Under the Sea 3D
  • Studio: IMAX
  • Release Date: Feb 13, 2009
Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
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  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    100
    There's plenty for us to feast on in Under the Sea 3D without drawing a single drop of blood. If you have small children, you'd be crazy not to take them to this film.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Glenn Whipp
    90
    Practice has delivered something close to perfection as this new film offers a startling experience that takes you down into the Great Barrier Reef without the expense, hypothermia or oxygen tanks.
  3. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    90
    One of the best of the genre. If it doesn't serve oysters, per se, this submarine wonder offers marvels in abundance.
  4. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Krista Soriano
    88
    We actually had the urge to dodge the sea snakes swimming right at us.
  5. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    A visually enthralling 40-minute tour of the southwestern Pacific depths.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Esposito
    75
    In addition to the romantic music for the cuttlefish courtship, the several musical selections are a step above the usual IMAX fare.
  7. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    Jim Carrey mostly plays it straight as the narrator. The 3-D effects are uncanny; much of the audience ducked when sea snakes lunged at it. You can't get that on your TV set. Yet.
  8. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    75
    The footage is spectacular, the colors electric, the life aquatic trippier than anything you'll see in even the most wildly imaginative animated fare.
  9. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    It's all a treat to behold, and, at least where the turtle and the jellyfish are concerned, it's transcendently beautiful, too. I just wish there was more of it.
  10. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Adam Markovitz
    75
    Offers up dazzling ocean creatures in calmly shifting scenes that could double as the world's most expensive screensaver.
  11. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    75
    As dazzling as they come, a visual pageant of strange undersea creatures hunting and scavenging and floating across the screen.
  12. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Jennie Punter
    50
    Like its predecessors, Under the Sea is family-friendly viewing -- the great white shark swims by, as opposed to tearing prey to shreds. Its goal is to show biodiversity and offer information on how reefs grow, reminding us of threats to these environments.
  13. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Reyhan Harmanci
    25
    Seems more appropriate for a science museum than the Metreon, but that's not the film's problem. The problem is that oceanic movies in actual science museums are far more interesting and nuanced than this documentary.

User Reviews

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User Score
5.3 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. DanielG
    8
    The 3d aspect of cinema is still primitive, come to think of it, many aspects are. This movie however, does not require 3d viewing for the audience to feel completely immersed by the underwater journey. Warner Bros. surprised me with a useful documentary, showing me more biodiversity exists than I previously could imagine.… Full Review »
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