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Review Audience Will Dive Deep into Newest IMAX Film

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 February 2006, 18:00 CST

By stephanie mccormack

Imagine finding life buried under layers of ice on a distant moon millions of light years away. Believe it or not, some scientists on Earth hope to do just that by first traveling several miles beneath the ocean's surface.

The latest IMAX movie, Aliens of the Deep, shows a research team and a captivated audience that the vast underwater darkness and some 6-foot worms with blood-red plumes living within it may hold the key to finding life on another planet.

Oscar-winning film director James Cameron teams up with marine biologists and NASA scientists to explore the Mid-Ocean Ridge, a submerged chain of mountains that band the earth and are home to some of the planet's most bizarre life forms. The film offers the idea that creatures living at the bottom of the ocean may one day be linked with other life in the universe, because the deepest points of the ocean are believed to resemble Europa, an ice-covered moon of Jupiter. Scientists theorize that oceans exist beneath the ice and contain life.

For Cameron and the scientists, the journey is more than just scientific work; it is also an adventure of personal discovery. As with other Cameron films such as The Abyss and Titanic, the director is able to combine his passions for filmmaking and exploration.

In a 45-minute trip into deep sea-space, the crew encounters some underwater volcanoes and many creatures, including a plethora of shrimp, alien-like jellyfish and possibly one of the ugliest fish ever seen. A high definition camera was used to capture this phenomenon, and IMAX's outrageously enormous format causes the strange creatures and extravagant landscapes to pop off the screen.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of Aliens of the Deep is the discovery that life down below must work with a different set of nature's rules. For example, some of the creatures survive using super-heated mineral-charged water, provided by hydrothermal vents, rather than light or organic food matter.

Packed full of knowledge about our ocean, as well as the creatures that live in it, this movie is for anyone who has ever been curious about what lies deep and secluded from light. And it makes a pretty good argument that if life exists where you least expect it on Earth, the possibility it exists elsewhere in the solar system isn't so inconceivable.stephanie.mccormack@jack- sonville.comif you goTicket prices and movie times may vary, call (904) 940-IMAX or visit www.wgv.com/imax for more information. The IMAX Theater at World Golf Village is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Source: Florida Times Union

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