IMAX Coral Reef Adventure (2003)

Index
Joy. Ecstasy. A spiritual high. These words describe the xhilaration of diving pristine coral reef in coral Reef Adventure. Ocean explorers Howard and Michele Hall turn their love for the ocean and their concern for the future of the world's coral reefs into action. With Jean-Michel Cousteau, deep reef scientist Richard Pyle and Fijian diver Rusi Vulakoro, the Halls explore and capture on film the dazzling und rwater world of coral reefs, magical places here on Earth. The lilting music of the South Pacific, in a tropical blend with Crosby, Stills & Nash, will surprise and delight you. Expect to laugh - expect to fall in love with the reefs - and expect your heart to ache at the tragic, irretrievable loss of these fragile worlds. Very few movies change our world view. This is one of those few.

Coral Reef Adventure follows the real-life expedition of ocean exploreres and underwater filmmakers Howard and Miohele Hall. Using large-format cameras, the Halls guide us to the islands and sun-drenched waters of the South Pacific to document the health and beauty of coral reefs.
Peter's DVD rating: 2.0 stars
Despite the hokey plot about a Fijian native asking the filmmakers to find out why "his" reef is dying, this film does manage to offer a few pearls of education, though some facts are simply stated without explanation: "coral reefs have been going strong for 60 million years". Rusi teaches us that we should share the ocean's bounties since "corals share the same stomach" - except corals are acoelomates and do not even have a body cavity, much less an organ such as a stomach. In fact, if you watch David Attenborough's "Coral Seas" from the "Blue Planet" series instead, you can learn that coral polyps actually compete with each other over territory. Another oversimplified soundbite about coral ecology claims that without the Convict Tang to eat the algae, the reefs would die; again the "Coral Seas" offers a more dynamic view of how these fish compete for rerources with other creatures of the reef. This film looks too much like a glorifed vacation shoot: "this is me in a hang glider... me in a lightweight aircraft... me talking to a scientist... me posing with a Potato Cod... me with a cleaner shrimp in my mouth... me with the indigenous people...", and of course "me lugging fancy diving equipment... me in a hospital recovering from the bends...". The climax: will they find the Gray Reef Sharks at Rangiroa Atoll? Don't hold your breath until they reach the famous Tiputa Pass! My ancient classroom computer froze up trying to play disc 2.
8:20Great Barrier Reef: Giant Potato Cod protected by laws 8:45 Convict Tangs nibble seaweed from corals 9:40Christmas Tree Worm
9:45 Goby? lives in burrow of near-sighted Bulldozer Shrimp 10:55 Cleaner Wrasse feeds on parasites in mouth of Giant Potato Cod 12:30Helper algae live inside coral animals, driven out by high temperatures - coral bleaching
16:35 Common Octopus survives by trapping crustaceans with its "tent" (Fiji) 18:00 Silt in river from logging 19:40 Mangrove? roots trap silt
21:35 Coral polyps share "stomach" 23:35 Yellow Damselfish guards eggs before they hatch 23:40 Sea Cucumber filters waste from water
35:25Reef/island succession leading to an atoll 37:00 Parrotfish males fight over territory (Rangiroa Atoll) 39:15 Gray Reef Sharks (Tiputa Pass)
Epinephelus_tukula.jpg
8:20 Potato Cod
Acanthurus_triostegus.jpg
8:45 Convict Tangs
Gobiidae.jpg
9:45 Goby?
Alpheus.jpg
9:45 Bulldozer Shrimp
Labroides.jpg
10:55 Cleaner Wrasse
CORAL-BLEACH.JPG
12:30 coral bleaching
Octopus_vulgaris.jpg
16:35 Common Octopus
RIVER-SILT.JPG
18:00 Silt in river
Mangal.jpg
19:40 Mangrove?
CORAL-POLYPS.JPG
21:35 Coral polyps
Amblyglyphidodon_aureus.jpg
23:35 Yellow Damselfish
Holothuroidea.jpg
23:40 Sea Cucumber
ATOLL.JPG
35:25 atoll
Scaridae.jpg
37:00 Parrotfish
Carcharhinus_amblyrhynchos.jpg
39:15 Gray Reef Sharks
Index Jan 19, 2006 copyleft Peter Chen