Family audiences won't be disappointed by this feature-like Imax production based on the true story of Ruth Harkness, who in 1938 introduced the world to panda bears.
Destined to tumble around large-format venues for many moons, "China: The Panda Adventure" is nonetheless no great artistic leap forward and gives only glimpses of the potential for dynamic storytelling many have longed for in an Imax film.
Beginning with her arrival in China to collect the remains of her deceased husband, the story of Harkness (Maria Bello) is shortchanged for maximum exploitation of the locales. Playing a remarkably innocent and seemingly always smiling heroine who strives to prove her husband's claims that pandas are peaceful and friendly, Maria Bello ("Coyote Ugly") is far too contemporary in her approach and ultimately far from believable.
Even less convincing are Xia Yu as her husband's endlessly resourceful Chinese friend who helps Harkness travel to the Min Valley and Xander Berkeley as a heartless white hunter also in search of the giant panda. By river and on foot, with the help of women handlers at a crucial moment, Harkness undergoes a few unpleasant scares but mostly smiles her way into the stunningly beautiful mountain realm of the pandas.
Munching bamboo and otherwise proving hospitable, the pandas, including a mother and two cubs, are deservedly the stars of the production.
Unfortunately, the plot calls for Berkeley's de facto villain to race Harkness to the lair of the legendarily ferocious creatures. He shoots first, of course, but the film's poignant moments will upset only the most empathetic young viewers.
With a simplistic script and Randy Edelman's overblown orchestral score, "China" predictably satisfies only in terms of transporting one to the Min Valley. Like many an Imax travelogue in the past, it's essentially an unchallenging, thinly realized cinematic experience. The situation of the endangered pandas is the subject of an educational voice-over wrap-up during the end credits.
CHINA: THE PANDA ADVENTURE
Imax Corp.
Director: Robert M. Young
Screenwriter: Jeanne Rosenberg
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Executive producer: Andrew Gellis, John Wilcox
Director of photography: Reed Smoot
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: Randy Edelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ruth Harkness: Maria Bello
Dakar: Xander Berkeley
Quentin Young: Xia Yu
Running time -- 48 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Destined to tumble around large-format venues for many moons, "China: The Panda Adventure" is nonetheless no great artistic leap forward and gives only glimpses of the potential for dynamic storytelling many have longed for in an Imax film.
Beginning with her arrival in China to collect the remains of her deceased husband, the story of Harkness (Maria Bello) is shortchanged for maximum exploitation of the locales. Playing a remarkably innocent and seemingly always smiling heroine who strives to prove her husband's claims that pandas are peaceful and friendly, Maria Bello ("Coyote Ugly") is far too contemporary in her approach and ultimately far from believable.
Even less convincing are Xia Yu as her husband's endlessly resourceful Chinese friend who helps Harkness travel to the Min Valley and Xander Berkeley as a heartless white hunter also in search of the giant panda. By river and on foot, with the help of women handlers at a crucial moment, Harkness undergoes a few unpleasant scares but mostly smiles her way into the stunningly beautiful mountain realm of the pandas.
Munching bamboo and otherwise proving hospitable, the pandas, including a mother and two cubs, are deservedly the stars of the production.
Unfortunately, the plot calls for Berkeley's de facto villain to race Harkness to the lair of the legendarily ferocious creatures. He shoots first, of course, but the film's poignant moments will upset only the most empathetic young viewers.
With a simplistic script and Randy Edelman's overblown orchestral score, "China" predictably satisfies only in terms of transporting one to the Min Valley. Like many an Imax travelogue in the past, it's essentially an unchallenging, thinly realized cinematic experience. The situation of the endangered pandas is the subject of an educational voice-over wrap-up during the end credits.
CHINA: THE PANDA ADVENTURE
Imax Corp.
Director: Robert M. Young
Screenwriter: Jeanne Rosenberg
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Executive producer: Andrew Gellis, John Wilcox
Director of photography: Reed Smoot
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: Randy Edelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ruth Harkness: Maria Bello
Dakar: Xander Berkeley
Quentin Young: Xia Yu
Running time -- 48 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Family audiences won't be disappointed by this feature-like Imax production based on the true story of Ruth Harkness, who in 1938 introduced the world to panda bears.
