There are 2 huge issues with this otherwise good documentary. I get why people really like it. It's a simple yet emotionally important story and there is a lot of tension here. It has that fake feel of being overly important and dramatic that the regular viewers love. But for anyone who watches documentaries regularly this is a letdown in some ways.
Firstly, it's for sure 30 minutes too long. Like, that shouldn't even be a debate. For the story it tells and scenes it has it's a 1 hour documentary. They constantly input small statements, acted scenes or videos of some equipment just being there. They even do small flashback sequences!!! That's stuff you see in B movies not in documentaries. Yet here everything is stretched out to feel more important and to fill the runtime. Furthermore, they have that extra 30-40 minutes to actually tell us what happened technically and how the various technologies work. The ship, the sub, the bot sub, the diving suits, the computer on the ship. We basically learn nothing about it because most of the runtime is filled with mini shots of various things. And instead of giving us extra details they will give us statements about what they felt or say things like "we restarted the computer and then it worked again". Okay, that's a serious letdown for people who want to learn anything about diving. This is not for smart people, but rather for people seeking that over the top drama with overly emotional scenes, but not much to learn. It's kinda a huge issue that the main problem they experienced is not even explained. That's crazy.
Secondly, this documentary DIDN'T tell us when it used recreated shots and when it used real shots. Honestly, anyone respecting documentaries should really pan this doc for it. You cannot know when what you are seeing is fake. That's a huge issue! Mostly I could spot it as the replicated shots were way better quality. But often you don't know. They have recordings from the ship, but then also have recordings from the ship they recreated. They have recordings from the dive, but then clearly also some recreated some scenes. This is maybe good for the drama, for some, but this is terribly if you want to tell a real story with nothing extra to it. The recreated scenes also all felt like slow motion making it drag a lot.
It's just too long for the story it tells. I got bored after 40 minutes. It's a very cool story for sure. But you need to have some stellar patience for this. Otherwise I recommend watching other such stuff or having it on in the background. I don't get the huge praise I see. It's fine, but it's really nothing you should run out to watch.
Firstly, it's for sure 30 minutes too long. Like, that shouldn't even be a debate. For the story it tells and scenes it has it's a 1 hour documentary. They constantly input small statements, acted scenes or videos of some equipment just being there. They even do small flashback sequences!!! That's stuff you see in B movies not in documentaries. Yet here everything is stretched out to feel more important and to fill the runtime. Furthermore, they have that extra 30-40 minutes to actually tell us what happened technically and how the various technologies work. The ship, the sub, the bot sub, the diving suits, the computer on the ship. We basically learn nothing about it because most of the runtime is filled with mini shots of various things. And instead of giving us extra details they will give us statements about what they felt or say things like "we restarted the computer and then it worked again". Okay, that's a serious letdown for people who want to learn anything about diving. This is not for smart people, but rather for people seeking that over the top drama with overly emotional scenes, but not much to learn. It's kinda a huge issue that the main problem they experienced is not even explained. That's crazy.
Secondly, this documentary DIDN'T tell us when it used recreated shots and when it used real shots. Honestly, anyone respecting documentaries should really pan this doc for it. You cannot know when what you are seeing is fake. That's a huge issue! Mostly I could spot it as the replicated shots were way better quality. But often you don't know. They have recordings from the ship, but then also have recordings from the ship they recreated. They have recordings from the dive, but then clearly also some recreated some scenes. This is maybe good for the drama, for some, but this is terribly if you want to tell a real story with nothing extra to it. The recreated scenes also all felt like slow motion making it drag a lot.
It's just too long for the story it tells. I got bored after 40 minutes. It's a very cool story for sure. But you need to have some stellar patience for this. Otherwise I recommend watching other such stuff or having it on in the background. I don't get the huge praise I see. It's fine, but it's really nothing you should run out to watch.