Oceans with David Attenborough (2025)

Normally I wouldn’t see a documentary at the cinema. After all even the way that documentaries have turned into movies doesnt make they special enough to take time to go to the cinema to see something that they could see on TV but I had heard some good things about this and whilst on holiday I thought I would take advantage of my free time. Luckily for mid-afternoon on a Sunday when its very warm outside, it was nice to see a dozen people in the screening. Despite being 99 years old, David Attenborough shows us things that we have never seen before in the oceans and even if you have seen everything that Attenborough has been involved in, the chances are that you haven’t seen things like this. 

The thing about this documentary is that it shows us how destructive we have been to the oceans and yet how there is still hope. There is one moment which is jaw dropping at how destructive it is. Essentially there is this net type thing that scrapes along the bottom of the ocean and scoops up anything in its path and usually three quarters of it is thrown away. The waste for such a barbaric method is shocking. In the mini feature that followed the screening, the underwater director says that this was at the top of the list of things that he wanted to include and it was absolutely the right decision and set the tone for the rest of the documentary. There are people from the areas that the documentary goes to that talk about the impact that overfishing has
had and what that means to the area. These are important because the words are said with the experience of the location and they don’t come from a place of self interest but wanting things to survive.  

The documentary isn’t saying that fishing should be outlawed or restricted but just that we need to make sure we don’t over fish and leave some areas to thrive. By doing this the area will overpopulate and thus a wider area is possible to be fished. The documentary is not subtle when it paints trawler ships, especially the huge ones as the bad guys.

The way that we can help things get back to the way they were and even better requires literally no effort. If we leave things and allow them to get on with it then before we know it things will thrive. There is a caption at the end of the documentary saying that in June 2025 there is a conference taking place where they have the chance to save the oceans by insisting on less destructive fishing methods. I genuinely hope they are successful because it feels like we may not have much time left to save things.

From a visual point of view, the documentary should be applauded. I saw things in this that are absolutely stunning and unlike anything I could imagine appearing in a sci-fi film or tv show. The documentary took four years to make and it shows that the time was taken to get every imaginable shot and shows the sea in such a stunning and at times heartbreaking way. 

I am still skeptical about whether a documentary should be at the cinema but I am still glad that I went to see this. I think even the biggest tv screen at home wouldn’t have done this documentary justice.

tHE ultimate message that the documentary is that if we come up with a plan then like Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) says in Jurassic Park ‘life finds a way’.