Hubble 3D

Posted In: Hubble 3D

Carmela Roxbury says...

Well, I've seen a wide variety of IMAX documentaries, and I must say, this one blows the rest out of the water. Stunning computer graphics, high quality film of space and the space shuttle, and the best rocket launch I've seen in any film. I greatly anticipate the Blu-ray, and I suggest you see this film in 3D if its playing in your town. If it isn't, find it somewhere near you.

Posted on September 25, 2010

Fermina Nanthanong says...

I've been an astronomy buff ever since I was a small child.So, when I learned that the Denver Museum of Nature and Science was showing a new IMAX movie about the Hubble Space Telescope, I had to see it.The theater hadn't yet upgraded to a 3D projection system, so the version I saw was in 2D.Believe me, that was plenty good enough.



It is said that Hubble is the most famous telescope ever built, and there are about 20 years' worth of fabulous cosmic images to prove it.When NASA initially announced that it was too dangerous for the Space Shuttle to make one last Hubble servicing mission to do needed repairs and upgrades, a lot of us went into mourning.And when they changed their minds, we rejoiced.



The movie is partly about the 2009 servicing mission, along with archival footage from earlier missions.This part is interesting, but not particularly new to me -- the PBS science program Nova has done at least one hour-long segment which goes into much greater detail.We get to meet the seven very brave astronauts who were literally willing to risk their lives to get the job done.Space is a dangerous place, and a single careless slip of the hands can lead to a sliced glove and a fatal loss of suit pressure.



Also, two space shuttles have been lost over the years, along with 14 astronauts, so they had a backup shuttle on the pad just in case a rescue mission was needed.Thankfully, it wasn't.



We learn a few fun things about life in orbit, such as how to make a chicken burrito in microgravity, and how to get ready for a space walk.I discovered that, even though space is silent, the sounds of power tools can be transmitted through a space suit, to be picked up by the helmet microphone.



Where the movie really shines, however, is when they show footage of the Earth from orbit, and especially when they begin to explore the cosmos.Decades of effects-laden blockbuster films have tended to jade us, but what we see in Hubble IMAX is real, as seen from the Hubble Space Telescope itself.



I about lost it when the camera began to zoom in on Orion's Belt, and slowly the Orion Nebula swam into view.It was as if we were spanning lightyears, at warp speed, in mere seconds.Then the camera began to explore an enormous cosmic valley with walls of gas and dust, some 15 lightyears across, hollowed out by fierce interstellar winds and dotted with infant solar systems dubbed "tadpoles" by scientists.One particular system looked like a tiny golden gem swathed in a huge, black nest, and might well resemble our own solar system aeons ago when the planets were just beginning to form.



What struck me more than anything else was how uniquely privileged our generation is, of all the generations in human history.The ancients could gaze up in awe at the stars from their campfires and make up poems and stories, but only we, thanks to telescopes like Hubble, can see such stunningly beautiful images of planets, stars, nebulae, galaxies, even the entire visible universe looking like a piece of gauze, the strands sprinkled liberally with gem dust.



I was struck also by the fact that there was hardly a peep from any of the children in the audience.They were all paying rapt attention.



I've never before seen any IMAX movie more than once.So far, I've seen Hubble three times.My most recent trip, just this past Monday, was to a 3D showing at a local cineplex.That was a plus.Now, as the camera zoomed, the stars actually came out of the screen at me.The 2009 shuttle footage, presumably shot in 3D, was incredibly real -- I was tempted to reach out and try to touch the astronouts' equipment as they got ready for a space walk.Archival footage, most likely converted to 3D, had a peculiar, subtle flatness to it I've dubbed 2-1/2D.It just didn't look quite right.I'm sure the producers did their very best, but the technology is still evolving.



A note on the music:The film featured two familiar tunes -- "Somewhere, Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World".I would have loved to have heard, respectively, the original Judy Garland and Louis Armstrong versions.However, what appeared in the film did the job -- and I can't get the tunes out of my head.



