Into the Deep

I am a professional dive instructor (PADI IDC Staff Instructor #233440)) who, for years, taught at Santa Catalina Island, just off the California coast. One of my favorite remembrances as a dive instructor was to enter the Casino Point Dive Park in Avalon. Just a few feet off the entry point was a kelp forest. I enjoyed hovering weightlessly in the waves, swaying with the kelp, watching fish move in and out.

The human eye sees so much more than the camera can pick up. I was mesmerized by the light that filtered through the kelp forest. The Garibaldi, the California state fish, would wait for us and circle us as we entered the water. Many of my peers took small bags of frozen peas to feed them. Schools of them would circle us and watch us... just in case we brought munchies. In the afternoon around 2pm, fish would "park" for what looked like nap time in the kelp. Night dives was truly another world.

I watched sun stars move along he sandy bottom off of Monterey, CA. I played (cautiously) with the jelly fish that "invaded" one of my open water classes there. How in the world can they actually be alive? Beats me. How do brittle stars know to run in panic? How can they panic if their brains are so small? I've been diving with sharks, and they didn't bother me, but the Moray eel, who opens his mouth to breathe can look fearsome and caused me give them a respectful, wide berth.

No, this movie doesn't have shipwrecks or chase scenes. It's real. It approaches things gently,answering the curious questions of a wide-eyed child. I enjoy it because it's real. It brings back memories. This is what it's really like. It's quiet... and incredibly beautiful. It's peaceful. Breathe deeply and slowly... and feel the waves. Imagine yourself weightless.

It'll change you.

This is the first imax film I have ever seen. I saw it with my aunt and my sister while vacationing in Chicago at a theater in Navy Pier. It told us about the animals that inhabit the kelp beds of the Pacific Ocean. The people who worked at the theater gave us each a mask to wear while watching it so it would look like we were really down there. It did somewhat feel like we were.

"Into the Deep" is an Imax film documenting the life about fish and other sea creatures.

It's an Imax film, so it's shown on a really big screen. This helps the viewer feel like they are right there, when the camera gives us a view of the water level.

Then it focuses on the life of fish and other sea creatures. For example, did you know that Lobsters and other crustaceans have to break out of their shells and get new ones. Of course you knew that Hermit Crabs do it, but did you ever expect lobsters? Don't forget how weird and cool the Starcastic Fringeheads are.

I'm not sure how much the admission is to get into the Imax theater, but this may be worth it. It's a whole lot better then the other Imax film: "T-Rex: Back to the Creustaceous."

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I'm definitely at odds with the other 30 reviewers, all male, who weighted this film's rating to a 4.9 to date. It's been several years since viewing, but I recall going back twice for the 3D sense it gave me of looking in on the lives of the "little" guys underwater. No, not terrifying great white sharks...the most "terrifying" scene is of a giant sun-fish sweeping down on other, tiny starfish, and their valiant attempts to flee. I laughed with the kids in the audience and put out my hand to "touch" the waving kelp that appeared to be just in front of my neighbour's head.

Of course, if years of Hollywood blockbusters has conditioned you to want big thunder and big blood, and you really can't stomach small wonders, don't bother with this...it's not for you. It's for kids at heart.

Seen it at Edwards 21 Cinemas, Irvine Spectrum, Irvine, California, U. S. A., August 11, 1997.

Outstanding IMAX theater with huge 1.43:1 screen, 1570 GT film projector and 6-channel surround sound system (1997).

My very first IMAX experience.

Awesome!