Fathom

Described as a visual and aural wonder is partly to the point. The aquatic sequences of whales are powerful, as are the sound captures of their song. But... for a documentary that is aimed to concentrate on this important subject it is at times irritating to say the least to listen to the scientists describing their work. American accents are fine, except when they are delivered in what seems to be the fashionable way of speaking, in a voice that sounds like laryngitis, especially when accompanied by totally unnecessary music that renders the words being spoken unintelligible. Poor whales... they deserve better than this!

My wife and I thought this documentary was great. It explores the scientific process and nuances behind scientific discovery especially in such a mysterious world as the the ocean.

Our current generation only cares about being blown away or constantly entertained and doesn't understand what it takes to make a scientific discovery. Every day isn't like an action packed Hollywood science fiction movie.

This movie does a fantastic job with telling a story about a group of female scientist trying to add to our knowledge of one of the oldest living animal on this planet. Sometimes telling a story involves more than the science behind story but about the people involved.

That said, I was expecting more science behind the way whales communicate, but I think it's just not as known as we like to think it is and more research needs to happen.

Documentaries like this will provide a great way to highlight and motivate future scientists and research.

How do you take an absolutely fantastic research topic and beat your audience to death? This documentary does that very well. Most of the documentary is just painfully slow and focuses on the process rather than anything worth watching. There are shots of them fixing boat engines and making food and endless chatting about their personal lives. It's like the animals take a back seat in this documentary. Painfully slow to watch.

If you like beautiful cinematography then this may be for you.

It is extremely naval-gazing and focuses on the personal lives of the scientists rather then the whales and/or facts.

There are no conclusions on the questions asked at the beginning of the film.

A missed opportunity.

This movie has likely tanked a certain researcher's possibility of getting funding in the future. Changing research plans ad-hoc, inability to keep up on recording data, lack of time-knowledge over inputs (playing whale recordings in the ocean... "I think that's ours"?!?!), and questionable data points to begin with... Why would any agency pay for 'that'? Demonstrably amateurs.

And then there is the movie's director. Barely enough run time to qualify as a 'movie', and stacked with time-wasting scenes that arguably have nothing to do with what the viewer was expecting to see. Given camera technology, anyone can shoot great scenery in Alaska, or people goofing off on a tree swing. An evidentially poor effort; Apple producers are equally to blame. 3 stars is generous.