The legendary Hubble Space Telescope
Space IS the final frontier. At one point, we all looked at the stars in the night sky and wondered what its like to reach out and touch them. Over the course of human history, scientists like Galileo have opened our minds to see beyond our own world. Twenty years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope opened doors to the universe. Its ongoing mission is to explore strange new worlds beyond our solar system. Hubble 3D is the IMAX film of the decade. With its stunning space images and archival footage, this movie is literally Out of this World!
For director Toni Meyers, she was no rookie when it comes to IMAX space films. For her sixth film, she has achieved the impossible dream – to bring the universe closer to home. Armed a 700 lb. IMAX 3D camera in the cargo bay of the space shuttle Atlantis, we get to see the astronauts become their own film crew. Hubble 3D brings its 20-year history in under a single hour. It starts with its construction to its initial launch into Earth’s orbit in 1990. Next, we see the infamous malfunction that nearly took Hubble out commission and the successive servicing missions of 1993, 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2008. Finally, we are back in April 2009 when STS-125 performs the final rendezvous of Hubble, which proven to be the complex and dangerous of all Hubble missions. The IMAX crew was also on hand for the Atlantis training at the NASA Neutral Buoyancy Land in Houston where they captured how the mission specialists perform their duties in a shuttle mock-up thirty feet underwater.
Butterfly or an Hourglass.. you decidde
It’s fascinating to see the astronauts calm, cool, and collective during the mission yet working in such a harsh environment. The magnificent crew of Atlantis (STS-125) is living out the ultimate dream of mankind. We are witnessing history in the making as the final Hubble service mission unfold before your very eyes. The spacewalks reminds us how exciting and dangerous working in outer space can be. This is where all that dedicated training pays off since there is nothing more than the shuttle, the Hubble, our blue planet in the background, and space.
The Eye of the Universe awaits us
Hubble 3D goes to the final frontier, literally, when you see the eye-catching imagery of our own galaxy and universe. For this movie, you won’t just look at the stars; you will be surfing among the cosmos. Using Hubble’s ultra high-definition images combined with the data in the supercomputers and using state of the art CGI, you see an amazing 3-D model of space itself. At first, we head to the Orion Nebula at speeds beyond the imagination. Viewers will be able to glide through the nebula seeing its awe-inspiring colors and shimmering light. Next, we will float over an interstellar nursery that can take your breath away. To fly through nebulae, surf near black holes, and gaze at thousands of galaxies in this film is better than any thrill ride on Earth. Leonardo DiCaprio did an amazing job as narrator of Hubble 3D. He knows exactly when to let the moviegoer experience the fantastic voyage through the stars.
Director Toni Meyers once stated that “You can get lost for days in Hubble’s astonishing images.” Hubble 3D will not disappoint the space traveler in all of us. For the space enthusiasts, this documentary will renew the interest of space science for our generation and beyond. With its breathtaking images of planets, comets, nebulae, and galaxies; HUBBLE 3D has sealed the legacy of this extraordinary telescope. AD ASTRA!
FINAL GRADE: A+