Destined to tumble around large-format venues for many moons, "China: The Panda Adventure" is nonetheless no great artistic leap forward and gives only glimpses of the potential for dynamic storytelling many have longed for in an Imax film.
Beginning with her arrival in China to collect the remains of her deceased husband, the story of Harkness (Maria Bello) is shortchanged for maximum exploitation of the locales. Playing a remarkably innocent and seemingly always smiling heroine who strives to prove her husband's claims that pandas are peaceful and friendly, Maria Bello ("Coyote Ugly") is far too contemporary in her approach and ultimately far from believable.
Even less convincing are Xia Yu as her husband's endlessly resourceful Chinese friend who helps Harkness travel to the Min Valley and Xander Berkeley as a heartless white hunter also in search of the giant panda. By river and on foot, with the help of women handlers at a crucial moment, Harkness undergoes a few unpleasant scares but mostly smiles her way into the stunningly beautiful mountain realm of the pandas.
Munching bamboo and otherwise proving hospitable, the pandas, including a mother and two cubs, are deservedly the stars of the production.
Unfortunately, the plot calls for Berkeley's de facto villain to race Harkness to the lair of the legendarily ferocious creatures. He shoots first, of course, but the film's poignant moments will upset only the most empathetic young viewers.
With a simplistic script and Randy Edelman's overblown orchestral score, "China" predictably satisfies only in terms of transporting one to the Min Valley. Like many an Imax travelogue in the past, it's essentially an unchallenging, thinly realized cinematic experience. The situation of the endangered pandas is the subject of an educational voice-over wrap-up during the end credits.
CHINA: THE PANDA ADVENTURE
Imax Corp.
Director: Robert M. Young
Screenwriter: Jeanne Rosenberg
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Executive producer: Andrew Gellis, John Wilcox
Director of photography: Reed Smoot
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: Randy Edelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ruth Harkness: Maria Bello
Dakar: Xander Berkeley
Quentin Young: Xia Yu
Running time -- 48 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Destined to tumble around large-format venues for many moons, "China: The Panda Adventure" is nonetheless no great artistic leap forward and gives only glimpses of the potential for dynamic storytelling many have longed for in an Imax film.
Beginning with her arrival in China to collect the remains of her deceased husband, the story of Harkness (Maria Bello) is shortchanged for maximum exploitation of the locales. Playing a remarkably innocent and seemingly always smiling heroine who strives to prove her husband's claims that pandas are peaceful and friendly, Maria Bello ("Coyote Ugly") is far too contemporary in her approach and ultimately far from believable.
Even less convincing are Xia Yu as her husband's endlessly resourceful Chinese friend who helps Harkness travel to the Min Valley and Xander Berkeley as a heartless white hunter also in search of the giant panda. By river and on foot, with the help of women handlers at a crucial moment, Harkness undergoes a few unpleasant scares but mostly smiles her way into the stunningly beautiful mountain realm of the pandas.
Munching bamboo and otherwise proving hospitable, the pandas, including a mother and two cubs, are deservedly the stars of the production.
Unfortunately, the plot calls for Berkeley's de facto villain to race Harkness to the lair of the legendarily ferocious creatures. He shoots first, of course, but the film's poignant moments will upset only the most empathetic young viewers.
With a simplistic script and Randy Edelman's overblown orchestral score, "China" predictably satisfies only in terms of transporting one to the Min Valley. Like many an Imax travelogue in the past, it's essentially an unchallenging, thinly realized cinematic experience. The situation of the endangered pandas is the subject of an educational voice-over wrap-up during the end credits.
CHINA: THE PANDA ADVENTURE
Imax Corp.
Director: Robert M. Young
Screenwriter: Jeanne Rosenberg
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Executive producer: Andrew Gellis, John Wilcox
Director of photography: Reed Smoot
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: Randy Edelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ruth Harkness: Maria Bello
Dakar: Xander Berkeley
Quentin Young: Xia Yu
Running time -- 48 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/20/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Surprisingly dull, "Galapagos" is an Imax 3-D film with great shots of sunbathing amphibians and snapping eels that never reaches beyond a layman's explanation of evolution and the adaptability of species according to scientific theories first brought to the world's attention by Charles Darwin.
