Rating: 
Summary: Wow, simply spectacular. Excellent transfer to DVD
Review: Disc 1 contains both Widescreen (16x9) and Full Frame (4x3). It walks you through the selection for full-frame or widescreen, then the selection for DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1. It was very simple, no looking around for the audio and video selection, like some DVD's. In DTS, the sound is incredible. In Dolby Digital 5.1, the sound is only slightly less so. The film is fabulous overall. "Coral Reef Adventure" won the Giant Screen Theatre Association's Best Film of 2003. I can see why. It was filmed on location in Australia, Fiji, Rangiroa, Tahiti, and the United States. The music is by Crosby, Stills, Nash. The movie opens with "Teach Your Children Well". I loved it. There is also some music that sounds like native singing, acoustic instruments, and percussion. The video is spectacular. The colors are crisp and clear. Without a doubt, this movie has some of the best audio and video that I have heard and seen on a nature film. The display on a 65 inch rear projection TV is spellbinding. There is one short scene of hang-gliding in the mountains that is breath-taking. Disc 2 is for the computer only. (The minimum requirements for the computer are Windows XP; Windows Media Player 9 Series (included on the disc) or Windows XP Media Center Edition; 2.4 GHz processor; 384 MB of RAM; 64 MB video card, DVD-rom drive; 1024x768 screen resolution; 16 bit sound card; and speakers.) When I inserted the DVD into the computer, it smoothly installed the required Windows Media Series 9 (and did not require a reboot!) It played the high definition picture beautifully. The movie is widescreen and plays in Dolby Digital 5.1 mode. The computer has only two very cheap-looking speakers, and the sound was surprisingly good. The underwater scenes of the coral reefs and marine life are beautiful, the sound is awesome, the "Making of" Feature is one that I enjoy on all the Imax movies. There are some sad moments as the movie discusses the destruction of the coral reefs. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Eye and Ear Candy
Review: I am an avid fan of the Macgillivray Freemen series of IMAX High Definition DVD's, and this is one of the best. If you have a Media Center Edition PC hooked to a HDTV (becomming almost mainstream now), you can watch the HD version of the disk which is stunningly beautiful. (the standard DVD isn't bad, but you really don't know what you're missing till you see the HD version).
The underwater footage is spectacular. This movie provides a great combination of beauty, education, environmental awareness, and entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: HD-DVD Wow!
Review: I bought this disk because it was the first-ever high definition 1080progressive scan DVD made to run on a pc that has windows media 9 and a fancy graphics card.
This is a drop-dead gorgeous movie to watch. And unlike the other existant HD-DVD, it is easy to use.
I look foward to purchasing other nature films released in this format. My only regret about this beautiful, intelligent movie is that it is an advocacy film for environmental preservation of coral reefs but it does not give its intended audience a clear push out-of-the-door to act in a meaningful way to save the oceans through legislation etc. Maybe I am being policy-wonkish here, but feel-good propaganda that does not motivate people is dishonest to its intents.
Liam Nieson narrates excellently, the underwater cinematography is pristine and the audience develops an appreciation of the coral reef milleau. music is goofy but fun.
see this movie on a 1200x1600 monitor if you can, there is nothing like it!
Rating:
Summary: Simply Beautiful
Review: I bought this DVD only for the eye candy WMVHD version...and I wasn't disappointed. The video quality is simply spectacular !
Rating: 
Summary: Microsoft has a lot to learn about HTPCs
Review: I bought this for the HD WMV version on disc 2, hoping to play this with my HD capable Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC). I have had nothing but problems:
1. There were problems with software codecs. The web site pointed to on the disc explained how I might need to manually install some components, which apparently I needed to do. Troubling, but overcome.
2. DVD-ROM required on the computer. My HTPC didn't have a DVD-ROM drive. I have a separate DVD player in my stereo stack, and DVD drives in other computers. My plan was to copy the files over to the HTPC. This didn't work because of the Microsoft DRM (Digital Rights Management). Even when I mapped the DVD-ROM on the other computer so it appeared locally, no luck. Worst of all, I only figured out this was the problem by debugging the Microsoft scripts on the disc. There was no explanation given, just a cryptic error message. Overcome with purchase of a DVD-ROM drive.
3. Bad audio format. As another reviewer has noted, the multi-channel audio is in a Microsoft format and I can't pass it over the optical connection from my HTPC to my DTS and Dolby Digital capable receiver. I have no problems with AC3 files and DTS encoded files. Not overcome - stuck with standard stereo.
