You've seen nature documentaries before but never any so strikingly beautiful as this.It's a tour of the oceans, top and bottom, tropical and arctic. I have no idea of how the crew could have gotten some of these startlingly revealing shots. How, for instance, do you get close enough to a polar bear to film its attempt to catch a beluga whale without disturbing the bear itself? I mean, the bear can't be blind! Telephoto lenses, yes, but these images are crisp and clear, as if shot from ten feet away.It's less "academic" than it is an aesthetic experience. No scientific names. Pierce Brosnan's sparse narration keeps us abreast of what we're watching and what's going on. That pile of big pebbles is actually a group of emperor penguins huddled together for warmth against the antarctic blizzard. You wouldn't know it without the narration, except that every once in a while a penguin's head pops up out of the gray pile and glances around for a few seconds.The musical score is as lyrical and majestic as the visual imagery, which may be good or not so good, but it never becomes cloying. It resembles Debussy as impressionist, all about nature and movement. If this had appeared in, say, 1968, the weed heads would have flocked to it. But these days they're all grown up and don't need to alter their state of consciousness to appreciate what they're witnessing. The film itself will take care of that.It's in no way a tree-hugger movie. Well, Brosnan's narration ends with a question. Are we in the process of destroying this before we've come to understand it? It's a legitimate and completely non-political query.

This is one of the most beautifully and artistically done nature films I have ever seen in my lifetime. Rarely do I ever see a nature film in the theater. I will generally just rent the video, but I completely and wholly regret not seeing this one in the theater. Once I did see it by rental, I had to own it. Rarely do I ever purchase nature films for my home library, but this was an absolute must. I have brought this DVD to gatherings, where I knew we'd be there for several hours, and I'd pop this in in one of the rooms where people would be going in and out of. It completely mesmerized so many people, to where they went out and purchased the DVD also. They could have completely omitted the shark/seal scene, however, but that is the only complaint I have, which is minor. Do see this, you will not regret it.

Saturday June 4, 11:00am Egyptian Theater Monday June 6, 7:15pm Neptune TheaterDeep Blue reveals an underwater world filled with unusual and unexpected creatures. Breathtaking images of dolphins, whales, vast schools of jellyfish, deep ocean creatures that defy imagination seeming to surge with neon light and coral reefs are interspersed with rather standard nature footage. A cheesy symphonic score and unnecessary narration doesn't help either. A far cry from Winged Migration meets Finding Nemo, but entertaining and exquisitely beautiful for the most part. Some content might be rather frightening for very small children. There were many little ones in tow for this Saturday morning show but no tears or other hysterics I was aware of. Thoroughly entertaining, just don't forget your earplugs.

Mostly this film is good. There are problems with the content though. There is a general discontinuity within the film. It is cut in what seems like a hurry - random shots of this or that dolphin in between this or that albatross (why are there so many dolphins in this!).I would say that it is a "pretty picture" kind of film rather than any kind of film regarding the details of nature or biology. I learnt nothing new from this film.I don't know why they even try to "enhance" the visual experience with such dynamic music - all this can ever really do is skew the experience. How can you possibly improve the visual qualities of a film like this with music? They did not really succeed here. At times, I was embarrassed to be in the cinema as it felt a lot like a Disney movie.The sound designer should take a good hard look in the mirror. "Wow! These deep sea creatures look like something from Venus or Neptune! I'll add these Star Trek samples when it flaps it's fin - I'm a genius!". BBC has lost some credibility in this aspect...Oh, and what the hell is that bit with the crabs?!