Ghosts of the Abyss

After his 1997 Titanic, James Cameron went to the actual wreck. Between August and September 2001 he made twelve dives with a team of scientists and historians. The Russian submersibles Mir 1 and Mir 2 filmed the outside and inside of the ship, and small remotely operated robots sent into the hull reached cabins nobody had entered before. The most striking element is a layer added to the image: computer renderings of the ship are superimposed on the dive footage, so you see both the wreck as it is and the ship as it was in the same frame. Bill Paxton narrates. He had played Brock Lovett in Cameron's 1997 film, and here he went on the expedition himself. It was shot for IMAX 3D and the theatrical version runs 61 minutes. A 90-minute cut was prepared for home video. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 80 percent. It took 28.7 million dollars worldwide, 17.1 million of that domestically. Who it is for: anyone curious about the Titanic wreck and viewers who like deep-sea exploration documentaries. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a narrative. The film is largely dive footage and the crew's reactions to it.