Ocean
David Attenborough guides us on an enthralling cinematic odyssey that demands to be seen by everybody.
A pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins swimming across the coral reefs of the Red Sea, Egypt.
Photo by Olly Scholey, Image courtesy of Altitude Film Distribution.
Ocean is, without question, one of the most important films ever made. Not just for its spectacular imagery and unparalleled access to the miraculous diversity of the seas around us, but for its startling message. As every schoolchild knows, the oceans make up seventy per-cent of our planet and is the lifeblood of every living creature, be it on land or in the depths beyond. And yet 97 per cent of this subterranean paradise is unprotected.
The broadcaster and biologist David Attenborough, who turns one hundred next year, makes for an articulate, authoritative and passionate guide, drawing on his 71 years in front of the camera. Even now he exhibits an uncontained awe at the treasures of the deep, those complex and colourful ecosystems interconnected and co-dependant in order to thrive as they have for millennia. However, it wasn’t until the last century, with the invention of the aqualung, that we were able to witness and marvel at this last great wilderness, “our final frontier.”
Besides the film’s mind-spinning, never-before-seen coverage of the planet’s astonishing treasure chest, the facts and figures are equally flabbergasting, revealing how reliant the animal kingdom is on the watery Eden beyond our shorelines. As Sir David explains, we have actually seen more of other planets than of our own ocean floor. And only now are we beginning to recognise its vital importance to our own lives. This is life at its most mesmerising, and the sensory overload – augmented by Steven Price’s sumptuous and emotive music – is a miracle to behold on the big screen. To witness this exceptional film, co-directed by Colin Butfield, Toby Nowlan and Keith Scholey, is an almost existential experience.
But once we have marvelled at all this natural bounty, we are shown unprecedented footage of the demolition of the ocean by mega-trawlers, giant floating factories of death, wreaking the sort of damage that is visible from space. At least two thousand new sea creatures are being discovered every year, but our grandchildren are in danger of never seeing them. Two thirds of once abundant predatory fish have now been annihilated, a genocide one might think should be illegal. And yet these monstrous killing machines are actually subsidised by greedy, shortsighted superpowers. With the planet on the verge of collapse, and the strip-mining of our sea beds continuing apace, it is calculated that all coral reefs will be dead in thirty years. Turtles and sharks have survived since the time of the dinosaurs but could be wiped out in our own lifetime. It’s a world suspended in a delicate balance and we are ripping it apart at a staggering rate.
Yet David Attenborough leaves us with a ray of optimism, describing the resilience of nature to bounce back from mankind’s butchery. Three per cent of the world’s oceans are now protected – in so-called ‘no-take zones’ – and have already erupted back into life.
Transfixing, wondrous, awe-inspiring and thought-provoking (albeit immensely distressing at times), Ocean offers some hope, such as when public opinion reversed the imminent extinction of the whales, following the elimination of 99 per cent of the blue whale population. Four years in the making, Ocean demands to be seen by everybody who cares about the natural world. After all, we only have one world, a unique, miraculous jewel in the entire known cosmos, a magical place we call home.
Also known as: Ocean with David Attenborough.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Featuring David Attenborough.
Dir Colin Butfield, Toby Nowlan and Keith Scholey, Pro Toby Nowlan, Ph Santiago Cabral, Ed Philippa Edwards, Music Steven Price.
All3Media International/Fondation Prince Albert II De Monaco/National Geographic Society/Pristine Seas/Silverback Films-Altitude Film Distribution.
85 mins. UK. 2025. UK Rel: 8 May 2025. Cert. PG.
