The masterpiece mini-series Planet Earth ushered a new era of technology and technique of filmmaking in the world of animal and life-based documentaries. After years of effort and a much heavier budget than your average documentary, Planet Earth set the benchmark for cinematographers and any programming about animals for years to come. Disney enters the mix by attempting to revive the Real-Life Adventure series that delivered Walt Disney multiple Academy Awards and also put the company on the map on yet another type of entertainment. Earth was Disney’s first new-generation foray into family-appealing documentaries. Well, this Earth Day we receive what just might become the greatest work of documentary since Planet Earth years upon years ago. Four years in the making, Oceans contains some of the best footage ever displayed on the big screen. While it doesn’t educate much in the sense of Planet Earth, the dazzling footage more than makes up for the lack of facts.
In Oceans, we follow the five different oceans of the world and the animals that inhabit it and maneuver around them. Narrated by Pierce Brosnan, the film flows from one creature to another with a backdrop of soothing European instrumental music supporting the images. You’ll see the usual lovely whales, dolphins, seals, walruses, but then see creatures rarely before (sometimes never before) seen on film: including blue whales, sheep fish, and much more. Over 50 different locations were used in the filming of this documentary, with some locations obviously requiring weeks to months of patience to deliver the right footage.
Money Shot is a slang term in film which describes a difficult-to-create sequence that tries to sell the film. Let’s just say that Oceans has at least a dozen of those. Some things displayed on screen are no magnificent, so beautiful, so mesmerizing, you almost question the authenticity of it all. The cynic in me finds it sometimes hard to believe that the French filmmakers and cinematographers were able to capture footage of whales, sharks, dolphins, and birds all feeding on the same schools of fish at the same time; or come up with footage of dozens of dolphins leaping out of the water and flipping multiple times before landing again. Or even thousands of crabs fighting against each other in the bottom of the ocean. These are just small examples of the incredible moments of nature that you get to see throughout the too-short 85 minutes. There are other examples but I refuse to reveal for the sake of not spoiling; let’s just
say there’s a sequence involving a deadly storm and its capabilities.
In order to fully appreciate and receive the full entertainment value of this beautiful display of nature, you must see it on the big screen. Unlike the previous Disneymentary Earth, Oceans slows very well, is edited much tighter, and doesn’t jump all over the place. Then there’s the superior soundtrack, superior narration, and superior amount of footage. They range from fearsome, to beautiful; to sometimes even sentimental (the scene with the walrus will water your eyes). Walt Disney would be absolutely proud of this work, even if technically Disney wasn’t responsible for the actual film. The overseas team headed by Jacques Perrin (responsible for Winged Migration) deserves all the credit for the effort given and the result.
Bottom Line: Oceans may be a movie merely displaying the beauty of the oceans and what lies underneath, but this film is far too gorgeous for you to avoid. If you have any affection towards nature and the millions of stories carried underneath it, you must see this movie while it has its short run in movie theaters nationwide. The footage is amazing, the images are spectacular, and the overall production is nearly flawless. It is a beautiful documentary for the ages, and hopefully will pave the way for more films with as much effort as this one. With four years to craft the quintessential film about animals, this all paid off magnificently. If you love animals, watching this is a major requirement, not even a recommendation.
Enjoy the movie. Save the oceans.
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