Ocean Men is about "freediving" - going deep underwater for long periods without scuba gear - simply holding your breath. This documentary focuses on two of the world record holders and their attempt to set new records. While suffering from IMAXitis - the seeming inability of IMAX directors to tell a good story for 45 minutes - it is nonethe less fascinating to see the two men going through their training regimens - which include some fantastically beautiful shots of them doing yoga on mountain tops and swimming through underwater caves. I saw it in the OMNIMAX format - which is the peripheral vision filling dome projection - which particularily suits the underwater settings - but it is also shown in regular IMAX format as well.)

4 out of 5.


(I'm not sure if IMAX movies fit the "indie" category - thoough they have always seem to remain in the shadows of mainstream film marketing despite their 35 year history...)

I know Cameron was planning to direct The Dive, about the real life free-diving couple Francisco "Pipin" Ferraras and Audrey Mestre and how Audrey died attempting to break the world record.

RIP - I hadn't realized she had died - actually she appeared in Ocean Men and I could have easily seen a lot more of her sensuous underwater dolphin style swimming. Ferraras does come across as a pretty intense dude in the film. The movie was originally released in 2001, which I also didn't know. I guess it joins the club of IMAX movies about performers injured or killed doing their craft - along with Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Box.

( Here is a quite well written article on the death of Audrey Mestre...)