On a whim and because we were nearby, we went to see To The Arctic at the Ontario Science Centre Omnimax theatre. If you’ve been to an IMAX theatre before, you kind of know what the Omnimax theatre is – big screen and big sound. It’s called an Omnimax and not an IMAX theatre because instead of a screen in front of you, the screen is stretched across a curved surface in front and above you. It’s a bit of a gimmick, and not that comfortable to view (I always have to slouch in some weird manner to view the screen), but I think you are closer to the screen and the picture surrounds you more than a typical IMAX screen.
The advantage of this screen is that it is supposed to be a more immersive environment because the image fills your view. And what better imagery to fill your vision than the expanse of the arctic. Unfortunately, it was not as grand as it sounds because the resolution just isn’t high enough! You can make out blurriness due to enlargment of the image.
To The Arctic is a documentary rather than a movie, although it bills itself as a story of a mother polar bear and her two cubs. However, it is mostly cobbled together footage of animals running around the Arctic; walruses, caribou and the people filming them. Meryl Streep narrated and the songs of Paul McCartney were featured, and we were a little browbeat with the effects of global warming on the arctic environment. The polar bears held the screen for the last fifteen minutes or so, butd neither of the cubs ended up with a bottle of Coca-Cola. Disappointing!
For $13, this 1 hour (including trailers) film is not really worth it (2 out of 5 stars). It might be worth it to see something in this environment though; the last time I was here was almost $10!
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