Titanica (Large Format) (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have seen 3 versions of this Imax film. The first was the 90 min long videotape version. The second was the 45 minute theatre version, (as it was shown in Australia), which was basically a cut down version of the video, concentrating on the ocean floor and looking at the wreck, and this newly re-edited 67 minute DVD version. When I purchased the DVD I thought I was getting a DVD copy of the 90 min videotape version. This DVD is a completely re-edited and updated and DIFFERENT version of both the video and the theatrical versions I saw. The video of Titanica is a complete Imax film. The DVD contains numerous new interviews, all shot on video(! ), lots of old photos and film footage from the era, and while it contains Imax film footage, it doesn't end up looking and feeling and sounding like an Imax film. (And some of the Imax film included on this DVD is quiet scartchy in parts). All that said, it is a good update and does tell the story of the Titanic quiet well. Which is the main diffence between this DVD and the video. The video tells the story of the Titanic from the point of view of the Russian/Americam/Imax expedition sent in to film it, and spends a lot of time on the ocean floor, the DVD is more an overall account of the Titanic with the expedition included in the story. Its a great supplement to the video version, but not really as good. If you can afford it, try to get both, if not, go for the 90 minute videotape version, its far more intersting, the comparsion of the Russian and American attitudes to the Titanic site far more revealing and it has a lot more of that incredible Imax footage which gives you more of the feeling of actually being at the bottom of the Atlantic. I would have preferred to see the new footage either added to the original cut of the 90 minute video version or as an additional feature included on the DVD or perhaps BOTH versions could have been included on the DVD. And nothing against Mr.Leonard Nimoy but why was he allowed to say "In Search Of ..."; and why did this DVD version need to have its narration re-recorded; Cedric Smith did a fine job on the video version.

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Plunge two and one half miles beneath the surface of the North Atlantic and immerse yourself in a once-in-a-lifetime adventure of discovery -- TITANICA. The world's greatest deep-sea scientists and award-winning filmmakers are your guides in a high-risk journey to the resting place of one of this century's darkest tragedies. Narrated by Leonard Nimoy and shot by IMAX(R) on 70mm film, TITANICA reveals the clearest motion pictures ever captured of the Titanic. Witness startling images of the long-lost ruin contrasted with never-before-seen 1912 archival photos showing her in all her splendor. Feel the passion of the explorers, each obsessed with a different aspect of the expedition. Relive the memories of two survivors -- an exclusive interview with Frank Goldsmith and the poignant recollections of Eva Hart. An IMAX film of extraordinary power, TITANICA sheds breathtaking light on the legend that is Titanic.

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Santa vs. the Snowman 3D (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I happened to see this on television a few years back (and taped it at the same time). I was suprised to discover a new, wonderfully humorous Christmas program done in the "Jimmy Neutron-style" of computer animation (same writer and producer as Jimmy). A snowman decides that he wants to be like Santa and hilarity ensues. The program features a fantastic voice-cameo of Ben Stein as a North Pole tour guide. The narration is provided by the deep-voiced announcer who is the voice behind many movie trailers. There are many humorous touches throughout the show including allusions to Star Wars and more. The story concludes with a positive moral that wraps it up beautifully. This deserves a place in your classics of Christmas collection - mine sits right next to Rudolph!

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SANTA VS. THE SNOWMAN 3D - DVD Movie

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To Fly - Imax Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the first IMAX movie I saw and is still my favorite. The scenery is breath-taking. Can somebody tell me why this isn't on DVD?

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Cosmic Voyage (IMAX) (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)What does the universe look like at the scale of atoms, or that of galaxy superclusters? What did the early universe look like, and how did it evolve into the cosmos we know today? What other life may have evolved and be wondering about our universe as we do?
These are deep questions, and no short film can possibly do them all complete justice. Instead, in its 35 minutes, Cosmic Voyage flies through a summary of what we know--just enough to whet your appetite for more.
Starting in Galileo's Venice, with familiar everyday scales of time and space, the IMAX film employs a common technique: expanding our perspective by successive factors of 10, until the screen encompasses the largest structures scientists know of today, and our own Earth is utterly lost in the deep expanse. A similar voyage takes us from the waterways of the Netherlands down into the nucleus of the atom, where (somewhat paradoxically) our knowledge comes from some of the largest experiments in the world.
The simulation of the early universe and the numerous galactic collisions is especially awe-inspiring. Usually, documentaries of this sort employ artists to bring the words of astrophysics journals to life; Cosmic Voyage was the first movie to make use of scientific computing and cosmic simulations on such a large scale. The sequence was computed under the direction of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which also had an early hand in popularizing the World Wide Web. The result is an accurate and breathtaking depiction of how the oldest and largest parts of cosmic architecture took shape.
The temptation with any such documentary is to compare it to Cosmos, the PBS documentary hosted by Carl Sagan that ran in 1980. But the comparison is unfair. Sagan had 13 hour-long episodes, with a sweep at once broader and deeper than anything since. With only 5 percent of the length, Cosmis Voyage can't expect to duplicate that sweep, and to its credit, it doesn't try. It just stuns you with its imagery and inspires you to find out more, and it does so without straying from scientific accuracy. Provided you keep in mind the length and scope of the film, you won't be disappointed.