In effect a giant-sized, biogeographic education film aimed at the widest possible audience, "Galapagos" is sponsored by America Online and the Smithsonian Institution, with assistance from the National Science Foundation, and it's produced by Mandalay Media Arts.
The behind-the-camera talent includes narrator Kenneth Branagh and co-directors Al Giddings and David Clark.
Darwin visited the Galapagos group of 19 islands and 42 islets -- located 600 miles off the west coast of Ecuador -- 164 years ago and he ignited a Copernican debate that still continues in some circles. Running the usual 40 minutes for a big-format film and centered on an expedition by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, "Galapagos" is a breezy visit to the volcanic archipelago, heavier on mood than content.
"Galapagos" presents visual proof -- along with a friendly host in marine biologist Dr. Carole Baldwin -- that the isolated environments of the islands offer a multitude of examples of how migrating species "evolved." It also builds up expectations of seeing researchers investigate the rich marine life, something Darwin could not do. Indeed, the underlying message of the movie is that much work overall remains to be done, with the oceans and ocean floors still mostly unexplored.
With Giddings in the role of underwater director of photography -- he has worked on many Hollywood productions, including "Titanic" -- and the use of the research vessel Seward Johnson, with its submersible capable of reaching a depth of 3,000 feet, Baldwin leads the audience on a dive into the abyss, where unsuspecting denizens of the deep are sucked up a tube and captured for research in a kind of creepy reversal of the usual alien-abduction scenario.
The whole project could have used some more passion and poetry, with only a few of Giddings' underwater shots truly transporting one to a different world. As part of a series of Darwin-themed works and traveling exhibits, "Galapagos" is reverential but not essential.
GALAPAGOS
Imax Film Distribution
Sponsored by America Online
The Smithsonian Institution and Imax Ltd. present
in association with the National Science Foundation
a Mandalay Media Arts production
Directors: Al Giddings, David Clark
Writers: David Clark, Barry Clark
Producers: Al Giddings, David Clark
Executive producers: Laurence O'Reilly, Andrew Gellis, Peter Guber, Barry Clark
Directors of photography: Al Giddings, Andrew Kitzanuk, Reed Smoot
Music: Mark Isham
Narrator: Kenneth Branagh
Color/stereo
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In effect a giant-sized, biogeographic education film aimed at the widest possible audience, "Galapagos" is sponsored by America Online and the Smithsonian Institution, with assistance from the National Science Foundation, and it's produced by Mandalay Media Arts.
The behind-the-camera talent includes narrator Kenneth Branagh and co-directors Al Giddings and David Clark.
Darwin visited the Galapagos group of 19 islands and 42 islets -- located 600 miles off the west coast of Ecuador -- 164 years ago and he ignited a Copernican debate that still continues in some circles. Running the usual 40 minutes for a big-format film and centered on an expedition by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, "Galapagos" is a breezy visit to the volcanic archipelago, heavier on mood than content.
"Galapagos" presents visual proof -- along with a friendly host in marine biologist Dr. Carole Baldwin -- that the isolated environments of the islands offer a multitude of examples of how migrating species "evolved." It also builds up expectations of seeing researchers investigate the rich marine life, something Darwin could not do. Indeed, the underlying message of the movie is that much work overall remains to be done, with the oceans and ocean floors still mostly unexplored.
With Giddings in the role of underwater director of photography -- he has worked on many Hollywood productions, including "Titanic" -- and the use of the research vessel Seward Johnson, with its submersible capable of reaching a depth of 3,000 feet, Baldwin leads the audience on a dive into the abyss, where unsuspecting denizens of the deep are sucked up a tube and captured for research in a kind of creepy reversal of the usual alien-abduction scenario.
The whole project could have used some more passion and poetry, with only a few of Giddings' underwater shots truly transporting one to a different world. As part of a series of Darwin-themed works and traveling exhibits, "Galapagos" is reverential but not essential.
