|
|
films - fact and fiction
 |
The Cave
Deep in the Romanian forest, a team of scientists stumbles upon the
ruins of a 13th Century Abbey. On further inspection, they make a
startling discovery – the Abbey is built over the entrance to a giant
underground cave system, so they hire a group of American cave-explorers
to help them investigate its depths. JACK (Cole Hauser) and his brother
TYLER (Eddie Cibrian) are thrill-seeking professional cave explorers who
run a team of the top divers in the world. They arrive in Romania with
all the latest equipment, including a new type of scuba tank allowing a
diver to remain submerged for up to 24 hours. The Crack units, which
also includes CHARLIE (Piper Perabo) and BUCHANAN (Morris Chestnut),
immediately begins their exploration. But what they find deep inside the
cave is not just a new eco-system, but an entirely new species
altogether…..
|
 |
Into the Blue
Treasure has its price in this gripping underwater thriller set off the
tropical shores of the Bahamas.Four young divers
discover a legendary shipwreck rumoured to contain millions in gold at the
bottom of the sea. But nearby on the ocean floor, a plane full of illegal
cargo threatens their find and, with their loyalties tested, the treasure
hunters soon find themselves as the hunted... |
 |
Deep Blue
Deep Blue is a major documentary feature film shot by the BBC Natural
History Unit, the same team that produced the acclaimed BBC series The
Blue Planet. Set to a sweeping score by George Fenton (Dangeroius
Liaisons, Shadowlands) and with narration from Sir Michael Gambon, Deep
Blue is an epic cinematic rollercoaster ride for all the ages with footage
that will amaze viewers with their beauty and stun them with their
grandeur.Despite the fact that the sea
constitutes two thirds of our planet, we know more about the surface of
the moon than we do about the deep oceans. Assembling 20 specialised
camera teams, over the course of 5 years directors Alastair Fothergill and
Andy Byatt shot over 7000 hours of footage in more than 200 locations
around the world for more than five years. New species of ocean dwellers
were discovered and many were photographed for the first time ever!
|
 |
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his
crew -- Team Zissou -- set sail on an expedition to hunt down the
mysterious, elusive, possibly non-existant Jaguar Shark that killed
Zissou's partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure.
They are joined on their voyage by a young airline co-pilot who may or may
not be Zissou's son (Owen Wilson), a beautiful journalist (Cate Blanchett)
assigned to write a profile of Zissou, and Zissou's estranged wife and
co-producer, Eleanor (Anjelica Huston). They face overwhelming
complications including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy. |
 |
Open Water
Shot on digital video with a pair of unknown actors (Blanchard Ryan
and Daniel Travis) who tread water for most of the film's brisk 79-minute
running time, Open Water is a fact-based exercise in primal fear
that will scare the socks off anyone who dreads death from the deep, but
it's familiar stuff if you've ever watched "Shark Week" on the Discovery
Channel (which is mentioned in writer-director Chris Kentis's economical
screenplay). If you can't accept that a trendy young couple could be
accidentally abandoned during an open-sea diving excursion (but hey, it
really happened!), then you'll surely be hooked by the intense what's-gonna-happen
anxiety that escalates when the horrified vacationers realize they've got
unwanted company. It's too easy to call Open Water a poor man's
Jaws, and the movie's too realistically frightening to be compared to
the popcorn thrills of Deep Blue Sea, so what you've got here is a
shark movie that creates its own little low-budget niche. Before placing
his actors in actual proximity to sharks, Kentis betrays them with some
silly, bickering dialogue, but with adequate realism in its favour,
Open Water offers a perfect excuse to stay on the beach. --Jeff
Shannon
Synopsis
While on an island holiday, certified scuba divers Daniel and Susan board
a dive boat for an underwater tour of the local reef. However, after being
underwater for only forty minutes, the couple are accidentally left
behind. Alone in open water, the couple must survive the elements and the
shark-infested water. Based on true events. |
 |
Shark Tale
A new school will rule!
Oscar (Will Smith), a lowly tongue-scrubber at the local Whale Wash,
becomes an improbable hero when he tells a great white lie. To keep his
secret, Oscar teams up with an outcast vegetarian shark, Lenny (Jack
Black), and the two become the most unlikely of friends. When his lie
begins to unravel, it¿s up to Oscar¿s loyal friend Angie (Renée Zellweger)
and Lenny to help him stand up to the most feared shark in the water
(Robert De Niro) and find his true place in the reef.
|
|
 |
The Big Blue
A hit in Europe but a flop in the US--where it was trimmed, rescored, and
given a new ending--Luc Besson's The Big Blue has endured as a minor cult
classic for its gorgeous photography (both on land and underwater) and
dreamy ambiance. Jean-Marc Barr is a sweet and sensitive but passive
presence as Jacques, a diver with a unique connection to the sea. He has
the astounding ability to slow his heartbeat and his circulation on deep
dives, "a phenomenon that's only been observed in whales and dolphins
until now," remarks one scientist. Kooky New York insurance adjuster
Joanna (Rosanna Arquette at her most delightfully flustered and
endearingly sexy best) melts after falling into his innocent baby blues,
and she follows him to Italy, where he's continuing a lifelong competition
with boyhood rival Enzo (Jean Reno in a performance both comic and
touching).