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Cosmic Voyage mixes ground-breaking computer animation with cutting edge science to give us a sweeping view of the universe. A "cosmic zoom" extends from the surface of the Earth to the largest observable structures of the universe, and then back down to the sub-nuclear realm - a guided tour across some 42 orders of magnitude. Cosmic Voyage explores some of the greatest scientific theories, many of which have never before been visualized on film.DVD Features:DocumentaryTheatrical Trailer

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IMAX: Horses--The Story of Equus (Full Ac3 Dol) Review

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(More customer reviews)1 Disc Widescreen, released June 8, 2010
"Horses: The Story of Equus" was financed by the Australian Film Finance Corporation and is the story of three horses: The Chestnut being trained for racing, The Bay being trained for movie stunts, and The Black who on his way to a stud farm gets into an accident and escapes into the wild joining a herd.
The cinematography on this film is breathtaking capturing every beautiful muscle of the horses galloping. Horses are speedy and graceful and always alluring to watch. The stories while clearly set up are very different and give the horses a chance to show their personality in their circumstances.
The Chestnut has issues connecting with its rider and throws her sensationally into a lake. The Bay has a fiery spirit that prevents it from getting close to anyone till the end of the film. The Black gets the most exciting journey of all getting to run free across gorgeous landscapes that are a feast for the eyes.


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IMAX: Deep Sea (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)While this film is surprisingly short and has some limitations in term of continuity, I found it utterly absorbing and watched it twice the same day. The photography is some of the most stunning marine footage I have ever seen. The filmmakers have done a superb job of capturing some of the most charismatic, sinister, and whimsical creatures that inhabit the oceans, and the information about their life cycles, while not exhaustive, was well edited to maintain interest. Highly recommended!

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Dive in! A sea full of wonders awaits. Famed oceanic filmmaker Howard Hall (Into the Deep) guides this immersive adventure that lets you swim alongside some of the most exotic creatures of the planet. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet provide the narration. And an unusual array of finned and scaled stars are ready to steal every scene. Among them: Green Sea Turtles who gather off Kona so that Surgeonfish can strip harmful algae from their shells...an ominous, predatory Humboldt Squid that changes color four times per second like a flashing strobe light...an underdog Mantis Shrimp, whose claws have the speed of a 22-caliber bullet, in battle against a hungry octopus (the shrimp wins!). So many creatures. So many amazing stories. Sea them all.

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Everest (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)Since reading "Into Thin Air", I have become a virtual Everest '96 hound, and this is my first quarry. The IMAX team's goal on Everest was to film David Breashear's expedition in that fateful year, focusing primarily on Ed Viesturs, a seasoned climber from the States, and Araceli Segarra, in her quest to be the first Spanish woman to reach the summit. A lot of attention, deservedly so, is paid as well to Jangbu Sherpa, son of Tenzing Sherpa who accompanied Sir Edmund Hilary in his premier trip to the summit.
And watching these climbers was riveting--ascending sheer sheets of ice, yards high, that look as though they are leaning in towards the climber; crossing bottomless chasms by placing an aluminum work ladder from one side to the other, and using it as a bridge; and feeling (in part through the excellent cinematography) the pull the mountain exerts on them to continue on. But I was floored, completely, by the thought of the cinematic team following along, all the way to the top, regardless of the weight and awkwardness of the equipment. For example, in the aforementioned aluminum ladder scene, shots seem to be taken from each side of the chasm. Had they carried that heavy equipment accross that ladder? And, once they came down from such a difficult and draining climb, they still managed to piece together a marvelous film.
The cinematography, once again, is gorgeous. Shots of the mountain convey not only its beauty, but its terrifying danger, as ice and whirling snow tower over the climbers, as a rescue helicopter wavers, uncertainly, as Liam Nelson explains the scientific impossibility of a helicopter to work in such thin air (it does). Seeing the Icefall alone, I think, was worth the price I paid for the video.
Warning: If you get this movie expecting it to be a documentary covering the Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness Expeditions, chronicled in "Into Thin Air", you will be disappointed. The IMAX expedition was unrelated to the others, and of course the crew could not predict that those expeditions might yield more interesting, if tragic, results. But the teams do interact with each other when it becomes clear that members are facing unexpected danger. I enjoyed "meeting" many of the folks I had read about.
Finally, "Everest", the film, stands on its own. With a terrific story in Araceli Segarra, wonderful images from Utah and Spain as well as Nepal, and a score assisted by George Harrison melodies, it provides a great armchair journey to the top of the world.

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Relive a breathtaking journey to the top of the world with EVEREST, the spectacular giant-screen motion picture for IMAX theatres! Filmed during the infamous 1996 storm that claimed eight lives, EVEREST documents the filmmakers' harrowing rescue efforts to help surviving members of the ill-fated group. Join an international team of climbers as they scale the world's tallest peak. Witness the perils of skin-blistering cold, violent blizzards that drop the windchill to minus 100 degrees, and air so thin it numbs the mind. EVEREST will take you across creaking icefalls and gaping chasms, up dangerous, towering cliffs and into the death zone of oxygen-thin altitude. Filmed in spellbinding IMAX photography, "the most hyperrealistic format yet invented," says producer Greg MacGillivray. Narrated by Academy Award(R)-nominee Liam Neeson, including the music of George Harrison, EVEREST is a rich, dramatic story -- a daring adventure of triumph and tragedy.

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