Flatland: The Movie
by Dano Johnson, Jeffrey Travis
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Kristen Bell, Martin Sheen, Michael York, Tony HaleDirector: Dano Johnson, Jeffrey Travis
Brand: Flatland: The Movie (Home Edition)
Writer: Seth Caplan
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Dutch (Subtitled); Greek (Subtitled); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 34 minutes
Published: 2008
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Platform: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Studio: Flat World Productions, LLC
Product features:
- Starring MARTIN SHEEN, MICHAEL YORK, TONY HALE & KRISTEN BELL
- Featuring an interview on the 4th Dimension by Dr. Thomas Banchoff
- English, Spanish and Italian subtitles
Movie Reviews of Flatland: The Movie
Movie Review: Helps overcome two dimensional thinking
Summary: 5 Stars
"The book of nature is written in mathematics."
-- Galileo
From Euclid forward, mathematicians have kind of served as reality's accountants alterting us to mathematical truths and their impact on the lives we live.
That's why when a lifelong mathematician like Edwin Abbott Abbott takes the time to sit down and write book in parable form about a basic mathematical truth...well...it's probably worth our time to sit down and read it.
In Abbott's 1884 classic masterpiece Flatlands, Abbott told the story of A Square...a resident of Flatland who comes to discover the existence of the third dimension. For those who haven't yet read the book, I would recommend Ian Stewart's brilliant Flatland Annotated in which Stewart (himself a lifelong mathematician) verbatim goes through Abbott's book annotating it along the way with helpful explanatory tidbits and information. In some cases, Stewart's annotations explain Abbott's points in terms of the basic mathematics or history. In other cases, Stewart provides information about the development of mathematical theory since Flatlands was written.
In one line of developments, for example, Euclid's fifth postulate is overturned and in another the idea that any one mathematical system can find all mathematical truth is iself overturned...both significant findings. For more on these developments or other interesting math issues, you can turn to Stewart's follow up Flatterland, the Dover publications treatment on Mathematical Fallacies and Paradoxes or even the highly readable Choas, Coincidence and All that Math Jazz.
But for those not interested in reading but simple and quick exposition on the issues raised by Flatland, I would suggest this movie. For one thing, it slowly goes over the issues involved. The graphics are just wonderful. And for that matter so is the voice work by such notables as Martin Sheen and Michael York.
If like me this movie picks your curiosity please consider reading the following titles by way of follow up: The Fourth Dimension by Charles Hinton, The Fourth Dimension Simply Explained, Flatland Annotated, Flatterland, Sphereland, The Plainiverse, and finally Michio Kaku's Hyperspace. In so doing you'll discover that our world is more strange and fantastic than you ever thought and like A Square, you might just find yourself looking one dimension higher!
Summary of Flatland: The Movie
Flatland: The Movie is an exciting half-hour animated film based on Edwin Abbott's classic novel. Flatland is an entirely two-dimensional world where different shapes live, work, and play--all under the rule of the evil Circles who are determined to keep the third dimension a secret, at any cost. The story follows Arthur Square (Martin Sheen) and his curious granddaughter Hex (Kristen Bell). When the mysterious visitor Spherius (Michael York) arrives from Spaceland, Arthur and Hex face grave danger as they begin to come to terms with the truth of the third dimension. Combining action, drama, geometry, and sociopolitical commentary, this moving story challenges audiences to grasp the limitations of their assumptions about reality and to think about the possibility of higher and previously inconceivable dimensions (both literal and metaphorical).
DVD features:
- 4-D short feature: Brown University mathematician Thomas Banchoff discusses Flatland and the fourth dimension
- Interviews with cast members Martin Sheen, Kristen Bell, Michael York, Tony Hale, and Joe Estevez
- English and Spanish subtitles
- Full text of the novel that inspired the movie
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