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
An excited murmur fills the air. Fingers of light poke through the smoky night sky. Backstage, band members grab instruments and shake hands with anticipatory pleasure.
On stage, flames erupt from trap doors. Seen from overhead, a huge European stadium flashes with colored lights and smoke like an alien spaceship landing in a dense, urban jungle. A loud speaker booms.
It's The Rolling Stones ''At the Max.''
This first feature film produced in the large-screen IMAX format is a spectacular concert film-time capsule of last year's Rolling Stones Steel Wheels-Urban Jungle Tour.
''At the Max'' will be a superhit at all IMAX theaters worldwide. This may not be the ultimate rock concert film. But it surely points the way to whatever will be.
IMAX, which projects its images on a five-story-tall screen, has long been the domain of nature studies and space exploration films. Until recently what prohibited filming a concert was the three-minute film magazine on the incredibly cumbersome IMAX cameras.
But a new, 2,700-foot magazine coupled with the development of faster film allowed an IMAX crew, lead by Julien Temple, to film Stones concerts over five nights in the summer of 1990.
IMAX takes the viewer everywhere. You're on stage strutting with Mick Jagger; in the joyous, sing-along crowds; in seats which, if they existed, would be suspended in mid-air.
''At the Max'' displays none of the large-screen gimmickry that took viewers on swift rides down rivers or flights over tree tops. The approach is straightforward with slow pans and an emphasis on wide, wide shots that dazzle the eye.
The Steel Wheels set is said to have been inspired by Ridley Scott's ''Blade Runner.'' But it looks more like the deck of a fabulous, derelict ship taken over by rock 'n' roll pirates.
As walls of music wash over its deck, Jagger climbs all over the towers, catwalks and gangplanks. Two huge helium dolls of Honky Tonk women inflate and tower over the stage for one number. Later, the band is menaced by two huge dragons.
It's difficult to divvy up the credit, as IMAX demands total collaboration. Temple served as creative consultant and location director along with Roman Kroitor, David Douglas and Noel Archambault.
The magnificent camera work is by David Douglas and Andrew Kitzanuk, with Haskell Wexler listed as camera consultant.
The six-channel soundtrack which surrounds the viewer was produced by Stones music producer Chris Kimsey working with IMAX sound mixer Paul Massey and Bruce Nyznik.
What's missing, though, is a firm directorial hand, someone to design and select shots that bring the viewer into the emotions of each song. The images are so sharp and overwhelming that an audience craves a point of view. Otherwise, eyes and ears go into sensory overload.
The aging boys in the band still play with grace, wit and a genuine pleasure in their own music.
Each member forcefully exerts his own personality in this up-close-and-personal view: tireless Jagger, running his own rock marathon; sagacious Keith Richards, his eyes always twinkling; a bemused Charlie Watts, creating magic with his tiny drum set; painfully shy Bill Wyman, forever evading the spotlights; and fun-loving Ron Wood, determined to find the weirdest angles to play a guitar.
AT THE MAX
BCL Group/IMAX Corp.
Executive producers Michael Cohl, Andre Picard
Creative consultant, location director Julien Temple
Location direction Roman Kroitor, David Douglas, Noel Archambault
Directors of photography David Douglas, Andrew Kitzanuk
Camera consultant Haskell Wexler
Editor Daniel W. Blevins
Music producer Chris Kimsey
IMAX sound mixer Paul Massey
Postproduction sound Bruce Nyznik
Video director Christine Strand
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Bill Wyman
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
On stage, flames erupt from trap doors. Seen from overhead, a huge European stadium flashes with colored lights and smoke like an alien spaceship landing in a dense, urban jungle. A loud speaker booms.
It's The Rolling Stones ''At the Max.''
This first feature film produced in the large-screen IMAX format is a spectacular concert film-time capsule of last year's Rolling Stones Steel Wheels-Urban Jungle Tour.
''At the Max'' will be a superhit at all IMAX theaters worldwide. This may not be the ultimate rock concert film. But it surely points the way to whatever will be.
IMAX, which projects its images on a five-story-tall screen, has long been the domain of nature studies and space exploration films. Until recently what prohibited filming a concert was the three-minute film magazine on the incredibly cumbersome IMAX cameras.
But a new, 2,700-foot magazine coupled with the development of faster film allowed an IMAX crew, lead by Julien Temple, to film Stones concerts over five nights in the summer of 1990.
IMAX takes the viewer everywhere. You're on stage strutting with Mick Jagger; in the joyous, sing-along crowds; in seats which, if they existed, would be suspended in mid-air.
''At the Max'' displays none of the large-screen gimmickry that took viewers on swift rides down rivers or flights over tree tops. The approach is straightforward with slow pans and an emphasis on wide, wide shots that dazzle the eye.
The Steel Wheels set is said to have been inspired by Ridley Scott's ''Blade Runner.'' But it looks more like the deck of a fabulous, derelict ship taken over by rock 'n' roll pirates.
As walls of music wash over its deck, Jagger climbs all over the towers, catwalks and gangplanks. Two huge helium dolls of Honky Tonk women inflate and tower over the stage for one number. Later, the band is menaced by two huge dragons.
It's difficult to divvy up the credit, as IMAX demands total collaboration. Temple served as creative consultant and location director along with Roman Kroitor, David Douglas and Noel Archambault.
The magnificent camera work is by David Douglas and Andrew Kitzanuk, with Haskell Wexler listed as camera consultant.
The six-channel soundtrack which surrounds the viewer was produced by Stones music producer Chris Kimsey working with IMAX sound mixer Paul Massey and Bruce Nyznik.
What's missing, though, is a firm directorial hand, someone to design and select shots that bring the viewer into the emotions of each song. The images are so sharp and overwhelming that an audience craves a point of view. Otherwise, eyes and ears go into sensory overload.
The aging boys in the band still play with grace, wit and a genuine pleasure in their own music.
Each member forcefully exerts his own personality in this up-close-and-personal view: tireless Jagger, running his own rock marathon; sagacious Keith Richards, his eyes always twinkling; a bemused Charlie Watts, creating magic with his tiny drum set; painfully shy Bill Wyman, forever evading the spotlights; and fun-loving Ron Wood, determined to find the weirdest angles to play a guitar.
AT THE MAX
BCL Group/IMAX Corp.
Executive producers Michael Cohl, Andre Picard
Creative consultant, location director Julien Temple
Location direction Roman Kroitor, David Douglas, Noel Archambault
Directors of photography David Douglas, Andrew Kitzanuk
Camera consultant Haskell Wexler
Editor Daniel W. Blevins
Music producer Chris Kimsey
IMAX sound mixer Paul Massey
Postproduction sound Bruce Nyznik
Video director Christine Strand
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Bill Wyman
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 10/23/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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