths and come face to face with life-sized humpback whales when you dive into "The Living Sea." Swim with thousands of golden jellyfish and witness the bizarre spawning behavior of giant clams. Surf in Hawaii, deep-sea dive in Palau and test your courage with the Coast Guard in some of the world's roughest seas! Follow a remotely operated vehicle 3,000 feet down through the ocean depths to view strange creatures (one as long as a football field!) which live where sunlight never penetrates. The Living Sea celebrates the "world ocean"--its beauty, diversity and importance to all life on earth. Music by Sting; narrated by Meryl Streep. Ever wonder "how did they do that?" "The Making of 'The Living Sea'" (37 min.), shot in High-Definition Video, takes you behind the scenes. Disc 2 includes the complete feature in Microsoft Windows Media High Definition, playable on your PC.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10572 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-06-29
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 77 minutes

Amazon.com
The films from IMAX have come to be known for their cutting-edge cinematography. They don't disappoint with The Living Sea, an Academy Award-nominated documentary exploring exotic marine locales. Using dizzying aerial and time-lapse footage, they provide underwater imagery usually accessible only while wearing fins and a mask. From heavy-surf Coast Guard drills off the coast of Oregon to jellyfish in Palau to North Atlantic humpback whales, veteran IMAX cameraman and director Greg MacGillivray takes viewers on a vivid journey into some of the world's most breathtaking environments and shows us some of the rarest and strangest marine life. Ten years from conception to finished product, this documentary's intended message is the importance of protecting the "world ocean" by displaying its wild beauty and diversity.

The Living Sea does an excellent job showcasing the more visually satisfying aspects of the sea (standout footage includes schools of jellyfish performing a graceful migratory dance and a giant cuttlefish changing brilliant colors for the purpose of camouflage), although ultimately it fails to shed much light on the hows, whys, and urgency of marine conservation. However, despite the short running time (unfortunately characteristic of IMAX productions) and a soundtrack that only true Sting fans will fully appreciate, this film proves to be a remarkable treat for the eyes and is sure to elicit heartfelt oohs and aahs from anyone who loves the sea. --Ed Noble

Customer Reviews

A must see!
This is one of the best IMAX videos I have ever seen. I can't imagine why some people have a bad review if this documentary. The photography is absolutely amazing! I guess if you are expecting this to be all underwater shots you will be disappointed...that was not the point of this video. This is a documentary of not just the ocean but, how it works, why it is so important to life and how we use it and take care of it. It is fascinating and extremely educational. Even my 3 year old loves some of the scenes... especially the surfers. My favorite part is the coast guard scenes in the HUGE waves. I am in awe every time I see this video. Oh yeah I don't want to forget about the music. This is an incredible piece of work. You will love every bit of music...how could you not its Sting! This is a must have video!!!

The last thing I love about this video is the option of watching it with the producers explaining how it was all made. It is all just very fasinating to me. They did a great job.

Beautiful Photography...
Photography is beautiful of all the hard and soft Corals in the different oceans. Would recommend this to all ages. HD is almost as if you are really there.

WMVHD is jittery
I have a very high end computer and can run other WMVHD videos from my machine just fine. This one for some reason is very jittery regardless if it is ran in 720p or 1080p.

It looks like a very cool video, but it just doesnt seem to work properly.