Movie Reviews for Space Station (IMAX)

Space Station (IMAX)

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Movie Reviews of Space Station (IMAX)

Movie Review: I didn't know.
Summary: 4 Stars

Unbelievable to learn what we do outside the earths boundries. A little out dated but still great to watch.

Movie Review: Magnificent Views, Poor Audio Engineering
Summary: 3 Stars

This is an absolutely magnificent presentation filmed in the IMAX format by astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The viewer is provided with highly informative coverage, an unprecedented tour throughout the Station, plus various extravehicular space walks tethered to the Station, secured to the robotic arm, or as an independent human satellite maneuvering with a thruster-enabled back pack. It's not hard to almost visualize being involved in the mission.
I would have gladly given this DVD five stars were it not for the horribly engineered audio mixing, unless I received a poor copy of the master. Tom Cruise's narration adds nothing of value, and is reduced to a whisper. What little can be heard above the absurd crashing, clashing or heroic "music" by Mickey Erbe and Maribeth Solomon is superfluous. I had to repeatedly turn up or turn down the volume depending upon whether the "music" was blaring or none was playing. Why can't a work of this magnitude be presented with minimal music that doesn't distract from the content? On the plus side was an astronaut speaking in clear though at times broken speech, due to the ISS-to-ground relay, a down-link problem experienced during several previous orbital missions.
The special DVD features are not to be missed. Commentaries by the director, Toni Myers, and astronaut Marsha Ivins are superb. The Station tour is exquisite and will linger in the mind indefinitely.
Overall, I recommend this DVD with the Cruise's narration and "music" cautions, but the visual impact is well worth the downsides. To have seen this in an IMAX theater would have been overwhelming.
Finally, the views of Earth "below" are beyond description. We seldom see our planet in all its glory, so feast your eyes on where you live and it may forever change your perspective of this "oasis in the vastness of space."

Movie Review: No 3D, bad compression artifacting
Summary: 3 Stars

I really thought I'd enjoy this DVD since I love the other space documentaries by IMAX. Sure, it is an excellent movie about the construction and running of the Erector set space station, no problem there. But what a hunk of junk. Looks like a car engine without any coverings. On the inside, it has the appearance of an exploded computer. Very user unfriendly environment, same for working long term in zero-g. Not at all good on the human body. I do agree that a space station is needed for a port to our solar system and beyond, but why start with such a crude sardine can of equipment? Leaving aside my views on the station itself, the DVD has some nasty compression artifacting on it (at least mine does), which rears its ugly visuals at the top and bottom of nearly every scene in the film. And to make matters worse, Warner didn't even bother to include the field-sequential 3D version on the disc with the 2D edition. Why? Like "IMAX: NASCAR", this was shot for dimensional depth viewing. It's okay without it, but 3D gives the viewer a totally immersive experience. Slingshot Video should have been given the rights to put this movie out. They would have made it an excellent DVD. So far, Warner has two strikes against them on the IMAX topic. Three and they should be out.

Movie Review: Very Nice Images of the Space Station and Launches
Summary: 3 Stars

Space Station is a feel good DVD and to that end it accomplishes its mission. It is a historic documentary of how the Space Station was intitially built and the adaptation of the first ISS Expedition crews. The DVD fails to set forth the real topology in the future of the multinational space effort other than to say it will be a model for how multinational space crews will adapt to long missions. The focus appears to be on the human engineering feat as opposed to its space utility.