Release Date: February 13, 2009

(out of 4)

Coming out of "Under the Sea 3D" you might be so floored that you may wish that an IMAX film like this would gross $100 million dollars. Such a phenomenal success would boost more IMAX films to get made that will go to the far and beyond reaches of our planet. This exotic marine exploration reminds one that an IMAX experience can often be better than a regular movie, enveloping us in the most fantastic locations in the world and letting us see new creatures and new environment for the very first time.

The 70mm IMAX theaters are the biggest cinema screens available. They usually are comprised of documentaries featuring earthly splendor, but occasionally something like “The Dark Knight” will get that IMAX projection. Most of our moviegoing public considers IMAX as that rare infrequent experience that is simultaneously alluring but outside the pop culture contempo, but perhaps it is about time that we all said that if it’s a new IMAX film it’s time to go pay attendance and feel the awe.

Filmed in the Great Barrier Reef of Southern Australia and the Coral Triangle of Indonesia mainly, the cameras get close-up with Cuttlefish, Leafy Sea Dragons, Garden Eels – and those are just the camouflaging organisms. You might be telling yourself, How Come I Forgot There Is Such a Thing as Sea Snakes? Or How Come I Forgot That Jellyfish Are Eaten By Other Fish? The 3D glasses make you feel like you’re in reaching distance and the overall visual and aural sensation lets you feel like you’re in the world’s grandest aquarium. That’s IMAX for you – reliable as cinema’s most accessible teleport.

For marine beauty, “Under the Sea” (directed by Howard and Michelle Hall, IMAX deep sea veterans) is the most visually astonishing and transporting since “Aliens of the Deep,” a 2005 IMAX film – available on DVD – made by none other than James Cameron. The Hall team is adept in getting all the necessary footage and drawing out resources: This “Sea” adventure is narrated by Jim Carrey, but his name shouldn’t be the drawing power. Carrey is an amiable narrator guide who occasionally gives us useful information (there’s a tadpole of didacticism about rising ocean temperatures causing harm to corral reefs). For the most part, the narration is customarily blithe and friendly which makes this all-audience friendly.

Breathtaking beauty is too commonly shrugged off and the familiar assembly line sequels and brand name movies are attended without thought and consideration to alternative. I wish that audiences would think more often outside the box, and instead of attending regular feature films they would opt for an IMAX presentation – documentaries like “Under the Sea” lets you feel like you are discovering something new and attending an experience outside of archetypal moviegoing. Your sense of discovery is renewed.

Running length is nominal but that is no surprise since IMAX docs are characteristically short. In the case of “Under the Sea” however you’re starved for more. Total 40 minutes long? I could have watched hours of this stuff.

“Under the Sea” opens in sixty IMAX theaters nationwide. Check your local listings.