SPACE STATION 3D — **** — Narrated by Tom Cruise; unrated (probably G); Clark Planetarium IMAX Theater.
It's hard to believe that 50 years ago this year, what was touted as one of the major advancements in film technology — the very first, feature-length 3-D movie — burst on the scene. But there's a world of difference between 1953's fairly primitive "Bwana Devil" and "Space Station 3D," which formally opened Utah's first genuine IMAX theater in the new Clark Planetarium at The Gateway.
"Bwana Devil" was hastily filmed in less than a week in the California desert, while "Space Station" was filmed over several months at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome and more than 200 miles above the Earth aboard the International Space Station.
Watching 3-D on a five-story high screen mixes "in your face" with "larger than life."
"Space Station 3D" is not just another IMAX travelogue. It's a fascinating, sometimes breathtaking, look at the construction and utilization of the permanent laboratory now floating in outer space.
Tom Cruise narrates the film, but the real "stars" are the astronauts and cosmonauts, blasting off from two launch pads, docking with the station, and slowly adding bits and pieces to the project.
The 3-D effects are stunning, and the photography is extraordinary. The film delves quite a bit into the fascinating, space-age technology being packed into all of the station's nooks and crannies. Developed and built by dozens of companies on earth, they're so well-designed that the various modules just pop into place, once they're delivered via space shuttle.
(One piece of technology that isn't explained is how IMAX Corp. itself developed a camera compact enough to fit into the cockpit of the Russian space shuttle, a space that is not much bigger than a Volkswagen bug. There were brief, but stunning, shots giving audiences an astronaut's-eye-view shortly after blasting off.)
There's a bit of suspense early in the film when it appears that one of the station's crew members has lost his grip and is floating — tetherless — into space. Then the movie shifts directly to a NASA "virtual reality" training center, where it shows how astronauts are trained how to deal with such emergencies.
The weightlessness in space adds some humorous touches — drinking large, floating blobs of water . . . munching on popcorn, which floats right out of the plastic bag . . . and one of the women astronauts noting that items which weigh hundreds of pounds on Earth are light as a feather in the space station.
It's also interesting to see the difference between U.S. and Russian launchings. At Florida's Kennedy Space Center, the number of onlookers is carefully restricted. At the Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where one American and two Russians embark on their rendezvous with the station, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of well-wishers packed around the launchpad.
"Space Station 3D" will be the sole IMAX attraction at the planetarium for at least a month, then continue through the summer, rotating with two other science-related films. (There are roughly 180 IMAX films available, but Clark Planetarium will focus on those which are more educational than merely entertaining.)
The film isn't rated but is geared to all ages.
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