The Film
What exactly is the ocean? What is the sea?
Some of those answers lie in Oceans, a dazzling documentary that marks another notch in Disneynature's belt. Theatrically released in time for 2010's Earth Day, this is actually the third Disneynature venture (if you count Earth). It's also its best.
Former James Bond Pierce Brosnan narrates this underwater story, which combines over 50 underwater locations and years of filming. In just 84 minutes, we are treated to a slew of sea creatures, both cute and creepy. Viewers will literally float from subject to subject, with a peek at each one's circle of life. Then, once you really start to get attached to these creatures, the last part of the film gets a little preachy, showing how humans are the deadliest of all underwater predators.
Don't let that last portion deter you from the glory of Oceans. Co-directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud previously worked together on the Oscar-nominated documentary, Winged Migration, so the film's stunning quality is no surprise. We're expecting the duo to score another nomination for this beautiful peek at a part of the world most will never get to see up so close.
The Picture
Oceans is truly an eye-popping experience. From the opening of the film, viewers will know that they are in for a visual treat. As an iguana swims to the surface, you can catch every scale, every prickly piece, and even every spray of water he spouts as he comes ashore. From there, the film spends most of its time underwater, but the 2.40:1 transfer is as crystal clear as the water itself. Watching this film will make you feel like you're looking into a giant aquarium -- one with every sea creature imaginable.
Aside from the sheer volume of subjects in the film, there's a lot to look at here. Whether viewing fish, sea lions, crabs, birds, boats or underwater shopping carts, the detail is stellar to say the least. Scales, fins, sand, and even the expression-filled eyes of each creature all make this a demo-worthy disc.
The Sound
Disney has managed to match the image of Oceans with the perfect DTS-HD Master Audio track. It is a truly an immersive experience, which involves every creature and every speaker in the room. While there are plenty of moments with waves crashing and critters making various noises, one especially interesting scene is where seagulls and dolphins go diving for schools of scattering fish. The flapping, diving and other sounds is really one of the best water shows we've ever seen.
The Extras
Disney has attached an extremely slim selection of extras with Oceans. The Blu-ray's lone featurette is a mere eight minutes covering conservation. Well, it's actually less than a minute about conservation and seven minutes discussing how Disney is involved in it. They cover the company's donations, its films, tree-planting efforts, grant money, the Animal Kingdom theme park, how Disney stars get involved, blah blah blah. It's boring and serves no value except to someone thinking of working for Disney. The second "bonus" is a music video featuring Disney stars Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas, who had absolutely nothing to do with the movie. Also, it seems like the video is poorly placed, considering the film's target audience.
The best items come from BD Live, which is called the "Living Menu" here. This invites disc owners to pop in Oceans periodically, to peek at habitats and marine life in different regions around the globe. Navigate through the Living Menu, click on flashing spots, and you'll get a little tidbit or video about that area. The items are interesting, but fleeting. However, Disney says that the Living Menu will rotate every month.
The set also includes a standard-def copy of the movie. This has five additional minutes of extras, which cover people's thoughts about the ocean and the actual film's production process. Despite what it says on the back of the Blu-ray case, Disney did not include either of these two shorts on the Blu-ray disc.
Final Thoughts
Oceans is an absolutely gorgeous movie. It's well-made and extremely interesting. Disney may have skimped on the extras, but it doesn't even matter. This is demo-worthy material that you'll want as a permanent part of your collection.
Product Details
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