GALAPAGOS
Imax Film Distribution
Sponsored by America Online
The Smithsonian Institution and Imax Ltd. present
in association with the National Science Foundation
a Mandalay Media Arts production
Directors: Al Giddings, David Clark
Writers: David Clark, Barry Clark
Producers: Al Giddings, David Clark
Executive producers: Laurence O'Reilly, Andrew Gellis, Peter Guber, Barry Clark
Directors of photography: Al Giddings, Andrew Kitzanuk, Reed Smoot
Music: Mark Isham
Narrator: Kenneth Branagh
Color/stereo
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 11/12/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The makers of this new 3-D Imax release obviously determined that a coherent script was less important to their project than state-of-the-art dinosaur special effects, with the result that "T- Rex: Back to the Cretaceous" is a surprisingly dull and jumbled effort that will bore all but the most indiscriminant moppets.
No matter: With the timeless craze for all things dinosaur, the title alone guarantees that the film will clean up at Imax theaters around the country. It opened Friday in Southern California and New York.
Directed by Brett Leonard ("Virtuosity", "Lawnmower Man"), the slow-paced film doesn't come to life until the final minutes, when the photo-realistic dinos finally make their appearance. Before that, we must endure a sudsy melodrama about teenager Ally's (Liz Stauber) conflicts with her paleontologist father, Dr. Donald Hayden (Peter Horton), who refuses to let her accompany him on his far-flung digs. Hurting her feelings even further is Dad's close relationship with his young, clinging assistant (Kari Coleman).
When Hayden brings what may be a dinosaur egg back to the museum that serves as his laboratory, Ally accidentally knocks it over when left alone with it. A strange gas is released that propels her back into the Cretaceous Era, natch, where she has a series of close scrapes with various dinosaurs, including a strangely cuddly T-Rex trying to protect her eggs. Meanwhile, Ally's concerned dad wanders the museum, vainly calling her name.
Imax films are never known for their depth or subtlety, but "T-Rex" is even dopier than it needs to be, and the few minutes of excitement that occur toward the end don't fully compensate for the tedium that precedes it.
Still, the film has a splendid visual sheen and the excitement that only Imax 3-D can provide, and the splendidly rendered computer-animated dinosaurs are quite impressive. Another plus is the beautifully photographed outdoor locations at Dinosaur National Park in Alberta, Canada.
T-REX: BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS
Imax Film Distribution
Director: Brett Leonard
Screenplay: Andrew Gellis, Jeanne Rosenberg
Story: Andrew Gellis, David Young
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Co-producer: Michael Lewis
Director of photography: Andrew Kitzanuk
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: William Ross
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dr. Donald Hayden: Peter Horton
Ally Hayden: Liz Stauber
Elizabeth Sample: Kari Coleman
Barnum Brown: Laurie Murdoch
Charles Knight: Tuck Milligan
Running time -- 45 minutes
No MPAA rating...
No matter: With the timeless craze for all things dinosaur, the title alone guarantees that the film will clean up at Imax theaters around the country. It opened Friday in Southern California and New York.
Directed by Brett Leonard ("Virtuosity", "Lawnmower Man"), the slow-paced film doesn't come to life until the final minutes, when the photo-realistic dinos finally make their appearance. Before that, we must endure a sudsy melodrama about teenager Ally's (Liz Stauber) conflicts with her paleontologist father, Dr. Donald Hayden (Peter Horton), who refuses to let her accompany him on his far-flung digs. Hurting her feelings even further is Dad's close relationship with his young, clinging assistant (Kari Coleman).
When Hayden brings what may be a dinosaur egg back to the museum that serves as his laboratory, Ally accidentally knocks it over when left alone with it. A strange gas is released that propels her back into the Cretaceous Era, natch, where she has a series of close scrapes with various dinosaurs, including a strangely cuddly T-Rex trying to protect her eggs. Meanwhile, Ally's concerned dad wanders the museum, vainly calling her name.
Imax films are never known for their depth or subtlety, but "T-Rex" is even dopier than it needs to be, and the few minutes of excitement that occur toward the end don't fully compensate for the tedium that precedes it.
Still, the film has a splendid visual sheen and the excitement that only Imax 3-D can provide, and the splendidly rendered computer-animated dinosaurs are quite impressive. Another plus is the beautifully photographed outdoor locations at Dinosaur National Park in Alberta, Canada.
