John Stratton is a young American fighter pilot who flies the F-15 Eagle, arguably the most potent and successful fighter plane ever built. His grandfather was a decorated World War II flying ace, and he intended to follow in his footsteps.
At Red Flag, the international training exercise for air forces of allied countries, many of the world’s best pilots meet for the most challenging flying of their careers. Red Flag is the final training for pilots and their aircrews before being sent into actual combat. We follow our young pilot as he makes his way through this extraordinary event held in the desert of Nevada. He is amazed at how complex, challenging and dangerous the exercises are.
He begins to notice team members who were not a part of his childhood vision of heroism, the support team crucial to a successful mission, and to a safe return home. In the aerial combat exercises, there are other pilots who aren’t out just to prove themselves, they are helping him — watching his back. And he is doing the same for them. He begins to realize that being a hero is not quite as simple as he once might have thought.
For more than 80 years, fire ants have raged havoc across the United States, racking up six billion dollars every year in crop damage, equipment repair, and pest control. They have conquered more than 320 million acres in 13 U.S. states and killed at least 80 people. Embolden, they march on to conquer the world … Now, scientists are cracking the ants’ ancient secrets to success, enlisting crime scene forensics to track it, and breeding winged assassins to hunt them down. Directed by Award-winning filmmaker Michael Watchulonis and shot in stunning 3D macro photography – you will never look at an ant the same way again.
They are everywhere. Flowers by the billions. They drink, move, compete and some even eat bugs. A brilliantly colorful and bright adventure through the science of flowers. You will fly over some of the world’s largest flower fields and see how this amazing life-form covers our fields and gardens while simultaneously cleaning our air and tickling our senses.
From guitar makers to beer brewers, Glimpse takes us on an eye-opening journey through the world of modern manufacturing. Glimpse is a multi-part documentary television series that uses state-of-the-art 3D imaging technology to reveal how common everyday items are made. Each half hour show has three to four main segments and features information about the specific companies included within each episode.
Misrepresented, maligned, and on the verge of extinction, the Great White Shark is an iconic predator: the creature we love to fear. Great White Shark will explore the Great White’s place in our imaginations, in our fears, and in the reality of its role at the top of the oceanic food chain.
Holy Moly is a short animation about moles enjoying 3D entertainment. A mole takes it on himself to create a handcrafted stereoscopic experience for his friends by faking the effect in various movie-like scenarios only to meet his and their doom when an actual boulder squashes them while thinking it’s part of the show.
Narrated by two-time Golden Globe® nominee Ewan McGregor, Humpback Whales is an extraordinary journey into the mysterious world of one of nature’s most awe-inspiring marine mammals. Set in the spectacular waters of Alaska, Hawaii, and the remote islands of Tonga, this ocean adventure offers audiences an up-close look at how these whales communicate, sing, feed, play, and take care of their young. Captured for the first time with IMAX® 3D cameras, and found in every ocean on earth, humpbacks were nearly driven to extinction 50 years ago, but today are making a slow but remarkable recovery. Join a team of researchers as they unlock the secrets of the humpback and find out why humpbacks are the most acrobatic of all whales, why they sing their haunting songs, and why these intelligent 55-foot, 50-ton animals migrate up to 10,000 miles round-trip every year.
Hurricanes are the strongest storms on earth. They can inflict losses of billions of dollars and thousands of lives. Beyond the hype that surrounds these dangerous events, are stories of significance to society, nature and the future. Collaboration with world-class scientists sheds new light on this lethal phenomenon. Thanks to dedicated film crews standing in the path of hurricane landfall, such as Sandy and Isaac, this series explore in full detail these severe storms, revealing how they shape our planet, sometimes provide new opportunities for life but also threaten our future.
Their landscapes and ecosystems are as diverse as the planets which align our solar system. Travel around the world to explore this mysterious, and still vastly uncharted, subterranean world.
