Filmmakers capture a ground-level view of a chipmunk and toadstools in a northern temperate forest in the film "Tiny Giants 3D."If you go
› What: Imax With Laser Film Festival II.› When: Friday, Jan. 6-Thursday, Jan. 12.› Where: Tennessee Aquarium’s Imax Theater, 201 Chestnut St.› Admission: $11.95 adults, $9.95 children 3-12 each film (free with $40 Imax Club pass).› Phone: 1-800-262-0695.› Website: www.tnaqua.org.
The Tennessee Aquarium's Imax Theater is one of only a dozen or so theaters nationwide showing movies using the new Imax With Laser technology, installed locally about a year ago.
And comments left on the Imax Facebook page would indicate local moviegoers have been wowed by the new capabilities on Chattanooga's largest screen. "Sound was incredible. Picture was beyond regular digital HD," posted one guest. "The 3D visuals were incredible. The images of space, breathtaking," said another.
To further show off the technology, a second Imax With Laser Film Festival has been set for Friday, Jan. 6, through Thursday, Jan. 12, multiplying the number of films shown each day to six.
Their subject matter offers the chance to rocket into space, dive into the ocean's depths and travel back in time to see dinosaurs. Each will be shown daily during the festival's seven-day run.
Admission to each film is $11.95 for adults, $9.95 for children ages 3-12. As an option, an Imax Club pass allows free entry to these films and to an unlimited number of 45-minute films for an entire year, for $40. Other Imax Club benefits include entrance to feature-length films for $4, free upgrades on concessions, $2 discounts on companion tickets and a 10 percent discount in the Imax store.
For more information, visit: tnaqua.org/imax/imax-with-laser-film-fest.
SCHEDULE
* Noon: "Jean-Michel Cousteau's Secret Ocean 3D." The famed oceanographer, explorer and film producer directs this cinematic journey beneath the waves. Using specially designed film equipment, filmmakers captured unprecedented, stunning imagery that reveals the mysterious hidden beauty of aquatic animals and the importance all life plays to the ocean's delicate ecological balance. Narrated by Dr. Sylvia Earle.
* 1 p.m.: "Wild Africa 3D." This award-winning documentary from the BBC and Giant Screen Films boasts footage of awe-inspiring animal encounters set in epic vistas of the world's wildest continent.
* 2 p.m.: "Walking With Dinosaurs 3D." This fictional computer-generated tale based on actual science focuses on a little Pachyrhinosaurus and his thrilling prehistoric adventure against incredible odds. Animated lifeforms move with life-like realism over the gorgeous backdrop of actual locations. Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch.
* 3 p.m.: "Tiny Giants 3D." Inspired by the BBC series "Hidden Kingdoms, BBC filmmakers used specialized 3D cameras to show viewers the exciting lives and daring escapades of two unassuming heroes: a chipmunk in a wild wood and a grasshopper mouse in a scorched Arizona desert. Narrated by Stephen Fry.
* 4 p.m.: "The Last Reef 3D: Cities Beneath the Sea." Like underwater metropolises, reefs play a vital role in ocean ecology by serving as breeding grounds and offering protection to a profusion of underwater life. This Giant Screen Films production reveals the diversity, ancient history and fragility of these marine rainforests.
* 5 p.m.: "Journey to Space 3D." This cinematic tribute to the desire to venture beyond the farthest horizon imagines the possibilities of humankind's next great adventure to Mars. Viewers will be shown astounding imagery in a retrospective of the space program before taking a peek behind the scenes at NASA's ambitious, perilous plan to reach another world. Narrated by Patrick Stewart.