Besson's first English-language production looks more European than
Hollywood, and it suffers from a tin ear for the language. At times it
feels more like an IMAX undersea documentary than a drama about free
divers, but the lush and lovely images create a fairy tale dimension to
Jacques's story, a veritable Little Merman. More dolphin than man, he's so
torn between earthly love and aquatic paradise that even his dreams call
him to the sea (in a sequence more eloquent than any speech).
Besson has expanded the film by 50 minutes for his director's cut, which
adds little story but slows the contemplative pace until it practically
floats in time, and has restored Eric Serra's synthesizer-heavy score, a
slice of 1980s pop that at times borders on disco kitsch. Most
importantly, he has restored his original ending, which echoes the fairy
tale he tells Joanna earlier in the film and leaves the story floating in
the inky blackness of ambiguity. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com --This text
refers to the VHS Tape edition.
Synopsis
A unique epic adventure/romance, filmed over eight months on locations
from the Riviera to Sicily, Corsica, Paris, New York and The Virgin
Islands. When Joanna first meets Jacques it is his innocence and mystery
which attract her, she then follows him to Peru, and later to Europe,
where Jacques becomes involved in the dangerous sport of free diving.
|
|
 |
Finding Nemo
A delightful undersea world unfolds in Pixar's animated adventure Finding
Nemo. When his son Nemo is captured by a scuba-diver, a nervous clownfish
named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) sets off into the vast--and
astonishingly detailed--ocean to find him. Along the way he hooks up with
a scatterbrained blue tang fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who's both a
help and a hindrance, sometimes at the same time.
Faced with sharks, deep-sea anglers, fields of poisonous jellyfish, sea
turtles, pelicans and much more, Marlin rises above his neuroses in this
wonderfully funny and non-stop thrill ride--rarely does more than 10
minutes pass without a sequence destined to become a theme-park
attraction. Pixar continues its run of impeccable artistic and economic
successes (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc). Supporting voices
include Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush and Allison Janney. --Bret Fetzer
|
|
 |
Men of Honour
Originally, Men of Honour was simply called Navy Diver and
no doubt all involved held high hopes that it would be an award-winning
biopic. Unfortunately, Carl Brashear's life as the first African-American
Master Diver went through that vaguely distasteful contemporary Hollywood
Marketing makeover and the result is not quite so worthy of its subject
and intentions. The film's hopelessly clichéd tagline reads, "History is
made by those who break the rules"; the direction is shot through with
sunsets 'n' slow-mo; and the script is peppered with foreshadowing
dialogue ("don't end up like me son").
The plot devices follow a predictable arc: family poverty, a swiftly sweet
romance, a shock accident, court hearing and, naturally, a grisly
antagonist. It's with the last of these that the movie comes to life. We
may have seen DeNiro spit nails countless times before, but his saltily
intractable Master Chief is a terrific screen creation. Next to him, Cuba
Gooding Jr really does shine as the endlessly persecuted Brashear. All-too
brief cameos from Charlise Theron and Michael Rapaport lend sparkle too.
But the film's message about how social attitudes toward race have changed
is lost in a murky haze of Hollywoodisation. As one character declares,
"some things just don't mix".