Audiences will uncover an abundance of natural, ecological, and archaeological jewels which lay hidden within the world’s deepest, darkest, and most astonishing caves. Embark on the adventure of a lifetime through tight passageways, down deep vertical shafts, and across searing cavern floors. Journey from the watery Caves Branch of Belize to the frozen kingdom of Eisriesenwelt — from the gargantuan Sotano De Las Golondrinas to the indignant fires of the Hawaiian Lava Tubes. From mystical Mayan ruins, to awe-inspiring crystalline chambers, viewers will witness a collection of natural wonders as far as the eye can see – all in a world apart from our own.
NASA’s next era will be its greatest yet. That is the clear “roadmap” painted by Journey To Space. The film absolutely annihilates the perception that the space program died with the end of the Space Shuttle Program by showcasing the exciting plans NASA and the space community are working on, and the challenges they must overcome to carry out audacious missions such as landing astronauts on Mars and capturing asteroids.
By using extensive interviews with astronauts Chris Ferguson (Commander of the final shuttle mission) and Serena Aunon (a new astronaut chosen for future flights), Journey To Space gives a sweeping overview of past space accomplishments, current activities and future plans.
Journey To Space puts into historical context the magnificent contributions made by the Space Shuttle program and its intrepid space pioneers. It uses the most spectacular space footage – including unique views of Earth and operations in space – such as deploying and repairing the Hubble Space Telescope. It then goes on to show how the Shuttle launched and assembled the International Space Station (ISS). Together, these programs have taught us how to live, build and conduct science in space. The ISS will continue operating in space until 2024, and the film shows how it is building a foundation for the next giant leaps into space.
The film concludes with a fascinating, realistic scenario of how astronauts will actually get to Mars, live there for long duration, and then return home after a two-and-a-half-year mission. This includes the new icons of the next chapter of space exploration:
– Orion is NASA’s first spacecraft designed to carry humans on long-duration deep space exploration missions throughout the solar system.
– Olympus, an inflatable transportation habitat, is an early concept 45- or 50-feet diameter module that would provide astronauts the work area and living space necessary for long-duration missions. Smaller versions have already flown in space, and a full-scale version is shown undergoing ground testing.
– The Space Launch System (SLS), a new giant rocket, will carry spacecraft, Mars landers and ascent vehicles to place astronauts on the surface of Mars. SLS will generate over nine million pounds of thrust and will launch hardware into orbit equivalent to the weight of 22 elephants.
Journey To Space will both inspire a new generation of young people to dream of new horizons in space, and engender a new appreciation for the accomplishments of the Space Shuttle Program among an older generation who came to take it for granted.
Journey To Space is co-produced and co-distributed by K2 Films, Inc. and Giant Screen Films and will be released in IMAX(R), Giant Screen and other specialty theaters in 2D and 3D.
In the hundred-year-plus history of aviation, truly radical new aircraft designs come along only once in a generation. Since the introduction of the wide bodies of the late 1960s and early 1970s (followed by the Boeing 777 in 1994), there have been no truly “game changing” new passenger airliner designs until now, with the development of the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Through the eyes of chief test pilot Mike Carriker, a legendary contemporary pilot who is flight rated in more than 100 airplanes, we will see how a century of aviation trial and error, and some of the seminal airplanes of the 20th century influenced the design of the Dreamliner. The audience will be thrilled with the flight of these legendary airplanes in some of the most breathtaking sequences ever seen on giant (IMAX®) theater screens. Theater-goers will be there for all the important milestones at the dawn of a new era in commercial aviation. They will see the first public flight of the massive, but super efficient Airbus A380 at the 2007 Paris Air Show and the first flight of the smaller, even more efficient 787, the first-ever carbon fiber airliner that made its maiden flight in 2009.
Legends of Flight will also give audiences an insider’s view of how a modern aircraft is built, and make them privy to the manufacturing challenges and incredible financial risks companies assume when they embark on radical new designs. In the end, this unique cinematic experience shows how the 787 might affect the next 100 years of aeronautical design.
