A fascinating look at how the oceans of the world impact the Earth. Facts like "70% of the Earth's oxygen comes from ocean plants." Great soundtrack from sting that compliments the film and each story. While not as impressive watching it at home as it is in an IMAX theater, it is still well worth a look at.

"The Living Sea" is an IMAX documentary from over 20 years ago and the title tells you what this is about: water. IMAX has a tendency to be frequently only visually convincing and not thematically and this one here is not even the former. The film is packed with phrases such as if we want to save the environment, we need to understand it, but there is little substance beyond that. Apart from that, I think Meryl Streep is a great actress, but not a great narrator. And I always find it irritating if they use 2 people, a star and a non-famous person, to narrate these movies, especially when they don't even go for 40 minutes. Admittedly, the subject here (sea/water) is a very general one which makes it a tough challenge to make a film with focus on that issue, but with the money they had available for this one here, I still expected something better. Not recommended.

The Living Sea is a 70mm American documentary film exploring marine locales intended to show the importance of protecting the ocean, released to IMAX theaters in 1995. It is narrated by actress Meryl Streep, with music by Sting, produced by Science World, a Vancouver-based science education center, and underwater imagery directed by filmmaker Greg MacGillivray.

The film is a survey of the world's oceans, emphasizing that it is a single interconnected ocean and the dependence of all life on the planet. The film shows researchers tracking whales, a Coast Guard rough-weather rescue squad, a deep-ocean research team, and the Palau Islands, which contain an unusual jellyfish habitat.

The film is directed by Academy Award-nominated IMAX director and cinematographer Greg MacGillivray, who also directed similar water-conservation themed documentaries such as Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. Highly recommended