IMAX: SEA REX 3D: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD [2010 / 2011] [3D Blu-ray + 2D Blu-ray] [German Release] A Family Experience From The Dinosaur Age! Originally Presented in IMAX 3D Theatres!
Join student Julie [Chloe Hollings], in an imaginative young woman, as she travels from a modern-day aquarium to the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Explore an amazing underwater universe inhabited by larger-than-life creatures including the powerful Liopleurodon, long-necked Elasmosaurus and gigantic Shonisaurus which were ruling the seas before dinosaurs conquered the earth. Thanks to state-of-the-art ultra-photorealistic imagery, see science come alive in a unique and entertaining manner. Immerse yourself in a lost age, 200 million years back in time, and get ready for a face-to-face encounter with the T-Rex of the seas!
Cast: Guillaume Denaiffe (Conservatory assistant), Norbert Ferrer (Jacques), Chloe Hollings (Julie), Richard Rider (Georges Cuvier) and Tom Yang (Professor Motani)
Directors: Pascal Vuong and Ronan Chapalain
Producers: Catherine Vuong, Francois Mantello, Franck Savorgnan, Pascal Vuong and Zoe Hobson
Screenplay: Pascal Vuong (written), Richard Dowlearn (screenplay) and Ronan Chapalain (written)
Composer: Franck Marchal
Cinematography: Christophe Grelié (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
French: DTS Surround
German: DTS Surround
Arabic: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Spanish: DTS Surround
Czech: DTS Surround
Danish: DTS Surround
Dutch: DTS Surround
Polish: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Japanese: DTS Surround
French: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Arabic, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Icelandic, Japanese, Slovenia and Thai
Running Time: 41 Minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Pictures / 3D Entertainment
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: Through the power of IMAX® 3D, experience a wondrous adventure from the dinosaur age with IMAX: ‘SEA REX 3D JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD.’ Join Julie, an imaginative young woman, as she journeys from a modern-day aquarium to the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Explore an amazing underwater universe inhabited by larger-than-life creatures including the powerful Liopleurodon, long-necked Elasmosaurus and gigantic Shonisaurus which were ruling the seas before dinosaurs conquered the earth. Thanks to state-of-the-art ultra-photorealistic imagery, see science come alive in a unique and entertaining manner. Immerse yourself in a lost age, 200 million years back in time, and get ready for a face-to-face encounter with the T-Rex of the seas!
A joint feature between the UK and the French, IMAX: ‘SEA REX 3D: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD’ begins with an introduction to the unearthing of the very first dinosaur by man, which they nicknamed the “Sea Rex.” From there, the extinct critter's discoverer, Georges Cuvier [Richard Rider] who, thankfully, doesn't try to use a French accent travels to modern times, giving a young lady [Chloe Hollings] at an aquatic museum a tour of the earliest stages of our world paying great detail to the many future fossils that are swimming and roaming about. He also violates museum policy by handing the lass an ancient dinosaur tooth, which is OK for ghostly Frenchmen to do, so long as their exhibits are on display and not once does poor Julie ever stop to think 'Stranger Danger!' No, instead, she just grabs the tooth, pops it in her purse, and leaves after Georges Cuvier is finished being a friendly, over-informative spirit.
It's a computer-animated wonder, as marine reptiles of the Jurassic period and even older do battle under the ocean's surface in impressive, computer-generated scenes sure to delight the young and old though mostly the young. Note I called them 'marine reptiles' and not “Dinosaurs.” Georges Cuvier [Richard Rider], the father of modern palaeontology, is our guide on this time-traveling journey, as well as our instructor and his first lesson: Only land-bound reptiles are called dinosaurs.
The tone of the IMAX film is definitely pitched towards all ages and hopefully educate today's modern school-age children, and the fight scenes between reptile and reptile, or reptile and fish, stop just short of bloody flesh-rending, although a final showdown between a prehistoric shark and a Mesosaur a marine reptile with massive jaws and teeth that resembles an alligator crossed with an extra-terrestrial.
