DEEP BLUE

Year: 2003
USA: Miramax Films
UK: Optimum Releasing
Cast: Michael Gambon (narrator)
Directors: Andy Byatt; Alastair Fothergill
Countries: UK / Germany
USA: 97 mins
UK: 91 mins
USA Rated: G
UK Certificate: PG contains mild natural predatory animal violence
USA Release Date: 17 June 2005
UK Release Date: 18 June 2004


Synopsis

DEEP BLUE is a major new documentary feature film shot by the BBC Natural History Unit, by the same team that, together with Discovery, produced the BBC television series THE BLUE PLANET. DEEP BLUE is an epic cinematic 'rollercoaster' ride whose images will mesmerise viewers with their beauty and stun them with their grandeur. Intensifying the film's impact is a new, full orchestral score composed specifically for DEEP BLUE by five-time Oscar nominee George Fenton (GANDHI, CRY FREEDOM) and recorded by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra ­ their first ever recording of a film score. The film is narrated by acclaimed film and stage actor Michael Gambon.

One of the most singular and comprehensive projects ever undertaken in the field of documentary filmmaking, DEEP BLUE plunges the audience into the spectacle of the seas and takes it on a journey from the shallowest coral reefs to the barren shores of the Antarctic, from the vast stretches of the open ocean to the nocturnal landscapes of the ocean's deepest chasms. Director Alastair Fothergill comments: "We take you to a world you have never seen before, to what I believe is genuinely the last frontier on our planet."

Despite the fact that the sea constitutes two-thirds of our planet, we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the deep oceans. Now, for the first time ever, it is possible to explore a world few have ever seen. From the familiar to the unknown, DEEP BLUE reveals the sea and its communities at their most enchanting, alluring and fierce. Directors Alastair Fothergill and Andy Byatt assembled 20 specialised camera teams, shot over 7, 000 hours of footage in more than 200 locations around the world for more than 5 years, and descended as far as 5000 meters in the most powerful submersible crafts. New species of ocean dwellers were discovered, and many photographed for the first time ever.

The makers of the successful BBC series THE BLUE PLANET have selected the most stunning images and the most captivating sequences, together with new and unseen footage, to create an unforgettable cinematic experience. Scenes filmed specifically for a big-screen version create a documentary event movie for all ages.