Hearst Castle - Building the Dream (Digitally Remastered From IMAX Format) Review

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(More customer reviews)The film talks mostly about Hearst than Hearst Castle. It is a very short film (only 38 minutes) and less than 8 minutes were used to show the Castle. If you expect to tour the castle, you will be greatly disapponted.

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High above the majestic central California coast rises an enchanted castle, a special place created from the dreams of one man, William Randolph Hearst. His vision was inspired by his many trips to Europe's finest castles. From this unique blend of European influence rose an architectural masterpiece which Hearst furnished with priceless art treasures from around the world.See the spectacular European castles and art treasures which influenced its creation. Join the continuous flow of famous house guests and the extravagant parties hosted by newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst. See the dramatic beauty of the Hearst Castle - Building the Dream setting, a magnificent estate with gardens, terraces, pools and walkways spanning 127 acres.

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North America's National Parks (As Seen In IMAX Theaters) Review

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(More customer reviews)(Please note that English is not my native language.)
Good:
Obviously, it's about national parks, and contains really impressive footage, well chosen and thought-out shots.
Most footage is high-definition. Time-lapse effect (everything is sped-up) is nicely used to improve dynamics or point out changes occuring in nature.
Bad:
There are absolutely no sounds from nature - entire presentation is drowned in background music (of acceptable quality, though) and narration.
There are no animals and insects visible (except some unrecognizable, small dark birds in background), which somehow makes the whole film look empty and unnatural. I get that not everyone likes spiders or snakes, including myself... but weren't there any ladybugs or butterflies? Wild cats? Squirrels? What about endangered species like wolves? In all the national parks of all the north America, there is not a single animal worth mentioning and filming?
Narration is less than impressive consisting mostly of empty phrases like "timeless beauty inspires spirit to be spiritually spiritual". Nothing is said about geology, botanics, climate, why do these factors combine at these places in such ways to make them so attractive and colorful. It is said, though, that "Death Valley is a desert and has a desert climate... Mount Rainier is a mountain and has a mountain climate... rain forest gets lots of rain".
There is a mysterious fade to black transition every few minutes for no particular reason (except to insert commercials, I suppose, if this material is sold to someone interested adding them).
Ugly:
Some scenes are shot with standard-definition camera, the difference is really noticable, for the worse. Some scenes are shot with unknown-definition camera which is badly out of focus.
Some high-definition shots are made with camera with dirty lenses and the dirt is there through several shots. Not the little drops or water or something that can be accepted as "part of nature"... just some irregular dirt, fingerprints or something...
Some shots are made with 24 fps and poorly, causing bad stuttering, "upscaled" to 30 fps.
Something strange happened in editing process, so at the left side there is about 1 inch of empty black space. The width of black bar is not constant throughout the film.
Some scenes have weird pink stripe at bottom, looking as malfunctioning camera.

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Timeless... A National Parks Odyssey (IMAX) (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)I agree with other reviewers that the images and music are gorgeous. The landscapes are breathtakingly beautiful. Yet I want other buyers to realize what I didn't: many of the scenes are filmed with time-lapse photography. In other words, the clouds and shadows move across the landscape in accelerated motion. Some viewers will like this pace and won't mind that the naturally inspiring landscape has been altered. But for me, this created a sense of hurry and hectic rushing through time instead of the simplicity and calm of a real-time cinescape. Some of the chapters are presented at normal speed. These are the ones I find most enjoyable, and I only wish the talents who created this had let the natural beauty and their skills stand alone. Many will enjoy this film as it is. I had expected a simpler version of nature.

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Item Name: Timeless... A National Parks Odyssey (IMAX); Studio:Razor Digital Entertainment

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Antarctica - An Adventure of a Different Nature (Large Format) (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)This 1991 documentary was created for an IMAX presentation so I seriously wondered how this video would look on my little TV scene. Of course it could never be the same, but I had nothing to worry about because this 38-minute Australian documentary definitely captures the wonder and majesty of Antarctica. I learned something too and held my breathe in awe when the camera showed how the crevices in the glaciers are sometimes covered with such a thin sheet of ice that it will not sustain the weight of a person. However, they did bring a camera down there and it was a treat to see something that had never been filmed before. Another great shot was a timed exposure of the sun as it travels around the pole. There was also excellent cinematography of seals and of penguins although I wish they had skipped the silly background music, which tried to be humorous while showing the penguins diving. There were also a few film clips from the 1948 British film "Scott of Antarctica".
I understand that the film cost $3.5 million to produce and that the film crew had to drag 2300 pounds of Imax equipment around, including one camera that never worked in the frigid temperatures. It took two Antarctic summers to film and the crew stayed at the American, French, Russian and Chinese scientific camps, getting some interesting footage of the scientists themselves and their experiments. The inevitable conclusion is that global warming is a serious threat that we cannot ignore. This is a great video for those of us who will likely never visit this coldest, driest, windiest and last unexplored place on earth. Recommended.