4. Things cut off the screen. I'm running at 1920x1080 for 1080i resolution. My HDTV has a little overscan. The menus for configuring the player were cut off. I don't know if this is because it assumes 4x3 or the overscan, but someone needs to recognize that overscan exists. Overcome by playing disc in another computer and learning where the menu entries were.
5. Can't pause, etc. The player doesn't seem to respond to keys on my "media enabled" keyboard. The keyboard works fine in other applications. Not overcome.
BTW, the video looks awesome.
-frustrated
Rating:
Summary: Great Message, Great Imax film - should be a great DVD
Review: I can't wait for this to come out on DVD. If you're looking for the same kind of message - make sure you check out Captain Jon Explores the Ocean (avilable now on Amazon).
Protecting coral reefs is so critical, hopefully we won't be too late.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent imagery...dumbed down story
Review: I enjoyed this disc. The video is stunning. I agree with others that the story is very dumbed down and takes a childish approach. It actually seems like its a little one sided and VERY pro-environmental. Nevertheless its enjoyable. I would say however that the Amazon WMV HD disc is a better story and has better and sharper images and more interesting things to look at.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: I first saw this at an IMAX theater in Charlotte museum.
Great discussion on the environment of the reefs, and breathtaking shots underwater. Also makes you more aware of the negative affects we are having on our natural resources. Great movie!
Rating:
Summary: WMVHD may be the way to go. Steep hardware requirements.
Review: I have watched this DVD using the HTPC (Athlon XP 2600+, 1 Gb RAM DDR 333Mhz, Radeon 9600 Pro, SB Audigy 2 Platinum ZS, Creative Gigaworks S750, WinXP pro and wm player 9). I got the ActiveX error for the first time when I inserted the 2nd disc. I figured that out from the technical website and managed to play the 720p version. The DRM is encoded on the second disc, no internet connection required to acquire the license. The movie(documentaries) looks great on Infocus LP 530 (XGA resolution, 1600 ansi lumens, econo mode). The display was calibrated using Sound and Vision Home Theatre Tune Up and confirmed by Nokia Monitor Test. Colour is crisp and rich of details. Given my projector limited contrast ratio (400:1), this DVD really pushes it to the limit. The sound quality does not disappoint too. I must say it's comparable to DD and dts. I have seen some differences using RGB 15 pin and DVI digital. The DVI digital produces cleaner image with less pixelation and it looks as if the contrast is enhanced. I really recommend this DVD if you have a HTPC with large screen attached. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Endangered coral reefs exposed for all to see
Review: I may be a bit biased- as I have dived all the reefs shown in this movie, and have enjoyed diving in Fiji with Rusi Vulakoro, focus of the film (and dove with Rusi again for two weeks in November 2003, for the last time, as he has now retired.) The footage is superb- showing Australia's enormous Great Barrier Reef, French Polynesia's Rangiroa Atoll (with a huge school of about 300 grey whalers / grey reef sharks) and lots of Fiji's world-class reefs- from its spectacular soft corals to the eutrophication of a once-vital reef just offshore to one of Fiji's islands. One even sees how the huge IMAX camera is maneuvered in "Rangi's" stiff currents, as well as in 107 meters / 350 feet of depth as cinematographer Howard Hall and scientist Richard Pyle discover fish completely new to science, using CIS Lunar Mark 4-P rebreathers. The sound track is excellent, the footage outstanding, and the explanation of why coral reefs are failing, while basic, is quite accurate: overfishing of reef inhabitants, silt from logging and development, and waters warmed by the global warming some still deny and the El Niño / Southern Oscillation phenomenon. Unfortunately gone missing in the simplification are fishing for aquarium specimens and food fish with cyanide, dynamite fishing, coral removal for various commercial schemes, and inflow of insecticides and fertilizers, as on barrier reefs off Australia and Central America. And some explanations and scenes are, shall we say, a little bit "embellished" up for effect... but in the end, this is an awesome movie. Divers will love it, those who do not dive will begin to get an idea of why we who do actually dive and travel to such wonderful places. Those concerned about reefs' well-being will be gratified there is some information how people can help conserve reefs, with some prominent mention being given to NGO Reef Check and its activities involving sport divers. If you enjoy underwater film, this is a "MUST SEE". A very good supporting book (Living Mirrors: A Coral Reef Adventure, by Jack Stephens, Umbrage Editions, ISBN 1-8844167-26-8) is available, and Coral Reef Adventure is also available in VHS and DVD editions; I bought the DVD, and it's nice to still be able to see Rusi diving and all Fiji's underwater denizens, even when I am at home.
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