Deepsea Challenge 3D

Deepsea Challenge 3D (2014)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: John Bruno/Ray Quint/Andrew Wight

Starring: This is a documentary and most of the focus is on James Cameron

From: National Geographic Entertainment

Here's a review that'll be on the short side. It's about a documentary that I literally discovered was a thing last night and it's in limited release in a little more than 300 theatres across the country. I was interested and it did fit into my plans so I checked it out and I ended up liking it enough to give it 3 ½ stars out of 5 on Letterboxd. After the IMDb plot synopsis, the Letterboxd review.

“DEEPSEA CHALLENGE 3D follows the dramatic story of James Cameron's odyssey as he undertakes an expedition to the deepest part of the ocean. This is a journey of historic proportion and risk. The film will mesmerize viewers of all ages with the thrill of true discovery and the allure of the unknown, of new life forms, and of vistas never before captured on camera - all right here on planet Earth.”

While I did hear a few years ago about how James Cameron created his own personal submarine and for the first time in history went down 7 miles (11 kilometers) down to the deepest part of the ocean and was able to explore it, I literally only discovered last night when looking through movie listings that in limited release was a 3D documentary about this expedition so I was intrigued and I wanted to check it out.

Note that it's more about the preparation for such an unprecedented thing rather than what you see while down at those depths; then again, not to spoil anything but there's no real wildlife down that deep, at least not that you can see with the naked eye. I was OK with that as I am a nerd and I was interested in how they prepared and all the practice runs they did and how there were problems along the way but it got fixed and there was only a relatively minor issue on the big dive itself.

As for Cameron himself, as he was the executive producer it's no surprise he was always shown in the best light. Although, a few times members of his crew alluded to his infamous reputation of being demanding at times and not always being the easiest person to work with/for. Still, it was a documentary I enjoyed for the 3D visuals, the interesting deep sea creatures you do get to see, the interesting tale, and how it was clear that for most of his life, James Cameron has had the strongest interest in exploring the world's oceans.

I'll return Sunday night.