Coral Reef Adventure

The shots are beautiful. The not so subtle message is not. This movie had the potential to be great art, but fails miserably because of the preachy ness of its message. It is worth seeing because of the footage of under water beauty. The images of the dying reefs are powerful enough without the politicized sermon. A few words of explanation would have been more than enough, but in the end we are left with propaganda instead of art. One scene contains images of several small children with earnest expressions as the narrator tells us explicitly that the children depend upon a healthy reef. I found myself rolling my eyes as I was hit over the head with "the message". I care about children, but this scene tries too hard causing it to fail. Instead of being engaged by the movie I found it very disappointing.

It's Australia's Great Barrier Reef, moving to Fiji and beyond. Sadly I did not see it in Imax as intended but the underwater footage still looks amazing. I will say that I've never seen anyone get their teeth cleaned in that way. The above water stuff is less compelling. The animation is plenty good enough to transition from one location to the next. Flyover is probably best in Imax but it looks great no matter what. One of the better things this movie does is time-lapsed photography. The slow bleaching of a coral is great visualization of warming temperatures. It allows for a soft insistent message on global warming. The music from Crosby Stills & Nash is great. I expected more narration from Liam Neeson. All in all, this is a nice visual plea for the environment.

I first saw this film when it came to the IMAX in the Museum of Natural History in NYC. I was impressed with the beauty of the scenery (years later, my wife and I were fortunate enough to visit the Island of Morea) and the soundtrack of the music. I remember, as been very familiar with most of the songs by CSN, that it sounded very different than the original recordings, like the songs were recorder specially for this film. Well, the other day I bought this documentary in order to refresh my memory of it and, again, I was very impressed. I have a question that I hope somebody will be able to answer it, IS THERE A CD WITH THE COMPLETE SOUND TRACK of this film? Thanks

I'm writing this review 20 years after seeing the film with my two very young daughters. I wrote down every website written at the end of the film and began following the science. I began composting, recycling when I hadn't prior, when it was time to buy a new car I searched far and wide for the most efficient car at the time and found a Prius. When building our new home I made sure it would be solar and geothermal, using NO fossil fuels. I began writing articles about climate change and waste and where it ends up. I talked to my kids about all of it every day hoping one of them might eventually make a career in climate science. Lo and behold my youngest did just that! When at the end of the film it said the coral reefs would all disappear in 40 years, that was what really got me. 40 YEARS was NOTHING, and here we are 20 years in with absolutely nothing substantial being done to change that projection. I have been amazed and disappointed that so few others reacted in the same way I did once they learn just a few of the facts. Well, I just want to thank the people involved in making this film!

This film has beautiful images to share. The movie was well produced with a great use of music with the different shots. The movie did get a little "environmental", but it was to be expected. I also think they could have chosen better music than Crosby, Stills and Nash. Overall I would highly recommend seeing it if you have the opportunity. It is educational and breathtaking.