OK, so it’s not “Titanic” or “Avatar” or even “The Abyss” (though that’s one’s close!). There’s no famous Hollywood star to have his name in lights. This James Cameron film is just Cameron, a vertical torpedo, a dedicated expedition crew, and 35,787 feet down into the unknown.
“My problem is I’m curious. I’m a curious monkey and I need to see for myself,” Cameron says of the reason for his March 2012 dive to the 
bottom of the Mariana Trench.
It was the first solo expedition to the earth’s deepest point — and the first in a privately funded and constructed sea craft — which made it that much more suspenseful. And because it was done by Cameron, who himself couldn’t tell you if he is an Explorer who happens to be a Filmmaker, or a Filmmaker who happens to be an Explorer, the whole thing had to be documented and made into a movie… in 3D.
James Cameron’s DEEPSEA CHALLENGE 3D — opening August 8th in theaters nationwide, including right here at the National Geographic Museum — isn’t going to break records at the box office like his Hollywood hits, but this is definitely the one that solidifies his legacy in the scientific community. And surely one to watch if you have any interest in the sea, diving, or oceanic exploration.
Over about 90 minutes, the majority of which Cameron spends building and testing the craft, DEEPSEA CHALLENGE 3D follows the dramatic story of Cameron as a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence as he succeeds in the historic achievement of making the first successful solo dive to the Mariana Trench. (“You don’t compromise — not on the stuff that keeps you alive,” says Cameron detailing the millions of personal dollars he spent funding the mission, in partnership with National Geographic and Rolex.)
You’ll watch the intricacies — and setbacks — of designing a craft from scratch. You’ll experience the cameraderie of the crew that has Cameron’s life in their hands. You’ll marvel as the craft dives into the depths — with bonus footage from Cameron’s earlier dives to the Titanic and the Bismark. You’ll witness as Cameron sees firsthand dozens of undocumented species in the depths of the ocean. And eventually… what there is to be found “at a point so deep you could put Mount Everest in it with four Empire State Buildings stacked on top and not even break the surface.”
“Look what a little group of people with no adult supervision can do if they put their minds to it,” says Cameron.
Wow.
*Images courtesy DeepSeaChallenge.com
