Oceans Review

"To really know the ocean, you have to live it." This line from the opening narration is something every scuba diver can relate to. We spend our whole lives getting to "know" the ocean, but DisneyNature's Oceans documentary gives us a 1 hour 25 minute taste of parts we may never see.

[Disneynature Oceans][]
This documentary takes you through some fascinating images. Some things are a little familiar, but with a little twist. For instance, the film quickly shows footage of the famous sardine run off the coast of South Africa. We've seen it a million times, but this particular footage had a nice surprise: humpback whales! That was a new one for me.

Another example is the well-known footage of the great white shark breaching while grabbing a seal. We see something similar, but a little different. We see several clips of sharks breaching while grabbing for seals, some even missing. Basically, it's not just re-cut footage from the BBC Planet Earth series, but entirely new scenes.

Of course, the majority of the film is comprised of things I haven't seen. A duel between a crab and a mantis shrimp is one particular highlight. An epic battle between tens of thousands of crabs is also peculiar. Be prepared for a large variety of creatures, from huge humpbacks to the beautiful blanket octopus.

I enjoyed the movie, but if I had one complaint, it's that the narration is a tad dull as they attempt to tie the very random footage together. The only useful thing about the narration (provided by Pierce Brosnan) is the names of the creatures you are seeing. A little more about them would've been appreciated at times. However, the visual quality more than makes up for it.

I also liked that it's not heavy on the conservation side of things. Near the end they show you parts of the ocean that are polluted, and animals getting caught in nets. None of it is judging or condescending, simply stating the facts. I hope that as younger generations see footage like this at a young age, they get "brainwashed" into caring for the ocean as they get older.

Watch the trailer for some clips, or even check out the accompanying book. If you find those appealing, you'll definitely enjoy the movie.

[Disneynature Oceans]: http://thedivingblog.com/uploads/2010/04/oceans.jpg