Greatest Hits of the Undersea World

The New England Aquarium (NEAQ) started an expansion project several years ago that they never completed. The short explanation is that they just plain ran out of money. Gone are the sea lion shows that were the delight of many. However, they did add a very large IMAX theater and decided to opt for movies in simulated 3D. The special glasses are issued before every show. Even with a discount, the movies are expensive, and they are short (about forty minutes). For years the nearby Museum of Science had the only large screen format in the area. That Museum has a giant curved screen that is sometimes referred to as an Omnimax theater that shows IMAX films. The NEAQ seemed to be opening their theater in direct competition with the Museum of Science. Now a local furniture retailer has an IMAX theater and there may be others nearby as well.

This evening I went to see Deep Sea 3D at NEAQ's Simon's IMAX Theater. It was like a greatest hits of the undersea world. The photography was beautiful. It was highly entertaining although the music was a little over the top. Featured were coral reefs, sharks, whales, octopi, jelly fish, shrimp, etc. Every ocean life form that I might want to see made a brief appearance. The educational content was there but obviously of secondary importance. Conservation was touched upon lightly, but the narration did not come across as self-righteous or moralistic. The ticket salesman said that it was one of his favorite 3D IMAX shows. I could see why.