In conclusion, this movie is well worth watching, if you're into astronomy or if you have kids who are.Catch it in 3D if you can, otherwise go for the 2D.I'm seriously hoping a DVD comes out.For the first time, I can imagine why someone would want a giant-screen TV in their house.If ever I come into a large amount of money, maybe I'll build my own IMAX theater in the basement.

Posted on September 26, 2010

Elissa Abernatha says...

For all my reviews visit my website



I am NOT reviewing the DVD. Just the movies unless otherwise stated.



Please note that the rating above might not accurately reflect my thoughts, you will see a rating sentence at the end of the review.



**** AVATAR AND ALICE! HUBBLE IS WHERE IT'S AT!!!! Okay, that's not entirely true, but the 3-D. It actually jumped out at you, you actually were able to grab the images off the screen, I don't know if it was because it was Imax, but 3-D here was much better than Avatar. I was a child again, remembering the red and blue paper glasses at the original 3-D movies. This is a must see, Avatar was an avoid, this...is a must see.



Now, don't get me wrong, I ain't a CSU Science Teacher or whatever. I still a dude ya know.



Near the End to The End except for the Very End I had some trouble concentrating (now that I've confused the heck out of you so do you.) But, most of it was very easy to understand and quite amazing. It was absoulutely fantastic, the colors, the framing, everything about the film was what 3-D Imax was supposed to be. THIS is a phenominom...heck with it, it's a phenom, THE UNDERTAKER OF AVATAR!!!!



Educational, that's what it's going to be classified as. I don't think that is appropriate, but this was very educational. There was one bad thing about the 3-D....the glasses...that's it. If they're gonna make a 3-D that can be fulfilled without glasses, make it quick! Not only is it bulky for me because I already wear glasses, but for that very same origin it kept screwing up and I saw the double-picture behind the illusion.



A couple of things you don't expect are these guys: Warner Brothers and Leonardo DiCaprio. Warner made this, and Leo narrated it.



Though, as I said, the end was confusing. I still have no idea weather Hubble is still up in the air or not. But, if it is gone, it was a very, very important invention. It was one of the greatest in space exploration. This telescope bases everything that we think about the universe, and when you think about it...I'm actually right.



The dark thing is...so many planets, stars, all these heavenly bodies, and still no other planet. WRONG. They discovered a few years ago a planet that may or may not have water on it, we know that it does have very similar conditions. BAD NEWS IS REALLY: We'll never be able to make it to there. It will take billions of light years to get there at light speed. So billions of years. If we mess up here on earth, we're screwed.



All in all...if you like Imax,3-D or Space this is a must see.



The Rating? 5/5



I, Da Ca$hman signing off.

Posted on September 27, 2010

Valentine Dellapaolera says...

In May of 2009, the crew of Space Shuttle "Atlantis" oversaw the fifth and final service mission of the Hubble Space Telescope, known to NASA as STS-125 or Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4. The mission called for delicate repairs and state-of-the-art upgrades, including the instillation of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (to study the formation and evolution of galaxies) and the Wide Field Camera 3 (which captures images on the visible spectrum). The crew also had to replace one of the telescope's three Fine Guidance Sensors, six gyroscopes, and two battery unit modules. The mission was a success, completed in less than thirteen days. Because of the crew's efforts, Hubble will continue to operate until at least 2014, when it's expected to be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope.



IMAX's "Hubble 3D," narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, is in part a documentation of this mission, made possible due to the IMAX Space Team and the specially designed IMAX 3D camera. While hardly an exhaustive account - which is just as well, since it would mean having to endure confusing technobabble and a slew of acronyms known only to NASA personnel - we're shown some impressive spacewalk and repair footage, aided greatly by the ever-present backdrop of Earth. We also get some insightful, if brief, moments with the "Atlantis" crew, including a demonstration of how to dress for a spacewalk, a discussion of some of the tools they will be using, and an amusing look at what an astronaut can eat and how it's made possible. There's a general sense of enthusiasm amongst the seven astronauts, although that may have more to do with the camera crew than with the actual mission.



