Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Powerful

People are voting emotionally.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

When I first heard about this, I was intrigued, I had been interested in the Titanic long before the movie came out and underwater exploration of the shipwreck had always been fascinating to me. I finally got my hands on the DVD of this documentary and well I was blown away by the stuff they showed from INSIDE the ship, it was a pity that they didn't show more, because they could've easily omitted parts where they were on the Keldysh and the poorly recreated scenes from the ship.All in all, this was good and showed some stuff I haven't seen before, but if you really want to see better footage of the shipwreck inside and out I'd recommend other documentaries that are in the same line as this one. But yet it was still interesting, light-hearted and mind blowing to see the condition of the ship itself.

Wow! What can I, say about this movie that it won't say about itself half way thru? Starting at the end and working back the first thing I, take issue with is the dedication at the end credits "To Walter Lord" the one human who strove to explore and find the truth about the wreck of the Titanic and all things related to it (his uncle was captain of the California, the ships captain charged with not coming to the aide of the Titanic, finally cleared of the charges after his death).From the horrible computer generated graphics that are supposed to be the rovers inside the Titanic, to the stupid computer generated portholes showing the actors inside the diving equipment this work of fiction, sprinkled with just enough facts to make it try to appear genuine is overworked overacted and not very truthful. At the very least its not very accurate. The most humane thing I, can do is to tell anyone reading this that if you want a more accurate and truthful representation of the events of that night simply go to the store and get a copy of Walter Lords "A night to remember" it may be black and white but it does get to the truth of the matter. If you want to find out about what happened to the ship since it sank I, would suggest the A&E movie "Titanic: Death of a dream" with Dr. Robert Ballard, Walter Lord, The living (at the time) survivors of the shipwreck and narrated by David McCallum. Since i'm spouting off about this movie and making recommendations about other movies your probably asking what do I, know about it? Simple, I've studied this ship and dreamed of raising it since I, was a child in the 1960's of course these dreams were dashed when Dr. Ballard found the wreck in pieces. I, never gave up reading and researching this and other shipwrecks.

If this were James Cameron's slideshow of his ocean vacation, we would all agree he did a great job. Unfortunately, this collection of nice pictures doesn't work well as a film. Moreover, the incredibly high technology that enables remote cameras to drop two miles to the sea floor without imploding is not matched by state-of-the-art 3D imagery. To fit in their sardine cans, the 3D cameras used for this film had to be very, very small, and they had to use extreme wide-angle lenses. The result is that, notwithstanding the IMAX format, the scale ends up feeling small. There are a number of shots of the giant, four-story tall engines that powered the Titanic, still intact at the bottom of the ocean. Amazing! These things should take your breath away. Somehow, they don't in this presentation. You just don't get a feel for their size. Also, the blue/red 3D technology borrowed from the 1950s is not in the same league as the new polarized 3D technology used in, for example, the most recent Space Shuttle IMAX film. Disappointing. Also, Bill Paxton was not the right choice (yes, I get the whole "life imitating art" thing, but he added exactly nothing to this film). Rod Serling's narrations for the Cousteau films were interesting because, well, he was Rod Serling, but also because he had interesting things to say. You didn't hear Rod saying "look at that" or "wow" or "I can't believe we're really here." Finally, a crew member describes seeing an object on the ship that really brings home the humanity of the tragedy. Do we get to see the object (I am not identifying it here so as not to spoil this part of the film)? No. A waste. Now the good: the computer graphics are terrific, the reenactions are good, and the lighting, expert commentary, and photography are engaging enough to remind us of how many souls were lost in the Titanic disaster, the heroism and cowardice along the way, and how terribly sad and unnecessary the loss of life really was. Worth seeing, despite its flaws.

This movie is quite good, but it's not for everybody. The main story line is "going to see the Titanic". If that doesn't interest you, don't see it. If that would bore you after ten minutes, don't see it.On the other hand, if watching incredible visually stunning footage of the Titanic does interest you, then this is your movie. The occasional overlay of old photographs is very helpful for understanding what we're looking it. I wanted this movie to go on longer.My only criticism is that I disagree with some of Cameron's interpretations of historical events.(WARNING, MINOR SPOILER AHEAD)For example it is a fact that one single passenger reported overhearing a conversation between Captain Smith and Bruce Ismay in which Ismay insisted that the ship go faster. But does that mean the conversation actually took place? Cameron describes the conversation as fact. In reality, we don't know.In summary, I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in simply viewing the Titanic in its underwater grave.