It's amazing. But the narrator is often drowned out by the music. Maybe tone it down in future episodes . I don't think I can adjust my tv to separate the music from the story.
23 Reviews
Love the show but music is too loud
jessiednichols14 October 2019
An underwater archive
Dawnine21 April 2021
Firstly, I agree with other reviews about the repetitive narratives - the phrases and boastful phrases touting the technology to "drain" away the water (and silt) to reveal what remains - however, it is the history and the discussion of discoveries that keeps me intrigued. Matching how what is observed on the sites and the wrecks (or what remains - sometimes only piles of rock determined to be ballast from ships long gone) with what the historical record is intriguing. Learning the significance of particular details is not only fascinating but eye opening in that they use these to help you understand the point of view and prevailing cultures and habits of the time.
If you enjoy history, this is a delight. To avoid the irritating repetition you need to (a) always skip the intro and (b) not consistently binge. I recommend no more than three episodes at a time with a week or so in between the next session.
If you enjoy history, this is a delight. To avoid the irritating repetition you need to (a) always skip the intro and (b) not consistently binge. I recommend no more than three episodes at a time with a week or so in between the next session.
Great show
rdoubleoc31 May 2019
Mysterious and inspiring
gmanmeacham5 August 2019
Really interesting stuff, but I would just like to point out that some reviewers are more and more posting reviews and either can't be bothered using the correct spelling, ie - rex instead of wrecks! Or maybe have trouble spelling?
This is so EPIC!
rets-biernis7 May 2020
I love it, the way its done, the way the facts are presented in a non boring way, non speculative, not over dramatic made , such profound documentaries, telling the tales of old thing in a superior graphic and production. MORE MORE MORE! Cant wait, Thank YOU FOR MAKING THIS!
So ineresting!
akimmel711 January 2019
Great content
sherkal11 May 2020
Stop continually repeating 'drain the ocean'
wrench-9859220 December 2019
Very captivating documentary
Diviana-8310 June 2022
Extremely interesting and educational
amyshieldsatc6 January 2021
I have loved this, only seen season 1 so far on Disney +. I've learnt so many interesting things and find myself discussing these with others.
Cannot wait to find more episodes.
Would say this would be a brilliant thing for parents to show children who are having to home school at the moment, covers many historic topics and locations
Entertaining and Educational!
djhaining13 June 2021
Fascinating and remarkable show - a must watch
mcrae_k2 August 2020
This show is absolutely fascinating and I love watching the episodes. The visual effects are brilliant. Personally I prefer Russel Boulter's narration but that does not distract too much from this brilliant show. Seeing these shipwrecks brought to life through the VFX and ROVs is great and love the history behind it all. Hope we get more episodes.
Another appalling, insultingly bad history program
mpalmann10 September 2021
Why on earth can we not have history presented to us without hyperbole, without excessive adjectives, without mindless musack and without this false tone of voice designed to hype up moronically weak editing and try to turn it into something impressive. The information is impressive, let it speak for itself - it really does not need sauce, mayo and seasoning. I would have got it off my screen in double quick time had my other half not decided he would push past the pain in order to get to the bare facts. It was a struggle.
Interesting but almost unwatchable.
plato514 April 2020
The concept of the show is interesting but the narration, repetition and presentation ruin what could be a very good show. Phrases like 'opened up like a can of sardines', or the endless questions such as 'What could cause this incredible damage', 'can the wreck tell us what happened' (duh - if it didn't you would have an episode) are annoying right from the start and get more annoying with every episode. I finally resorted to watching the show closed captioned so I did not have to listen to all the false drama.
The worst one is for a episode on 'Hitler's Killer Warships' when the wreck of the Hood was investigated. Somehow the producers of this show seem more intent on patting themselves on the back rather than acknowledging what is already known. In this case there are several shows that have already investigated this battle not the least of which is the James Cameron documentary (2017?). Even the movie 'Sink the Bismark' in 1960 seemed to have the facts.
I will certainly not be tempted to add National Geographic to my TV channels when the free preview expires.
The worst one is for a episode on 'Hitler's Killer Warships' when the wreck of the Hood was investigated. Somehow the producers of this show seem more intent on patting themselves on the back rather than acknowledging what is already known. In this case there are several shows that have already investigated this battle not the least of which is the James Cameron documentary (2017?). Even the movie 'Sink the Bismark' in 1960 seemed to have the facts.
I will certainly not be tempted to add National Geographic to my TV channels when the free preview expires.
Have I taken crazy pills?!
landon-7058130 March 2021
I went on a binge of all the current "documentaries" on Disney+ recently and they are all basically unwatchable. They literally annoy you the whole way through. But you sit and deal with it for the few minutes of interesting information each episode.
I would easily pay to see these edited by a sane person. Music GONE. Repetitive narration, catchphrases GONE. Recapping what you just watched over and over GONE (and punishable by prison time).
It's like every documentary has this cookie-cutter template. I simply can't imagine anyone enjoying how they chose to edit these.
If you're up for some brutal punishment to see some interesting stuff, dive in, and have your trigger finger hovering over the fast-forward button, so you can keep skipping ahead.
...and don't forget to "Drain the Oceans"!
I would easily pay to see these edited by a sane person. Music GONE. Repetitive narration, catchphrases GONE. Recapping what you just watched over and over GONE (and punishable by prison time).
It's like every documentary has this cookie-cutter template. I simply can't imagine anyone enjoying how they chose to edit these.
If you're up for some brutal punishment to see some interesting stuff, dive in, and have your trigger finger hovering over the fast-forward button, so you can keep skipping ahead.
