Under the Sea

Edition: DVD Genre:  Documentary  Movie  Music Video - New Age

Editorial review:

Under the Sea is a vivid panoply of still-frame marine life images--turtles, sea cucumbers, sharks, giant jelly fish, anemones, rays, sea snakes, cuttlefish, octopi, and such. The DVD equivalent of a coffee table book, it's subdivided into thematic sections--Reef Dwellers, Aquarium, Underwater Ballet, Slippery Slimy Creatures, and a "Video Loop." Disappointingly, the video loop is actually a slide show and does not include any moving images. Under the Sea does contain a handful of brief video clips, but the frustratingly clunky navigation system makes them difficult to find. This is not something you can pop in the machine, press play, and enjoy. Instead, you click interactively through the various thematic sections and their many subsections, choosing between slide shows, photo galleries, and videos. Often you don't know what type of file something will be until you open it.

When you find them, the video clips have great underwater sound and for a few minutes it's like being submerged in the ocean as sea turtles or giant jelly fish glide gracefully by. If the videos were longer than a few minutes they would make very pleasant viewing, like having a giant aquarium in your home. But they are so brief and the navigation to them so burdensome that this DVD will appeal mostly to the person who wishes they could get the photos from their Encyclopedia of Marine Life to show up on their TV screen. If you want to see more movement, try Coral Sea Dreaming or IMAX - The Living Sea instead. --Tara Chace