Review: Disney offers stunning underwater view with 'Oceans'

“Oceans”
Directed by: Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud
Starring: Pierce Brosnan (narrator)
Rated: G

In conjunction with Earth Day 2009, the film “Earth” was released by Disneynature, a new division of Disney.

While the brand name is new, this isn't the first time the Disney folks have ventured into this territory of film making. In 1953, Disney launched a series called “True Life Adventures.” The first in the series was “The Living Desert,” followed in 1954 by “The Vanishing Prairie.” All in all, the series was six films long, ending in 1959 with “Jungle Cat.”

The second release from Disneynature, released on Earth Day 2010, is “Oceans.”

No one did more to raise awareness of the importance and beauty of the planet's oceans than Jacques Cousteau. In 1950, he founded the French Oceanographic Campaigns and leased a ship called Calypso for a franc a year. From that time through the 1980s, Cousteau developed innovations in diving gear as well as underwater photography equipment and methods. His filmed undersea adventures were groundbreaking and showed us places we would likely had never seen.

Many people think that exploring the depths of the oceans is on par with (or even more important than) space exploration. Despite the fact that water covers about 75 percent of the Earth, we have just skimmed the surface of the wonders and mysteries of the oceans' depths.

Cousteau's work started the ball rolling and it's rolled into the court of two other Jacques - Perrin and Cluzaud - who are to underwater photography what Jimi Hendrix was to the electric guitar. The images in “Oceans” are amazing, breathtaking and utterly beautiful.

The number of hours of film shot for this movie has to be in the several thousands. There are scenes that appear to be staged, but wrangling a school of sardines and a flock of diving sea birds is something that is beyond the realm of possibility, even for the most demanding of directors.

In this case, patience has paid off.

The title encompasses the full environment of the sea, not just the underwater aspects.

We see birds in the air and the prerequisite sea lions, turtles, walruses, penguins and polar bears on land and in the sea. There are other water mammals - dolphins and all manner of whales - which are shown below the surface and exploding above for a breath of air as they leap, twist and turn in a manner that can only make one think of a ballet.

Under the sea, the camera work reaches its zenith. The water is crisp and clear and the physical attributes and colors of the creatures examined are shown up close and beautiful. There are ribbon eels, leafy sea dragons, things that seem to be aquatic vacuum cleaners, others that resemble everything from rocks to living scarves, and all manner of shrimp, some of them quite frightening.

There's an episode featuring two armies of spider crabs. They create a battle scene worthy of any alien science fiction movie ever made. As far as the camera's eye can see, the sea floor is covered with frenzied crabs in a chaotic melee.

There are a few of the expected “reality of the food chain” scenes that for some younger children (and people like me) may be somewhat disturbing. There's nothing too gory, but seeing sea lions snatched up by an orca or newborn baby turtles serving as a smorgasbord for hungry gulls may make the squeamish avert their eyes. But nature is as it is.

“Oceans” finally gets around to pointing out that not all of the waters on Earth are as pristine and vibrant as the ones shown in the film.

It deals with pollution and overfishing for a few brief minutes. I was wondering if the producers would dare to do aerial and underwater shots of what is known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, a mass of mess caught in the northern Pacific. It's been called the world's largest landfill and is estimated to be twice the size of Texas. The film doesn't mention it. As close as it gets is infrared photography from space showing pollution currents flowing out of major rivers and a close up shot of a shopping cart on the sea floor in water that is obviously laden with filth.

The filmmakers wanted to keep “Oceans” upbeat and beautiful to look at, and they succeeded. I'll give them credit for making sure that at the same time, in the voice-over, the importance of the Earth's oceans is stated again and again.

“Oceans” is beautiful to look at, full of interesting content, thought-provoking and awe inspiring. It's a great family film.