[.ca] The Discoverers (IMAX Large Format)

From Amazon.com:
Originally filmed in IMAX format, The Discoverers features some astoundingly spectacular footage all centering around the act of discovery. The story of the great navigator Magellan's search for a passage to the Pacific is presented with film of spectacular sunsets and scenery, and a visit to a re-creation of Sir Isaac Newton's laboratory while he refracts light with lamps and prisms is equally beautiful. The various vignettes, which range from a child and her father discovering paintings of bison painted on cave ceilings thousands of years ago to a scientist on a team analyzing data sent back from a probe sent to the planet Venus, don't proceed in a linear path. But that's the whole idea. The production was inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin, and the goal was to put the viewer alongside those who explore the unknown as they experience the joyous moments of discovery. There is some serious science presented in the course of the film, but fear not, it's all presented in a highly entertaining manner. All that's required is to simply sit back and immerse yourself in the utterly gorgeous cinematography. --Robert J. McNamara

Lost Discoverers:
I purchased this DVD as a teaching aid. It is worthless from a pedagogical point of view. It is nothing more than a pastiche of disconnected topics. It displays none of the intelligence nor logic of Boorstein's book. It's not even very entertaining-- a colossal waste of time, money, and film.

Works great with an LCD projector or a mega-sized plasma dis:
If you're in the mood of "beautiful cinematography"ýc Cutting-edge cinematography successfully capturing astonishing clips of nature - as with many other IMAX films - but only a small fraction presented in this piece of work. The story of Magellan's search for the passage to the Pacific captures a long shot of mega-icy-glaciers of the North and the teeny row boat of Magellan's team (understandably, the package cover) which is purely my favorite scene. "WOOOW!!" guaranteed on a mega-sized plasma display, but a "wooOOOOOWWWW!!!" guaranteed on a 100inch+ LCD projector. If you're in the mood of "beautiful cinematography + dynamic sound"ýc I wouldn't expect much on the sound quality. My BOSE system has seen much better production (e.g. IMAX "The Living Sea"). The documentary structure of the film makes it hard to enjoy combining your own-taste of music (unlike "The Living Sea" which works amazingly with house/ drum 'n bass/ techno). Bottom lineýc All-in-all for me, "the glaciers & the row boat" scene is the film's worth. The scene is precisely "Discovery" - human challenge to define nature and upon that, being thunderstruck.

The fillm is an accurate reflection of the book...:
... a disjointed, disjuncted pastiche. An even worse book of the same ilk is Connections by James Burke.

Great Experience:
When I first got into DVD, I was pleasantly surprised that it seemed to be an excellent documentary. This is probably the most impressive IMAX I have ever seen before. A complete and enthralling.. I have this DVD and I'd highly recommend it. This is a DVD that anyone can enjoy, it is really educational, you can actually stay home and watch this DVD with your whole family.

Disjoint, unconnected and bad audio too!:
Not up to the normal standards of IMAX movies. The flow is a very disjointed and unconnected of random events. The audio is poor enough that even following what is there can be difficult. I normally love IMAX movies, but this one leaves a lto to be desired.