George Cuvier [Richard Rider], who studied an early Mesosaur skeleton in the late 1700s, becomes our guide, materializing like a ghost for Julie [Chloe Hollings], a teenager visiting a natural history museum. He gives her an ancient reptile tooth and proceeds to direct her and us through the lesser-known history of marine reptiles. It is all fascinating stuff, whether you are a science buff or not, and directors Ronan Chapalain and Pascal Vuong, who co-wrote the script with Richard Dowlearn, smartly concentrate on the shapes and sizes of the various creatures, and what they ate, which was often each other. Let's face it: today's youngsters first get interested in dinosaurs for their gigantic proportions and eating habits, so there's no reason it would be different with their undersea brethren. Even the film's title a play-off T-Rex reinforces that angle. Things start off a little slow with a historical overview of Earth's first 3.5 billion years or so, before any non-microscopic life forms developed. But the action soon ramps up, and the IMAX 3D film's 41 minutes fly by fast. Part biology lesson, and part slick CGI adventure, IMAX: ‘SEA REX 3D: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD’ makes education look and sound very cool.
Throughout the 41 Minutes you get to see vast amounts of prehistoric creatures swimming about and to help you know all of the names of the prehistoric creatures that you see in the IMAX 3D film, well here are the said creatures as follows: Quetzalcoatlus; Parasaurolophus; Elasmosaurus; Liopleurodon; Tanystropheus; Placochelys; Rhomaleosaurus; Ammonites; Leedsichthys; Mosasaurus; Ichthyornis; Cryptoclidus; Nothosaurus; Shonisaurus; Ophthalmosaurus; Mixosaurus; Prognathodon; Cretoxyrhina; Otodus; Rhamphorhynchus; Megalosaurus; Brachiosaurus; Dakosaurus; Stegosaurus and Kronosaurus.
3D Blu-ray Image Quality – IMAX: ‘SEA REX 3D: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD’ makes a nice transition from IMAX to the smaller screen, thanks to a high quality 1080p transfer that features crisp details and fine 3D imaging. No specks or marks mar the smooth presentation, which is largely devoid of grain. Colours are vibrant, though the prevalent underwater blues look a little dull over time, and black levels remain solid and deep throughout. Aerial landscape shots show off craggy mountain peaks and dense forests well, and interiors exhibit good contrast and clarity. Viewing IMAX: ‘SEA REX 3D' in 2D is equally pleasant, and the image is sharp enough to give a slight dimensional illusion. No banding, or edge enhancement could be detected, and even the sometimes murky ocean waters never exhibit any digital noise. Though this home version may pale when compared to the vast expanse of view it in a IMAX cinema, it's still a nice, and very immersive 3D experience.
3D Blu-ray Audio Quality – IMAX: ‘SEA REX 3D: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD’ gives you a stunning 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that is a pleasure to hear. The voices are easy to understand, which is crucial in a piece like this, and there are a few surprising uses of the surround channels and the subwoofers to bring the prehistoric world to life. So all in all, this is a very worthwhile surround sound experience.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Sea Rex [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:48] Here we get to meet Pascal Vuong [Writer, Director and Producer]; Ronan Chapalain [Writer and Director] and Catherine Vuong [Producer] discuss the IMAX 3D film, and how it was shot, and also how the prehistoric creatures are depicted on screen and are IMAX naturals due to their large size. All three people in this special feature have really heavy French accents, which sometimes makes some of their comments difficult to understand. Thankfully, there are English subtitles available to help when needed.
Special Feature: Interviews [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:32] In this particular special feature we again get to meet Ronan Chapalain [Writer and Director]; Catherine Vuong [Producer] who sort of repeat what they talked about in 'Sea Rex,' but we also get to hear comments from Dr. Nathalie Bardet [Main Scientific Advisor] and Richard Rider [Actor]. But this is slightly different and strange, as at certain points we sometimes only get the audio-only remarks from the French speaking people, with just a still image of each French person. Many sound bites from the feature are repeated here and once again, in thick French accents and sometimes make some phrases unintelligible, but also occasionally the some of the scientific advisor speaks only in French, and so you will have to switch on the English subtitles manually, as it doesn't happen automatically.
Theatrical Trailer [2011] [1080p] [1:04] A theatrical trailer preview for IMAX: ‘SEA REX 3D: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD’ is included, but it is not in 3D.
Finally IMAX: ‘SEA REX 3D: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD’ is an IMAX 3D presentation that takes us back in time and provides some stunning CGI images of giant reptiles. The 3D effects work very well, and the video and audio quality is first rate. Through the power of IMAX 3D, is an experience of a wondrous adventure from the dinosaur age. Join Julie, an imaginative young woman, in a unique voyage through time and space. Explore an amazing underwater universe inhabited by larger-than-life creatures which were ruling the seas before dinosaurs conquered the earth. See science come alive in an entertaining manner and get ready for a face-to-face encounter with the T-Rex of the seas! Supplements are negligible, but science and history junkies, as well as young dinosaur fans, should enjoy the very informative special features. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