We don't get a detailed history of the Hubble itself. Its original 1990 launch, for example, and the subsequent three-year odyssey to repair its design flaw are mentioned in passing, drastically downplaying the time, money, and effort that was spent to get it working properly. You have to understand that this is by no means a cheap piece of machinery; its initial cost was estimated at around $400 million, and that figure has only increased with time. With so much invested in it, there was an understandable backlash when it was apparent that there was an error with the optical system, the returned images failing to achieve sharp focus. The cause of the problem was the telescope's primary mirror, which had been ground to the wrong shape - the edges were off measurement by 2,200 nanometers, and to give you some perspective, a single nanometer is about 1/100th the width of a human hair. The flaw was corrected in 1993 during Service Mission 1, known as STS-61, with the instillation of specially designed corrective optics.



Since then, Hubble has captured a number of remarkable images. Because of its orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere, there's virtually no background light, allowing for the sharpest quality pictures. Consider the Ultra Deep Field image, which captures a small section of space in the constellation Fornax and is composited from four months worth of data; it reveals a cluster of galaxies of all shapes, ages, and colors, and it remains to this day the deepest image of space ever captured, looking back approximately 13 billion years. The film takes data similar to this and transforms it into breathtaking computer generated flights through distant regions of space. One scene in particular takes us into the Orion Nebula, where a massive group of stars form in a crevice that spans 90 million light years. Given time, some of those stars may form solar systems very much like our own.



This is the second part of what "Hubble 3D" is: An awe-inspiring journey, a deeply thought-provoking foray into the great unknown. It has the power to make you think, to raise questions about ourselves, about where it all came from, about what it all means. It wisely avoids speculation; it merely presents the material as is, and your mind does the rest. The fact that it's all presented in 3D only adds to the wonder. Plenty has been said about James Cameron's "Avatar" - and I've certainly contributed - but "Hubble 3D" is by far the best 3D film I've ever seen. Never have I felt so deeply immersed, so entirely a part of the world projected up on the screen. It reaches a level so rarely reached by the hordes of 3D movies released on conventionally sized screens.



If there is a weakness to "Hubble 3D," it's that it doesn't spend enough time on its subject. It clocks in at a measly forty-five minutes - on television, that would amount to an hour-long special. I would have greatly appreciated an expansion of telescope's history, including who designed it, how it was funded, when it was built, how it affected popular culture, and so on. The images it has captured, after all, are the reason we can create such accurate computer generated maps of nebulas and galaxies. I don't believe we can truly appreciate the contributions the Hubble has made without first knowing what went into making them possible. Sure, any book or internet site can fill you in on the details, but if you're already at the theater, you might as well learn everything you need to know there.

Posted on September 28, 2010

Suanne Keenan says...

Space.To bodly go where no man has gone before...



For a recommended movie, this one tops the cake.You just gotta see it.



As an adult, I wouldn't normally use the term OMG, but there's no better description for this show we saw at the IMAX theatre the other day.And my husband... well all he could say was WOW!I almost had to close his mouth shut at the end because he was so impressed, his jaw dropped.We were both taken aback.





There's an excellant review called 'Hubble 3D: It's a Must See' I found at Review Gallery:

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Posted on September 28, 2010

Tamara Measom says...

Not much to add that hasn't already been written in the other reviews.The only bad thing was the running time but the ticket price was not that of other Imax 3D shows so that was slightly offset.

I was in awe and can't figure out how the audience was able to navigate through space via the Hubble telescope images.Highly entertaining and makes you feel humble by the size of what is out there.

Posted on September 28, 2010

Claudine Kahaleua says...

There is no way you can see this absolutely stunning IMAX 3D show and not ask yourself, "And, why are we basically suspending our space program?"



Just a terrific show and the film brings home the fact that every penny spent on our space program, and Hubble, has proved to be the best bargain ever purchased in the history of our planet .. ..



There is absolutely no way we could see back to the beginning of creation without the Hubble & NASA .. ..



It will make you tear up seeing what we can accomplish and what we can do .. ..



More fulfilling is seeing all the young kids in the audience and watching their jaws drop when they see pictures of the universe from Hubble and all the star nurseries that have been discovered .. ..



Our space program (NASA) proves to all of us that anything is possible and that they have made 'the impossible into inevitable' .. ..



SAVE NASA!!

Posted on October 3, 2010