The picture's beauty and Cameron's amazing photographic work provide much pleasure. It's just that...there is the feeling we've been there and seen it all before.
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This 2003 documentary motion picture from director James Cameron was originally shown in 3-D on gigantic IMAX theater screens across the country. Although squeezing down the remnants of the Titanic to a television screen in a 1.74:1 ratio and watching it in regular 2-D is a mite disappointing, it's about the best we can hope for. Fortunately, the disc's THX-certified image and sound hold up their part of the deal.
Still, it's not like the theatrical experience. Of course, no home-theater viewing experience is like watching a picture on a big movie screen, but "Ghosts of the Abyss" is something of a special letdown. Despite Cameron's use of the most-modern deep-sea diving equipment, submarines, and remote-controlled undersea cameras, the home screen produces a result not unlike that which a person can see almost any night of the week on the National Geographic, Discovery, Science, History, PBS, Learning, or Nature channels.
This is not to denigrate the film in any way, understand. The picture's beauty and Cameron's amazing photographic work still provide much pleasure. It's just that throughout the documentary there is the feeling that we've been there and seen it all before. But as I say, this is largely because we're watching it on the relatively small home screen and not the giant theater screen on which it was meant to be seen.
Anyway, Cameron is an old hand at filming at sea. "The Abyss" (1989) and "Titanic" (1997) were enormous cinematic sea-story successes, while "Piranha, Part 2" (1981) and "Expedition Bismarck" (2002) also touched upon things in the water. Just keep your hands out of the water while the piranhas are around. It's not such a stretch to understand why Cameron's filming of the wreckage of the Titanic is so good, but I'm not entirely sure it needs to be a must-buy on everybody's DVD want list.
The two-disc DVD set offers the sixty-minute version of the movie as seen in theaters and a newly reconstructed ninety-minute version using additional material not seen in the original. I suppose this is a good idea, but I would question the necessity of the layout. I mean, by simply issuing the extended version alone and then putting an asterisk in the chapter index for the new, appended scenes, the movie would have been good enough for me, especially as it could have freed up the remainder of a single disc for the several bonus items now found on a second disc. But I suppose having two discs in the set is a part of the marketing ploy to sell the DVD package, even though two DVDs seems like more of a prestige thing than a practical matter. In any case, utilizing two discs allows both movie versions to be transferred at a low compression rate and leaves plenty of room on disc two for the few extras the set has to offer.
I watched the ninety-minute extended version, which is prefaced by this statement: "The following film has been significantly modified from its original 3D presentation. Many images have been reformatted for 2D viewing." Fair enough. Now, on with the show.
The movie chronicles Cameron's expedition in 2001 to film the remains of the Titanic, corroding away some 12,500 feet beneath the sea. Employing the latest deep-sea submarines (MIRs), or submersibles, and the latest in remote underwater cameras (ROVs), Cameron gets in and about every nook and cranny of the old luxury liner. A huge lighting chandelier called "Medusa" is lowered down to illuminate much of the outside of the ship, while each of the various underwater exploration vessels has its own high-powered beams.
The result of all his time, labor, and expense is some of the most revealing footage ever shot of the famous wreck. But why, ask the filmmakers, is the Titanic so fascinating to deep-sea explorers and the public alike? They explain it was the biggest ship of its day, it was on its maiden voyage, the president of the company was on board, as was the ship's builder, and there was a boatload of drama as the ship sank slowly into the sea, killing over 1,500 passengers. It's become a legend, and the ship's remains are now a memorial, one that at its present rate of decay on the ocean floor may not last much longer. Therefore, the present movie becomes an important historical document.
While Cameron does a part of the narration himself, one of his stars of "Titanic," Bill Paxton, goes along on the dives as an observer and narrates much of the film, too. Perhaps Paxton is just imitating some of his own movie characters, but as he goes down in the little sub for the first time, he acts typically whiny and worried. I'm not sure his "gee-whiz" attitude and astonishment toward everything he sees is entirely necessary.
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