...and don't forget to "Drain the Oceans"!
Annoying to watch
Bernie-5623 January 2021
History Channel would had been proud...
knuddelholic3 December 2022
Looks like National Geographic sank like the History channel (HC) straight to the bottom of the sea with this luridness botch of infotainment, emphasis VERY heavily on the latter.
This is no documentary but a cheap way to rewrite history by turning into a revolting peace of actiontainment.
Many information was twisted for sensational purposes, After HC sank itself in the 90s with UFO and other junk it seemed like NC was resisting the trend of turning history into action junk food of cheapest propaganda level.
Such artistic liberties can be taken in entertainment pieces but the have nothing at all to do in history reports.
The 'BEHOLD, our mighty technology' echo was just the additional broomstick to the producers backside.
Do yourself a favor and watch something else as this is not worth any second of your life.
But after this experience I added NC 'documentaries' to the junk pile of history like HC. If I could I would add the 'bell of shame' meme here.
This is no documentary but a cheap way to rewrite history by turning into a revolting peace of actiontainment.
Many information was twisted for sensational purposes, After HC sank itself in the 90s with UFO and other junk it seemed like NC was resisting the trend of turning history into action junk food of cheapest propaganda level.
Such artistic liberties can be taken in entertainment pieces but the have nothing at all to do in history reports.
The 'BEHOLD, our mighty technology' echo was just the additional broomstick to the producers backside.
Do yourself a favor and watch something else as this is not worth any second of your life.
But after this experience I added NC 'documentaries' to the junk pile of history like HC. If I could I would add the 'bell of shame' meme here.
Disappointing
chaosduck2 April 2021
Shallow and basically insulting to most people's intelligence. Dumbed down in typical American fashion and they try to camouflage it with European experts and a New Jersey raised narrator who woefully attempts a British accent and fails miserably.
Enough with the sunken ships already
jeffbabies12 March 2020
While sometimes captivating when it explores lost cities or missing airplanes, this show teeters more towards sunken ship exploration 99% of the time. I waited years to finally sit down and enjoy what seemed like a great concept - and I was all in for a show about geology and geography; exploring the deepest trenches and unseen landscapes we never see. Unfortunately, this show is not that. It hasn't taught me anything I haven't already learned from other historical documentaries. Too much time is spent giving a history lesson, and then the ocean is very briefly drained. I eventually found myself skipping episodes because there are only so many sunken nazi warships and u-boats I can take before the show becomes one-note. Even an episode about the Egyptian desert someone manages to focus on mysterious boats buried in middle of the desert. Enough with the boats already. There are a few interesting nuggets - such as the underwater geography of Alcatraz and how it played a part in derailing potential escapees; the search for Atlantis and the sunken Port Royal, showing all the potential for what this show should be - but episodes like that feel few and far between. I expected a more even distribution of shipwrecks, differing world coastlines, continental shelves, coral reefs, what islands really look like with water drained away, etc. Quite frankly, this show would be more accurately titled "Draining Sunken Ships" because that seems to be the focus.
Background music is now Foreground music
cekadah19 August 2021
After about 5 shows I have abandoned this series! Why? Because you cannot hear 90% of what the 'experts' are saying due to the former background music which is now 'LOUD' foreground nuisance music.
Is this on purpose to distract the viewer because the info offered about the findings is useless?
An awful production mistake.
Is this on purpose to distract the viewer because the info offered about the findings is useless?
An awful production mistake.
As always, Anglo-Saxon propaganda full of lies
josemolib14 February 2024
The Anglo-Saxons are the creators of the Spanish black legend and it is shown once in another episode of national geography that the Anglo-Saxons continue to lie century after century, they carry it in their blood.
First they get like great strategists and make you see that they won the battle thanks to their cunning and ingenuity when it really was a storm!! Even they know that if it hadn't been because of the storm, Spanish would now be spoken in England.
Second, they say that from that day the Spanish empire fell and the English emerged and dominated the waves, if the following year they attacked Spain with the so-called English navy and lost with many more losses and did not recover until a century later!!
Spain was not affected by the battle almost anything and continued to dominate the waves during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, it is in the history books!!
But of course they are experts in inventing and hiding history and they are good at it, they have done it for centuries and surely you will not see real documentaries of how they failed in Cartagena de Indias, in Tenerife, in Cadiz in their counter-army after the Spanish Navy and how they failed in many battles and piracy attempts against the Spaniards for 3 centuries. They only know how to talk about the Navy (which was thanks to a storm) and Trafalgar (which was for an inept French captain). But the reality is that Spain continued to dominate for 3 centuries and England was only power when the Spanish empire fell in the 19th century!!
First they get like great strategists and make you see that they won the battle thanks to their cunning and ingenuity when it really was a storm!! Even they know that if it hadn't been because of the storm, Spanish would now be spoken in England.
Second, they say that from that day the Spanish empire fell and the English emerged and dominated the waves, if the following year they attacked Spain with the so-called English navy and lost with many more losses and did not recover until a century later!!
Spain was not affected by the battle almost anything and continued to dominate the waves during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, it is in the history books!!
But of course they are experts in inventing and hiding history and they are good at it, they have done it for centuries and surely you will not see real documentaries of how they failed in Cartagena de Indias, in Tenerife, in Cadiz in their counter-army after the Spanish Navy and how they failed in many battles and piracy attempts against the Spaniards for 3 centuries. They only know how to talk about the Navy (which was thanks to a storm) and Trafalgar (which was for an inept French captain). But the reality is that Spain continued to dominate for 3 centuries and England was only power when the Spanish empire fell in the 19th century!!
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