Ego soars as a cashed-up and cranky James Cameron takes a dive in Deepsea Challenge 3D
DEEPSEA Challenge 3D: IT ain’t easy being James Cameron. But it is sure is fun. And dangerous. And expensive. And don’t you ever forget it.
Leigh Paatsch
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IT ain’t easy being James Cameron. But it is sure is fun. And dangerous. And expensive. And don’t you ever forget it.
So say the messages communicated by Deepsea Challenge 3D, a new documentary celebrating Cameron’s 2012 solo mission to the lowest ocean floor on the planet.
Cameron will already go down in history as the most successful part-time filmmaker there will ever be.
His previous two efforts behind the camera, 1997’s Titanic and 2009’s Avatar, both ended their runs in cinemas as the highest-grossing movies of all time.
However, Cameron would prefer to be remembered for his exploits as a full-time explorer of the world’s seas.
And he is both cashed-up and cranky enough to make sure that happens.
Therefore, Deepsea Challenge 3D is as much a journey to the centre of Cameron’s cavernous ego, as it is a plunge to the absolute depths of the Mariana Trench.
The mind-boggling logistics of the dive exist in a grey area where the daunting becomes the intimidating.
To get to his target drop site — exactly 10,907m beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean — Cameron had to make his own submarine.
Largely designed and manufactured here in Australia, this prototype vessel had to be capable of withstanding immense external pressure.
Space for Cameron himself was less of a priority. Once the blueprints for the sub were finished, he would be piloting the craft from inside a space not much bigger than the fridge in your kitchen.
As we come to learn throughout Deepsea Challenge, Cameron is certainly one brave hombre.
Test runs for the submarine are conducted in an unseemly rush, and the not-insignificant matters of sudden leaks and failing equipment are dealt with on the fly.
However, scenes such as where we have to sit through re-enactments of Cameron’s childhood, or watch him give a marine biology lesson to a New Guinea man who didn’t really want one, are wincingly unnecessary.
Thankfully, Deepsea Challenge is saved by the extraordinary 3D pictures Cameron captures at the base of the mysterious Mariana Trench.
There is an uncharted (and very active) world down there, and Cameron pulls out all stops to ensure we take in every last detail possible of this fascinating new frontier.
Ever the innovator, Cameron might also have unwittingly forged a whole new cinematic genre: celebrity billionaires blowing their dough on the vanity adventure doco of their choosing.
The queues for Bill Gates: Mission To Mars and J.K. Rowling Roller Skates Along the Equator start right here.
Deepsea Challenge 3D
Director: John Bruno, Ray Quint, Andrew Wight
Starring: James Cameron
Verdict: Three stars. A big kahuna becomes a big dipper
Originally published as Ego soars as a cashed-up and cranky James Cameron takes a dive in Deepsea Challenge 3D
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