Aliens of the Deep (2005)

Fantastic!

Best movie ever!

A Masterpiece!

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

In the wake of the overwhelming success of Titanic, writer-director James Cameron took a break from making traditional Hollywood pictures to pursue his love for deep sea exploration. In the process, we got two IMAX documentaries from Cameron. The first was Ghosts of the Abyss, which followed Cameron and a team of experts as they explored the undersea wreckage of the Titanic. His follow-up documentary, Aliens of the Deep, sees Cameron and a new group of scientists return to the bottom of the ocean; this time to get a glimpse of some of the most remarkable creatures and ecosystems on the planet.Aliens of the Deep is a 47-minute IMAX documentary, originally shown in 3D. It follows a team of explorers comprised of engineers, marine biologists, NASA scientists, and one Oscar-winning filmmaker, as they take a series of high-tech submersibles to the hydrothermal vents at the bottom of ocean. The short length doesn't allow for a developed narrative regarding the team. Instead, we get the condensed highlights of the trip. We meet the crew, see the sights, and speculate on the importance of such missions. Aliens of the Deep mostly serves as something like an extremely big-budget home movie, with James Cameron inviting us to experience all of the best moments of the expedition. However, apart from the documentary footage of the deep sea voyage, there are a few sequences speculating on missions to discover similar underwater life on Jupiter's moon, Europa. These sequences are surprisingly well-animated and engrossing. Cameron suggests that the water under the ice of Europa may harbor life without the need of the sun in the same way that Earth's hydrothermal vents support organisms who thrive at the bottom of the ocean. The possible similarities of Earth and Europa's oceans are the most interesting scientific questions raised in Aliens of the Deep, which otherwise consists of looking at neat underwater scenery and hearing the scientists exclaim, "Wow!", and "Look at that!".That is not to say that the underwater visuals are not often spectacular. While more time than needed is spent looking at the submarine equipment and murky rock formations, there are indeed some incredible sights in Aliens of the Deep. The mysterious silk-like invertebrate, flowing across the glass bubble of Cameron's sub, is a enduring take away from the film. A lot of time is spent on the hydrothermal vents and the massive swarms of shrimp and other sea life that huddle around them. Thankfully, the sheer mystery and sense of discovery keeps these less-than- remarkable sights interesting.There is more than enough in Aliens of the Deep to recommend experiencing. It is well shot, its profiled scientists are colorful real-life characters, it is sometimes engaging on an intellectual level, and it stands as a very cool visual experience. Some may find the space exploration speculation to be a little corny, but I really bought into it. The 99-minute extended version (which I have not seen) no doubt adds context to the team's expedition, but the theatrical version is still worth a look. If you are a James Cameron fan, if you are interested in the mysteries of the deep ocean, or if you just want to take a visual trip somewhere completely new, find the biggest screen possible and see this solid documentary.73/100

"Yeah, hi, this is Jim... Yeah, Cameron... The genius who paired up Winslet and Di Caprio for that awful TITANIC movie... No, Mr.Markowitz, I don't have time to explain why I cast a skinny effeminate nerd, that's not why I called you, I'm a busy man... Listen, I need some scientists for an underwater documentary... A-ha... Charles, John, Mike... Well, no, actually I was thinking more of women, you see. I want this to be a politically correct film, so get me some female marine biologists. That way I have a better shot at getting a prestigious award. Have you got any?... You do? Great. A black- I mean, an African-American girl with Bob Marley hair? Excellent! What's more hip than that!? I'll get her to narrate a bulk of the movie... No, no, nevermind her credentials, I don't need them... She's just a student? Who cares... just send her and the other gals over." In making this solid documentary, James Cameron behaved more like an actor than a director, i.e. someone who is always behind the camera. The major flaw of AOTD is that we see far too many shots of Jim and his dull female science team, and too little of the fascinating deep-ocean creatures which Cameron promised. Who cares to listen to the crews go "wow!" and "unbelievable!" every five minutes? The viewer is supposed to say it or think it, not these dull scientific clowns. The narration sounds flat, usually coming in form of barely audible, weak female voices. One of these narrators is a scientist who actually left her 5-month old infant to be on this expedition. Are we supposed to be impressed by her career ambitions? How very feminist. But I suppose Cameron was so adamant about having nearly all the scientists be women that he didn't even care about separating a mother from her infant.I thought that the focus occasionally shifting on space exploration was a good idea, but there was too little of real scientific info of that nature. Too much screen time goes to waste on showing us the logistical difficulties of sending these subs down - as if anyone apart from engineers cares. Show me a fish with teeth like Edward Fox! That's what it's all about...If you want a truly awe-inspiring documentary on deep-sea critters, check out "The Blue Planet": one of the six episodes delivers what Cameron here only partly manages to do.Perhaps Cameron wants to be the next Jacque Cousteau, who was a self-centered egomaniac who pretended to only care about the preservation of nature when in fact it was exhibitionistic self-promotion that was always in the forefront. Damn, I'm tired of all these hyped-up idealists/humanists getting rich at the expense of our collective naivety.

