Ghosts of the Abyss Review
Summary: James Cameron and Bill Paxton, director and actor of the 1997 film Titanic, travel to the final undersea resting place of the fated ship of dreams.
- Starring: Bill Paxton, Lori Johnston, Lewis Abernathy
- Director: James Cameron
- Writer: James Cameron
- Rating: G
- Runtime: 1h 1m
- 3D Type: Native
Story:
Ghosts of the Abyss is a documentary that focuses on the sinking of the Titanic. This film follows several people who were onboard at the time of the disaster and their stories of how they escaped death. While this movie is not an action-packed drama like many other films out there today, it tells one of history’s most famous tragedies in an interesting way that will keep viewers engaged throughout its runtime.
Ghosts of the Abyss is about one of the most well-known disasters in history, I found the movie itself very moving, especially with all of the personal stories intertwined into it.
3D
This is the short documentary film that started it all for James Cameron, in terms of focusing on 3D technology. Cameron and Hollywood inventor Vince Pace, created the ‘Fusion’ camera system, consisting of two Sony HDC-F950 HD cameras 2½ inches apart to mimic human eyes. He set the groundwork for what he would go on seven years later to release the behemoth that is Avatar. Here it is amazing how close they are able to get to the wreck in the submarines, within an arm’s distance or two, and capture some pretty incredible 3D footage.
Pop:
There are a couple of moments where the 3D really pops out at the viewer. For example, a metallic arm-clamp machine pointing at the screen and clamping at your face. It feels gimmicky, however, and there’s not much pop here.
Depth:
The imagery is razor-sharp and crisp for the technology that they were using at the time. Whilst exploring the ship, the depth and distance really showcase what a behemoth the Titanic was. There’s a scene when they are looking up at the two engines and they describe them as like ‘giant sphinxs’, in comparison to the little bot sitting next to it.
The 3D technology makes use of overlaying still images, videos, and CGI, over one another, helped by the depth of field, you get to experience the shipwreck and the ship itself in its former glory, whilst stories are being told.
It does get a bit murky and dark, however, as they are shooting footage 12,000 feet underwater and quality takes a hit when they switch over to the mini ‘bot’ submarines cameras
Verdict:
Ghosts of the Abyss is definitely worth a watch. The documentary in 3D was great and even those who do not usually enjoy documentaries will enjoy this one. It’s pretty remarkable the impact the tragic story of the Titanic has had, after all this time.
Category | Scores |
---|---|
Story: | ★★★★★ |
Pop: | ★★ |
Depth: | ★★★★ |
TOTAL SCORE: | 11/15 |