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National Geographic Posts First Footage of Cameron's Ocean Dive

by Ben Pearson
March 27, 2012
Source: National Geographic

Director/writer/inventor/explorer James Cameron made history yesterday by being the first man in over fifty years to travel to the ocean's deepest point, the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He was the first person to ever do it by himself, and I almost forgot to mention he did it in a submersible he spent years secretly designing and building in Australia. National Geographic has teamed with Cameron to bring us a 3D documentary called Deepsea Challenge which gives us an inside look into the whole process, and now the first footage from yesterday's dive has already made its way online (found via FilmDrunk). See it below!

Say what you will about the storytelling merits of Avatar—I actually wasn't as crazy about that film as a lot of other people—but this project makes Cameron a certifiable badass in my book. He spent more than three hours on the ocean floor taking samples and filming for the documentary, and for a guy who conceivably has everything he could possibly want, it's really cool that he's using his billionaire status to further human knowledge and exploring parts of our world that haven't been thoroughly studied yet. And as I said when I first wrote about this project, it's gotta be good research for Avatar 2, which will take place in the oceans of Pandora. I'm sure his imagination is going wild. We hope you enjoyed seeing this early footage. Thoughts?

Filed under Cool Stuff, To Watch

From around the web:

Neuromancer

I want to explore stuff too!
http://mithunonthe.net/ Mithun Divakaran

I can't wait to see the creatures living down in the deep!
Xerxexx

I admire Cameron in his mission to discover, that much cannot never be argued with.
- Scopedog
  
  Agreed. Say what you want about his filmmaking skills...he's never shied away from his desire to explore new frontiers, especially the ocean. And hey--he's now on that (very short) list of explorers to challenge Challenger Deep and win.
  - Xerxexx
    
    Indeed.
- son_et_lumiere
  
  yes, he pushes the boundaries in *all* fields. he might rub some people up the wrong way, but he's out there doing it and practising what he preaches. i'd hate to work with him, in interviews he seems like a ferocious task master, but for his exploration and for pushing the scientific envelope he should be applauded.
  - Xerxexx
    
    Indeed.
- McWetty
  
  I have considerable respect for the man. I'm glad to see that he's pushing the bounds of science as well as film making.
Jericho

another reason i like Cameron....
Ron

R&D for Avatar 2??....along with the a few record settings..no biggie!
Jezebel

I hope he hurries up conquering the oceans, so he can get back to making Avatar 2.
csgabriel

This is amazing. This part of the ocean terrifies me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ5hK-D8kRQ Crapola

Men and their adventuring. He's like the Richard Branson of movies.
http://thesolarsentinel.blogspot.com/ Alan Trehern

Sources say Cameron wasn't satisfied with the first trip down, so he revamped it with CGI.
- Xerxexx
  
  Ha!
- Max Renn
  
  This was James Cameron not George Lucas.
Steven

No aliens then? So its not like The Abyss....
Ss Pincode

King James Cameron,he wins again.good luck man.
Edd

can't wait to see creatures,kilometers under the ocean
Max Renn

That guy will do anything to feed his giant ego. Still, it takes some big balls to do what he did.
kdakin3420

Why oh why do these documentaries repeat the sequences in the same documentary? Its dumb, really dumb. It spoils an otherwise fine documentary. Do they think we have memories of goldfish?