With each new day, we engage in rituals that we’ve developed through instinct and years of routine. Because we have repeated the patterns so many times, we can succumb to a dulled awareness of our surroundings. It is easy to become unaware that these daily patterns and routines are repeated on every scale in nature and in the lives of all creatures. All around us there is drama that is constantly unfolding, unseen — paralleling our own rituals, struggles and triumphs. Every organism plays a role and adds a unique contribution. There is a certain uniformity in nature’s complexity and our existence is truly a series of interconnected events.
Mountains tower above the plains and dominate the skyline. Critical to life – they fill our rivers, sway the weather, and provide sanctuary to incredibly diverse wildlife. They are as beautiful as they are dangerous – and for a brave few, they are the source of incredible adventure.
Follow Olympian Torah Bright as she journeys through the world’s longest chain of mountain ranges extending from Antarctica all the way to Alaska. Along the journey, Torah will ride with backcountry legend Jeremy Jones and freeskiing superstar Sammy Carlson. Together, they will encounter penguins, polar bears, and other wildlife, and meet with scientists and environmentalists to uncover a deeper understanding of our mountain ecosystems.
From glaciated valleys to icy tundras, we’ll venture through the mountain’s most awe-inspiring vistas. We’ll discover the crucial role mountains play in our every day lives and for the world, while witnessing the most spectacular snowboard action ever brought to the giant screen!
A lone climber, suspended hundreds of feet in the air, struggles to find the next finger hold, defining progress in inches. The dramatic visuals immerse us in a gripping contest of human determination versus the reality of gravity’s potent grip. Mountain Quest explores the precarious relationship of humanity’s quest to scale some of the world’s highest places, while also revealing the scientific and technological advances that have enabled us to conquer these peaks, exposing the heartbeat of the human soul.
A tapestry of jaw-dropping action, combined with rich STEM content … for example, physics of the real world – how climbing is a tug-of-war between friction and gravity, while skiing involves the same battle of forces in reverse. Educational insights about the engineering of climbing gear and skis, and the aeronautical effects of a wingsuit, are seamlessly integrated with dramatic visuals and action. The film is narrated by Willem Dafoe and was released in early 2018.
(AKA Egypt: Secrets of the Mummies)
Journey to the royal tombs of Egypt and explore the history of ancient Egyptian society as told through the mummies of the past. The film follows explorers and scientists as they piece together the archeological and genetic clues of Egyptian mummies, and provides audiences with a window into the fascinating and mysterious world of the pharaohs. To unwrap the secrets of the pharaohs is to perhaps glimpse the future of our own civilization.
Mysteries of China captures one of the great archaeological events in modern times telling the story of ancient China, the First Emperor, and the literal foundation of the China we know today. Starting with modern China and springing back as we seek the birth of this mighty nation, we talk of an ancient time when a fierce warrior brought together a warring nation, and how an accidental discovery changed everything we know about China’s past.
It happened in 1974 when farmers digging a well in Xi’an stumbled upon one of the greatest archaeological finds the world had ever discovered – the Terracotta Warriors and the Tomb of the First Emperor. The Terracotta Warriors offer a unique time capsule into the past revealing many things about the very founding of this great country which we use to tell a larger story of the growth of China into a true superpower.
From modern China to ancient China and back again, the film is a visual adventure using beautiful aerial photography and cutting-edge time-lapse techniques to reveal great majesty, tragedy, splendor, and growth in a nation that continues to excel quickly into the future.
500 million years ago life left this blue womb and colonized the land, but we are still intricately linked to the ocean. Our climates, coastlines, ecosystems, and economies are tied to the perpetual movement of water between continents. The great ocean currents are the arteries and veins of Planet Earth! This is the story of one particularly fascinating flow – the East Australian Current, a massive oceanic river that stretches the length of Australia’s east coast.