Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Coral Reef Adventure Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Sir Terrence December 16, 2008

Coral Reef Adventure is the third installment of oceanic, ecologically themed IMAX films produced by MacGillivray/Freeman Company, and it introduces us to Husband and Wife team Howard and Michele Hall. Howard is not new to the IMAX format; having director two IMAX films himself (Island of Sharks and Into the Deep Journey). On this journey Howard and Michele escort us to the ocean depths to educate us on the coral reefs, the sea creatures that inhabit them, and the symbiotic nature between them. They also teach us how the coral reefs can benefit humans as a source of medicine. They walk us through the process of planning a 10 month expedition through the islands of the South Pacific to explore the declining reefs, and the failing health of the earth’s oceans. They explain the dangers of deep sea diving, as illustrated by their story of Howard getting the bends, and nearly not recovering from the incident. Later in the film they take a deep dive of 350ft, and while on that dive that camera folds under the crushing pressure of the water at that depth.

A friend of Howard and Michele Hall who lives in Fiji suddenly notices his reef is dying off, and calls upon the team to help him discover why. Howard and Michele begin to plan the expedition which will include not only the trip to Fiji, but to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as well. They need to get an example of what a healthy coral reef looks like, what kind of sea creatures inhabit them, and what mechanism keep the reef healthy. The Great Barrier Reef is full of creatures large and small, gorgeous colorful fish species, large fish, crabs, usual looking fish, all working together to keep each other healthy. They return back to Fiji to look at what is causing those reefs to die away. A few things they discover are the oceans temperature has increase two degree’s, and there is severe over fishing. Another thing they discover is logging around the streams on the island is allowing a lot of silt into the ocean, which chases away the animal needed to feed the coral reef. Armed with this information the Hall’s friend set out to change the islanders’ actions that can alter the coral habitat, and affects the creatures that live in them.

Coral Reef Adventure Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Coral Reef Adventure floats on to the Bluray format with a gorgeous 1080p/AVC encode framed at 1:78:1 which completely fills the screen with beautiful underwater images. The film overall has a very wide visual dynamic range from white whites, to deep dark blacks. Images are always clean and clear, with even the darkest murky water visuals showing up with stunning clarity. Colors are just vividly breath taking and well saturated, contrasting the deep blue water with beautiful colorful fish that are all over the color palette. There is no smearing or I could not detect any instance of edge enhancement, pixilation, or any other digital artifacts throughout this short film.

Coral Reef Adventure Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dts-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio is featured on this release, and while not sound effects driven, it sounds quite good. Featuring the music of Crosby, Stills and Nash blended with tribal island music the sound is a little bright, but overall very balanced. The tilt towards the high end really accentuates the leading edge transients of the plucked guitar, giving it a very percussive sound. The 360 degree sound field is well used, with great phantom imaging on the side and rear walls. Occasionally singing will appear spread across the back wall, with music up front, but all tied together seamlessly. The LFE is not used, so all of the bass is spread in the three front channels, with an occasional dip down to 50 Hz or so in the surrounds. Panning is dead accurate, and smooth as glass. Whether moving left to right or front to back, there is never jumping or holes in the sound field. Dialog is the only thing in the center channel, so it is always clear and natural. Just like all IMAX releases, this sound track sound very good, and supports the images extremely well.

Coral Reef Adventure Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Making of Documentary (30 minutes) Like other IMAX features, there is an excellent 30 minute documentary which offers interviews with the filmmakers, additional information on the reef and its creatures, and detail on deep sea diving. There is also additional information on Howard getting the bends on a deep sea dive, and how terrifying the event really was for him and his wife. As with other IMAX films, this documentary is excellent, in depth, and really opens the eyes to how difficult it is to film an IMAX feature under water.

IMAX Trailers are trailers of other IMAX films in HD

Featurette: MacGillivray/Freeman films

Film Trivia Quiz is a text quiz that asks questions on the content of the film.

Coral Reef Adventure Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Like all of the IMAX movies I have reviewed I really enjoyed watching this educational and visually stimulating documentary. The cinematography is excellent, and the overall production is consistent with all of the IMAX films brought to the Bluray format. If you are into beautiful images, great music, and the chance to learn about coral reefs, this title comes highly recommended and a must buy.