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Released by: Millennium Entertainment
Released on: November 11, 2014
Directors: John Bruno, Ray Quint, Andrew Wight
Cast: James Cameron, Suzy Amis Cameron, Don Walsh, Andrew Wight, John Garvin, Walt Conti
Year: 2014
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The Movie:
Even as a boy in the 1950s and '60s, James Cameron was obsessed with science and the sea. At the time, humankind was making unparalleled excursions into both the ocean and space. Jacques Cousteau was exploring various parts of the world's waterways; Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard had taken a submersible to the deepest depths of the ocean, the Mariana Trench; and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were headed to the moon. The accomplishments of the space age left an indelible mark on young Cameron, who grew up to become a science fiction filmmaker, one who's vast interest in the ocean fueled the plots of many of his films, from Piranha Part Two: The Spawning to The Abyss, and finally to the most successful film ever made, Titanic. He has also produced and directed such water-logged documentaries as Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep, all of them used as an excuse by Cameron to make his own deep-sea explorations.
James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge not only provides a backdrop to Cameron's abiding interest in the Earth's oceans, it also follows the filmmaker as he leads an Australian research and design company, Acheron Project Pty Ltd., in designing a deep-dive submersible, the 24-feet-long Deepsea Challenger, equipped with various lights, cameras, and exploratory tools with which to record and capture the denizens (and rocks) of the seafloor. The purpose: to not only travel to the Challenger Deep - at approximately 36,000 feet, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, which in turn represents the deepest known part of the hydrosphere - but to fully explore it, something that could not be done when it was first, and very briefly, visited in 1960. Cameron and his team face a number of obstacles, not the least of which is the death of co-director Andrew Wight and fellow filmmaker Mike deGruy in a helicopter accident. They take the Deepsea Challenger to various trenches, each one carefully selected to test its abilities in ever-deepening water and mounting pressure. They experience problems in the five-mile-deep New Britain Trench, located in the Solomon Sea, but once the issues are resolved, they discover several new species of ocean life. The team is now ready to make the dive to Challenger Deep, which lies a whopping seven miles below the ocean's surface. Unfortunately, they make it to the sea above the trench a month later than planned, and the waters are more turbulent than they bargained for. They make the dive anyway in the dead of night, with the result being the discovery of 68 new species of life. But this should not be considered the end; as a note at the end tells us, an area of deep-sea trenches the size of North America awaits exploration.
James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge is an interesting film. While its primary purpose is to document Cameron's solo trip to the ocean floor, it also acts as a science program (no doubt due to the involvement and financial backing of National Geographic), taking short diversions to explain the processes of subduction and volcanism by which tsunamis and earthquakes occur; it also has no shortage of hydrospherical life to examine, much of it never before observed by human eyes. Unfortunately, the buildup to the trip is considerably more interesting than the denouement, which is a bit of a letdown, thanks to the submersible's sudden inability to operate properly. (Such are the challenges of these kinds of explorations.) At 91 minutes, it moves briskly and is never boring, especially for oceanographers or other students of the scientific. The focus is clearly on Cameron, hence his name in the title; but then, the film is about him rather than directed by him.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Millennium Entertainment presents the film in two different versions, 3D and 2D, and the set contains both a BD and a DVD. Both discs include the same special features, and each film is in anamorphic widescreen. Despite the relatively short running time and lack of extras (all of which are under four minutes long), the 1080p Blu-ray is presented on a 50GB disc to allow for fewer compression issues. With an MPEG-4 MVC codec, it allows viewers to watch the film in either 3D or 2D. One negative, however, is that the film automatically plays in 3D when the system is compatible; if a viewer prefers to experience the film in 2D, he or she must put the disc in a non-3D compatible Blu-ray player (or watch the DVD). The 3D version is admittedly superior, with the dimensions just as effective going back into the screen as they are coming off the screen. The effect is most startling in shots that contain a great deal of depth. It dissipates to some degree in cramped shots, but this is to be expected. As is standard with the current technology of the format, colors are rich and detail is superb. Black levels are strong with no evidence of noise. Some reviewers have complained about the noise level in the sequences recreating Walsh and Piccard's original trip to the Mariana Trench, but these scenes are meant to replicate the look of documentary films of the past; therefore, fake grain has been added to give that effect. The DVD represents a loss of the BD's extreme detail, but colors are no less vivid, and the image remains strong nonetheless, showcasing the wonders of the deep.
Viewers are presented with a couple of different sound options. The BD features a lossless English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track as well as an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The 5.1 is the option of choice, thanks to more robust and directional sound, though it should be noted that the film is a documentary, not a science fiction or action/adventure film, and makes only limited use of its aural aspect. Dialogue is front and center and always clear and understandable, while the score remains emphatic but not distracting. The DVD also offers two tracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and English Dolby Digital 2.0. Again, the 5.1 option is the better choice. There are English-language subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired, as well as Spanish subtitles for Hispanic viewers.
Extras include trailers for other Millennium Entertainment releases, including Elsa and Fred, Persecuted, and Stonehearst Asylum. All are presented in 1080p widescreen. A trailer for James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge, running at approximately two and a half minutes in length, is also included. "The Deepest Point in the World" is a short featurette (3:33 minutes) that succinctly summarizes the film's action and was clearly intended as a promotional piece. "An Alien World" runs at 2:14 minutes and features Cameron speaking directly to the camera about his trip to the ocean floor. Shot on lower-grade video and upconverted to hi-def, it's an interesting, albeit much too short, discussion of the hydrosphere and the eyeless animals that live there.
The Final Word:
James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge is a fast-moving documentary about the Canadian filmmaker's dive to the deepest part of the ocean floor. The trip the film takes to get to that dive is chock full of interesting tidbits related to past ocean exploration; Cameron's own trips to visit the Titanic, the Bismarck, and other deep-sea sites; the preparations to visit Challenger Deep; and Cameron's visits to various other trenches. The unfortunate result of piling these interesting things into the film's pre-Challenger Deep visit is that the visit itself cannot - indeed, does not - live up to them. Still, students of documentary filmmaking and/or science-based ocean exploration will find the film worth a look. For those who own a 3D capable set-up, there is no debate as to which version of the film to watch; the 3D looks magnificent. The extras are a bit sparse, but the two short featurettes are interesting and provide a nice support to the main feature.
Note: Per the opening credit sequence, the title of the film is not Deepsea Challenge, as is commonly stated, but James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge.
