IMAX director Greg MacGillivray's 2003 film, Coral Reef Adventure, follows the exploits and crusades of the husband and wife underwater filmmaking duo of Howard and Michelle Hall as they embark on a ten-month expedition of the world's most vibrant and endangered coral reefs. Beginning at the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast, the Halls explore the vast underwater ecosystem and the scores of wildlife that thrive off of it. Traveling on throughout a number of the South Pacific's most
spectacular reefs, the filmmakers also visit some reefs on the verge of extinction, making the sobering point that an entire reef's death occurs very quickly, while its creation takes thousands of years. Coral Reef Adventure marks the third oceanic, ecologically-themed IMAX film from MacGillivray, following The Living Sea and Dolphins. Also featured in the film are famed sea explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau (son of the pioneering oceanographer Jacques Cousteau) and noted ichthyologist Richard Pyle. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi
Part amusement park ride, part public service announcement, Coral Reef Adventure is most effective when doing what Imax movies do best: transporting audiences to unusual places they might not otherwise visit.
Lots of very pretty images with lots of dazzling colors. There is also an element of science. The trouble is, science and environmentalism don't mix that well.
Remarkable undersea footage, most of it starring fish and coral so unusually shaped and brightly colored that one has to remind oneself that they're real.
Explores coral reefs around the Pacific Ocean with a dazzling and sometimes irritating variety of computer graphics, brilliant nature photography and jarring sound effects straight out of Finding Nemo.
As beautiful as it often is to watch, Coral Reef Adventure ultimately comes off as a bit too kid-friendly and faux-inspirational, which is kind of a drag.
Can be enjoyed simply as a spectacular South Seas travelogue with superb underwater footage. Its environmental warnings are an added and important bonus.
Coral Reef Adventure is a heavyweight film that fights a good fight on behalf of the world's endangered reefs -- and it lets the pictures do the punching.
The large-frame IMAX camera lends itself beautifully to filming the teeming life on the reefs, making this gorgeous film a must for everyone from junior scientists to grown-up fish lovers.
"We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children."If the DVD cover of this film doesn't sell you, you probably won't enjoy the flick. It really is just pretty Coral Reef scenery with a "Save the Earth" message. I particularly enjoyed it because it hits all the right chords for me: visuals,
music, marine biology, etc.
Fascinating, thought provoking and very interesting. Beautifully photographed, a lot of effort went into it and it shows. My only gripe is the personal dramatics, they don?t seem to fit with the nature of the documentary.
No quotes approved yet for Coral Reef Adventure. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Coral Reef Adventure'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