Cameron is just another director who - like baby - happy with toys. On the another words - technician freak. Cameron excited with submarines, explorer boat etc., filmed with any lack of interest.But, hey, it isn't all, just wait to listen "scientists" comments in this movie. "Wooow's" and "Oooh's" are very scientific comments. The objects of interests (deep sea species) are totally in second plan in this movie. I hope to see something i didn't see yet, but - i was wrong. However, you could find far more better documentary movies with this theme, and far more better directing then James Cameron did in this movie.Generally speaking editing is well done, only what "Wooow's" and "Oooh's" still echoing in my ears... but, it's not enough worth of watching.

Science fiction aficionados were crushed when James Cameron's Titanic soared both critically and in the box office. Sore that the director of Terminator, Aliens and True Lies would turn to a historical romance flick, fans were quick to find a new science fiction film by the Canadian director would not come for a long while. His new love was the sea, and riding on the success of the terrific (yes, I said it) Titanic, he went on to direct documentary features on the Bismarck and a return to the Titanic. When Aliens of the Deep was announced, initial hopes seemed to tie the title to science fiction. This new Aliens is actually another undersea exploration documentary made for IMAX dealing with the fantastic creatures that live in the depths of the Atlantic and Pacific; creatures that live without sunlight and feed off the heat of volcanic activity. The prospect of strange animals and Cameron's expert directorial skills are an attractive combination that leads to one of the biggest documentary letdowns of the year.Originally shown in IMAX theaters, Aliens of the Deep takes marine biologists and NASA scientists to the very depths of the Atlantic and the Pacific. The footage of undersea volcanic activity and the creatures that live without sunlight are awe-inspiring. In fact, the images of satin-like creatures made me go "wow" more than once; this was a reaction I realized was not required, as the marine biologists and NASA scientists were saying the same things on film. One would think a marine biologist might try to explain to viewers what kinds of creatures are on screen, to attempt to demystify the creatures and lend a sense of documentary to the film. Unfortunately, the constant "wows" and "oohs" by Cameron's crew are akin to the reactions seen in Saturday morning kids documentaries on how equipment at construction yards work. For the brief 45 minutes of film, only a minute portion is dedicated to showing the magnificent creatures, and barely any is given in trying to scientifically explain what they are.Aliens of the Deep ends with the hope that missions such as these on Earth will advance technology to deal with extreme conditions on other planets. The quick shift in focus from those deep-sea creatures to a project proposal for a mission to Europa is confusing and not conducive to the structure of the "documentary". While space travel is an intriguing subject, the purpose of this film was to document some little-before-seen animals in our seas, and not speculate on what could or could not be found on distant planets. In the end, Aliens of the Deep would have made for a decent hour-long special on the Discovery network, but shows little promise as a documentary feature. Those interested in marine biology will find little value in Cameron's latest besides some stunning imagery. Those used to entertaining and informative documentaries will also be disappointed by this outing. (4/10 Below Average)