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NASCAR - The IMAX Experience (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)I come from the heart of NASCAR country, and I have a lot of race memories going back a good quarter of a century now. I love racing, but I really haven't been able to watch it since that black day when Dale Earnhardt lost his life at Daytona; I doubt I'll ever be able to watch another Daytona 500 as long as I live. Still, I'd love to get past the loss of the Man in Black and make NASCAR a part of my Sunday rituals once again. That's the main reason I decided to watch NASCAR: The IMAX Experience. Of course, I have only seen it in the privacy of my own home, so I can't speak to the actual IMAX theatre experience. It's a good show, but I guess I was just expecting a little bit more out of it.
The main limitation of the film is its length; you can only say so much about the rich history of NASCAR in forty-eight minutes. There's a decent look at the origins of the sport, but most of the historical attention is placed on a select few superstars of years past. The behind-the-scenes look at the way cars are built and maintained is excellent, but many of the really technical aspects of car design are not covered - you'll get a quick picture of the way drafting works, but pushing and pulling, for example, aren't covered at all. You do get a good sense of the time and expense that goes in to making each and every race happen, though. Pit crews and spotters are given their due, and rightly so, and you also get a small taste of tail-gating and driver interaction with the public. That interaction goes a long way toward making NASCAR the fan success it is. You also get to hear from a few wives who bear the tough burden of being married to a driver, and this discussion easily spills over into a discussion of safety. Several drivers also make comments throughout the film, but all too often, the actual driver is not identified - if you can't recognize the voice, you won't know who is speaking on several occasions. I thought the selection of driver comments was also too limited, as some big names are left out entirely. The big thrills supposedly come from the IMAX footage of on-the-track action, but there's nothing all that special about the footage outside of an IMAX theatre setting. Frankly, I don't think the non-3D experience matches the footage you can see on your own television set come the next race Sunday.
If you're an established NASCAR fan, you may not get all that much out of NASCAR: The IMAX Experience, although you will surely find it enjoyable. Those new to the sport, however, can get a good sense of the excitement and enthusiasm the sport generates among its fans. You won't feel the thunder of the engines in your gut, though. Nothing, not even NASCAR: The IMAX Experience, compares to the excitement generated on any given race day.

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When NASCAR: The IMAX Experience 3D is released to IMAX Theatres in Spring 2004, fans will literally be transported into the driver's seat of America's most popular spectator sport. The groundbreaking IMAX 3D film, set against America's most popular spectator sport, will be distributed exclusively to IMAX theatres by Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX in Spring 2004 and marks Warner Bros.' first foray into the IMAX arena. DVD Features:Documentaries:Drivers' ProfilesDocumentary:NASCAR's closest racing moments

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The Ultimate 3-D Collection (Haunted Castle / Alien Adventure / Encounter in the Third Dimension) (Large Format) (Includes H3D Viewing System) (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)The i-glasses system included in this package is not compatible with digital TV's. The system is only able to sync up with the old style analog TV's (which most people own). If you have an HDTV or an HDTV ready TV, this system simply won't work.

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ATTENTION! This system REQUIRES a CRT TV for 3D viewing. This will NOT work with HDTVs, LCD TVs or Plasma screens. Enjoy 3D on your existing standard technology!

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Australia: Land Beyond Time (IMAX) (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Extraordinary panoramic vistas, taken from a 2-engine plane with a camera attached to its nose, amazing geological facts, and marvelous animals, most of them unique to Australia, are what we get in this superb documentary of what is both the world's smallest continent, and its largest island. Once joined to Antarctica many millions of years ago, with high mountains and lush forests, time transformed Australia into 3 million square miles of mostly arid flat land, and its creatures adapted to the different weather conditions. Fabulous and often amusing footage of kangaroos and koalas (both share the same ancestral marsupial possum), as well as desert creatures from ants to the giant and fearsome parenti lizard, and the "living contradiction," the platypus, are among the many delights shown in this film.
An event that only occurs approximately twice every century, torrential rains filling the Outback's Lake Eyre, bringing long dormant animals to life, as well as flocks of pelicans, is caught on film, and is a spectacular sight. This is a glorious but harsh land, with a strange beauty that fills the soul. Australia is described as being more like another planet than another country, and this documentary has many images rarely seen.
Directed by David Flatman, written by Flatman, Meg Morrison, and poet Les Murray, it is narrated by Alex Scott, and has a lovely score by David Bridie. Made for IMAX in 2002, every aspect of "Australia, Land Beyond Time" is excellent, is a must for anyone interested in this great country, and those of us who like to explore foreign lands without leaving home.


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