Ten films in which the ocean is a central character

The streaming platform National Geographic has put together a selection of ten live-action and animated films in which the ocean is not just a backdrop but a driving force of the story. The list was released in connection with World Science Day for Peace and Development, observed on 10 November. The platform notes that science and cinema complement each other: modern technology helps researchers explore the ocean depths and discover new species, while the knowledge gained also inspires filmmakers.

Horror and classics

The list opens with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws (1975), in which a great white shark threatens the seaside town of Amity. The animated film The Little Mermaid (1989) offers an underwater kingdom of mermaids and talking sea creatures. James Cameron's Titanic (1997) tells of the ship disaster of 15 April 1912. To achieve historical accuracy, the director himself dived more than four kilometres down to the real wreck. The film won 11 Academy Awards.

Survival and adventure

Robert Zemeckis's drama Cast Away (2000) follows a FedEx employee who ends up on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean after a plane crash. The animated Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) draws on the legend of a sunken civilisation, while Finding Nemo (2003) follows a clownfish's father searching for his missing son. The pirate adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) is one of five films in its series.

More recent works

Ang Lee's drama Life of Pi (2012) tells of a young man in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The animated Moana (2016) received a sequel in 2024. The list closes with Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), which returns to the world of Pandora and a clan living on the ocean coast, using underwater motion-capture technology.