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Sick Product of a Sick System

Good concept, poorly executed.

Beautiful, moving film.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

I first saw this film when it came to the IMAX in the Museum of Natural History in NYC. I was impressed with the beauty of the scenery (years later, my wife and I were fortunate enough to visit the Island of Morea) and the soundtrack of the music. I remember, as been very familiar with most of the songs by CSN, that it sounded very different than the original recordings, like the songs were recorder specially for this film. Well, the other day I bought this documentary in order to refresh my memory of it and, again, I was very impressed. I have a question that I hope somebody will be able to answer it, IS THERE A CD WITH THE COMPLETE SOUND TRACK of this film? Thanks

Coral Reef Adventure: 3 out of 10: Do you like pretty pictures? Do you hate Global Warming (boo hiss)? Do you like the music of Crosby Stills and Nash? Let me repeat that last question again because this is very very important.... Do you really like Crosby Stills and Nash music? Even if it is remixed and sung by starving children to a Peter Gabriel back up band? Then you might enjoy Global Reef Adventure. Everyone else above 12 should check there eyeballs before watching, as rolling them this much could cause permanent damage.This is the story of a husband and wife team who investigate the death of a village’s reef in Fiji. It turns out the villain was.... Hold on before I give away the big surprise let me explain a few things. My girlfriend and I had just finished watching John Hurt in Michael Radford’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and I put this documentary on because I thought a nice short colorful coral reef film might be nice after such a grey depressing movie. (Plus a piece of coral was a feature object in the former drab film so I was going for a subtle synergy).Little did I know I was putting on a piece of propaganda so heavy handed that Big Brother himself would have blushed. Look no matter how you feel about global warming the villain in this piece was clearly those nice Fijians who were logging and overfishing and killed their own damn reef. The movie clearly shows this and then completely ignores its own findings to declare global warming the boogey man (Though in this particular case it was obviously innocent. As local reefs not near the GIANT SILT RUNNOFF and not located IN THE FISHING GROUNDS were thriving.) But the Fijians can’t be guilty of course cause the look so cute in their Sunday best and they have quite a haunting rendition of Marrakesh Express. Such propaganda, no matter how well intentioned, needs to be called to the carpet. In particular when it is aimed towards children.The film has other faults as well. It is over produced by half with wipes and sound effects that look like they belong in a Disney Ducktales movie. Top billed Liam Neeson narrates for all of a minute and top billed Jean-Michel Cousteau appears for about as long.It probably isn’t that bad a film with the mute on. For one thing you would miss the appeal at the end to support politicians who hate global warming (boo hiss). Apparently 2 plus 2 does sometimes equal 5.

The shots are beautiful. The not so subtle message is not. This movie had the potential to be great art, but fails miserably because of the preachy ness of its message. It is worth seeing because of the footage of under water beauty. The images of the dying reefs are powerful enough without the politicized sermon. A few words of explanation would have been more than enough, but in the end we are left with propaganda instead of art. One scene contains images of several small children with earnest expressions as the narrator tells us explicitly that the children depend upon a healthy reef. I found myself rolling my eyes as I was hit over the head with "the message". I care about children, but this scene tries too hard causing it to fail. Instead of being engaged by the movie I found it very disappointing.

This film has beautiful images to share. The movie was well produced with a great use of music with the different shots. The movie did get a little "environmental", but it was to be expected. I also think they could have chosen better music than Crosby, Stills and Nash. Overall I would highly recommend seeing it if you have the opportunity. It is educational and breathtaking.