T-REX: BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS
Imax Film Distribution
Director: Brett Leonard
Screenplay: Andrew Gellis, Jeanne Rosenberg
Story: Andrew Gellis, David Young
Producers: Antoine Compin, Charis Horton
Co-producer: Michael Lewis
Director of photography: Andrew Kitzanuk
Editor: Jonathan Shaw
Music: William Ross
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dr. Donald Hayden: Peter Horton
Ally Hayden: Liz Stauber
Elizabeth Sample: Kari Coleman
Barnum Brown: Laurie Murdoch
Charles Knight: Tuck Milligan
Running time -- 45 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/26/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Although the spate of news stories about its possible hazards may not exactly have been the publicity that the makers of this new Imax effort was looking for, it will no doubt spur interest in this chronicle of the Soviet space station and the American-Russian partnership that has been forged aboard it. Since space is always a big draw for young audiences, "Mission to Mir" should do excellent business, particularly in the many science museums in which it will be playing.
"Mission to Mir" ("Mir is the Russian word for" peace") presents a behind-the-scenes look at recent missions that included American astronauts, including Shannon Lucid, who set a record for the longest time an American has spent in space. It chronicles many aspects of the experience -- including the astronauts' training in Star City, a Russian housing complex for cosmonauts -- and there is also footage of a Soyuz rocket lift-off, filmed at a previously secret and unseen launch site. The film offers a brief, sketchy historical perspective on the American and Russian space programs, with Lucid providing personalized narration describing her experiences.
The astronauts themselves filmed the Imax footage aboard Mir, including a comprehensive look at the space station (it certainly doesn't look like the sturdiest thing you've ever seen); there are also breathtaking views of Earth as filmed from space, which alone make the film worth the price of admission.
The film has its flaws, including too many cutesy shots of the astronauts socializing or enjoying barbecue, etc. And the soundtrack, which includes such pop songs as "Hotel California" and "Rescue Me", leans a little too heavily toward obvious musical commentary. But "Mission to Mir" is ultimately an entertaining and informative look at a subject that is literally out of this world.
MISSION TO MIR
An Imax and Lockheed Martin release
Filmed in space by the astronauts
Credits: Director (Russia): Ivan Galin; Producers: Toni Myers, Graeme Ferguson; Executive producers: Andrew Gellis, Jonathan Barker; Director of photography: James Neihouse; Editor: Jane Morrison; Music: Mickey Erbe, Maribeth Solomon. Color/stereo; Running time:40 minutes...
"Mission to Mir" ("Mir is the Russian word for" peace") presents a behind-the-scenes look at recent missions that included American astronauts, including Shannon Lucid, who set a record for the longest time an American has spent in space. It chronicles many aspects of the experience -- including the astronauts' training in Star City, a Russian housing complex for cosmonauts -- and there is also footage of a Soyuz rocket lift-off, filmed at a previously secret and unseen launch site. The film offers a brief, sketchy historical perspective on the American and Russian space programs, with Lucid providing personalized narration describing her experiences.
The astronauts themselves filmed the Imax footage aboard Mir, including a comprehensive look at the space station (it certainly doesn't look like the sturdiest thing you've ever seen); there are also breathtaking views of Earth as filmed from space, which alone make the film worth the price of admission.
The film has its flaws, including too many cutesy shots of the astronauts socializing or enjoying barbecue, etc. And the soundtrack, which includes such pop songs as "Hotel California" and "Rescue Me", leans a little too heavily toward obvious musical commentary. But "Mission to Mir" is ultimately an entertaining and informative look at a subject that is literally out of this world.
MISSION TO MIR
An Imax and Lockheed Martin release
Filmed in space by the astronauts
Credits: Director (Russia): Ivan Galin; Producers: Toni Myers, Graeme Ferguson; Executive producers: Andrew Gellis, Jonathan Barker; Director of photography: James Neihouse; Editor: Jane Morrison; Music: Mickey Erbe, Maribeth Solomon. Color/stereo; Running time:40 minutes...
- 10/21/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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