IMAX movie reviews
Two National Geographic movies are playing at Carnegie Science Center’s Omnimax Theater: “Mysteries of the Unseen World” and “Jerusalem.”
“Mysteries of the Unseen World,” about things unable to be seen by the naked eye, is segmented into different subtopics and include “invisible” (light rays like infrared and radio), “too slow” (using time lapses to see how nature develops), “too fast” (slowing down footage to see how things such flight work) and “too small” (intense magnification). This last one is the highlight, showing what insects look like up close and even views of single atoms. Much of the film is presented in computer generation, which is done outstandingly well. The viewer gets to see the scales on a butterfly’s wings, how water bounces when it ripples, what happens when popcorn pops, and how dragonflies, the best fliers in the world, operate their wings. If I had one complaint about the movie, it would be that the announcer is sometimes too dramatic. Other than that, it’s really neat, and I recommend you see it.
The second movie, “Jerusalem,” feels a little out of place in a science center. Instead of focusing on science like the previous film, Jerusalem follows science’s old rival, religion. Jerusalem is a city where people of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths gather. The movie goes into detail about how each religion came to respect and worship in this place, as well as general history of the city. It shows the Western Wall of the temple, several churches and mosques, and how the three religions celebrate their different holidays in Jerusalem. Not only does the film have a faceless narrator, but a girl from each religion also talks about her beliefs. The girls sound similar to each other, though, so it can be difficult to determine who is talking about what. Politics are not addressed, but instead there is a focus on historical sites and locations. Unlike “Mysteries of the Unseen World,” “Jerusalem” doesn’t really fit IMAX. It really could be an hour television special and nothing would be lost. There’s nothing particularly bad about the movie, but if you were only to see one, I’d recommend “Mysteries of the Unseen World over “Jerusalem.” Mysteries is better as both an IMAX movie and a movie for the Science Center.
Jeremy Farbman is a freshman at Mt. Lebanon High School.