|
|
 |
The Blue
Planet
An
epic, eight-part series that took five years to complete, The Blue
Planet firmly re-establishes the BBC as the world's pre-eminent
producer of top quality nature documentaries. Exploring every aspect of
marine ecosystems, from coastal marshes to deep-sea trenches and from
polar waters to tropical reefs, The Blue Planet is thorough and
informative, yet never less than thrilling. Sir David Attenborough is one
of the most well-respected (and well-known) personalities in the field of
nature programmes, and his narration is flawless as he educates and
inspires without ever patronising his audience or anthropomorphising his
subjects. Spectacular camera work (of a standard not seen since the BBC's
classic Life on Earth series) captures images of a fascinating
world rarely seen by human eyes--in fact, in several instances, the
subjects and behaviours filmed for this series have never been witnessed
before, let alone caught on camera. This is particularly apparent on the
series highlight, "The Deep" (Programme 2), where film crews discovered
two new species in the depths of the ocean: a grotesque fish named the
hairy angler and a fantastic, pink octopus-like creature which is so new
that it remains unnamed (but was nicknamed "Dumbo"). Both are testament to
the fact that, although oceans cover two-thirds of the Earth, we know less
about them than we do the moon. It's proof that, to us land-dwellers, much
of our world is alien indeed. A handsomely illustrated
companion book is also available. --Robert Burrow |
|
 |
A search for the
great Sharks of the world, chapters include: 'Domain Of The Shark', 'Behaviour',
'Steel Cage', 'Western Australia', 'Spotted', 'Great White Shark' and
'Ancient Survivors'. |
|
 |
Deep Blue
Sea
An
amazing cure for brain cancer is discovered. The cure is harvested from
the brains of sharks. In an attempt to cure Alzheimer's, Doctor Susan
McAlester begins experimenting on sharks in an attempt to increase the
harvest of the antidote.... The sharks begin to grow bigger and smarter... |
|
 |
Real
Sanctuary
Featuring the
music of Hilary Stagg. Not a single spoken word...Join in a peaceful
exploration, a musical and visual journey through shimmering waters and
beckoning coral reefs. Magnificent French Angel Fish escort you through a
timeless underwater world while the magical Lion Fish pirouettes in a
private dance, creating tranquility and relaxation. |
|
 |
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea gets a dose of On the Beach
in Irwin Allen's visually impressive but scientifically silly
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. While the Seaview, the
world's most advanced experimental submarine, maneuvers under the
North Pole, the Van Allen radiation belt catches fire, giving the
concept "global warming" an entirely new dimension. As the Earth
broils in temperatures approaching 170 degrees F, Walter Pidgeon's
maniacally driven Admiral Nelson hijacks the Seaview and plays
tag with the world's combined naval forces on a race to the South
Pacific, where he plans to extinguish the interstellar fire with a
well-placed nuclear missile. But first he has to fight a mutinous
crew, an alarmingly effective saboteur, not one but two giant squid
attacks, and a host of design flaws that nearly cripple the mission
(note to Nelson: think backup generators). Barbara Eden shimmies to
Frankie Avalon's trumpet solos in the most formfitting naval uniform
you've ever seen, fish-loving Peter Lorre plays in the shark tank,
gloomy religious fanatic Michael Ansara preaches Armageddon, and Joan
Fontaine looks very uncomfortable playing an armchair psychoanalyst.
It's all pretty absurd, but Allen pumps it up with larger-than-life
spectacle and lovely miniature work. --Sean Axmaker
Fantastic Voyage
2001: A Space Odyssey took the world on a mind-bending trip to
outer space, but Fantastic Voyage is the original psychedelic
inner-space adventure. When a brilliant scientist falls into a coma
with an inoperable blood clot in the brain, a surgical team embarks on
a top-secret journey to the center of the mind in a high-tech military
submarine shrunk to microbial dimensions. Stephen Boyd stars as a
colorless commander sent to keep an eye on things (though his eyes
stay mostly on shapely medical assistant Raquel Welch), while Donald
Pleasance is suitably twitchy as the claustrophobic medical
consultant. The science is shaky at best, but the imaginative
spectacle is marvelous: scuba-diving surgeons battle white blood
cells, tap the lungs to replenish the oxygen supply, and shoot the
aorta like daredevil surfers. The film took home a well-deserved Oscar
for Best Visual Effects. Director Richard Fleischer, who turned
Disney's 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea into one of the most
riveting submarine adventures of all time, creates a picture so taut
with cold-war tensions and cloak-and-dagger secrecy that niggling
scientific contradictions (such as, how do miniaturized humans breathe
full-sized air molecules?) seem moot.
--Sean Axmaker
|
|
|
 |
The Abyss
The Abyss Special Edition two-disc set has plenty of neat extra
features, but is let down a little by the non-anamorphic 2.35:1
letterboxed picture. Sound, on the other hand, is vivid THX mastered Dolby
5.1. Happily, the first disc contains both the original theatrical cut and
the extended special-edition version. There's a reasonably informative
though inevitably rather dry text-only commentary. The principal extra on
Disc 2 is a 60-minute documentary, "Under Pressure", with retrospective
interviews in which cast and crew detail the extraordinary challenges
involved in making the film, and more than one near-death experience. In
addition there's the complete screenplay, various different pieces on the
effects sequences, storyboards, artwork, DVD-ROM features--in short,
plenty to keep even jaded DVD enthusiasts amused for hours. The menu
interfaces for both discs are a treat and the set comes with a good
12-page booklet. --Mark Walker |
|
