Volcanoes of the Deep Sea: IMAX (2003)

To anticipate what Volcanoes is like, take every colorful, frothy undersea documentary (like Coral Reef Adventure, Oceans, and Under the Sea) -- and turn them goth! Volcanoes focuses on deep-sea volcanic vents and the life forms that live under the most severe conditions on the planet. The film's scientists take a venerable deep-sea submersible called Alvin into the inkiest ocean depths at 12,000 feet to see and sample all they can. Accompanying them, you'll see dozens of extruded lava chimneys that are actively churning out poisonous black fumes while covered with thousands of tube worms, shrimp, or crabs (not to mention the billions of thermophilic bacteria they thrive on). These creatures live in pitch-black, icy waters on the surface of searing lava shells where it is 32 degrees outside and 750 degrees inside -- to say nothing of the intense water pressure! Alvin's strobes illuminate a world that is stranger than many a nightmare though it is eerily beautiful. These scientists' never-before-seen proof that life can truly live anywhere is just the most obvious part of the mystery though. Since these life forms share helical DNA and iron-based hemoglobin with humans, it seems fairly surmisable that life did begin in these ocean vents some 5 billion years ago. (For this reason, the movie did not receive wide U.S. distribution out of concern for a creationist backlash.) Volcanoes is an excellent IMAX film if you are interested in geology, paleontology, or marine biology. 5 stars.