I saw a Sea Monster today!

And I'm pretty sure it was a Tylosaurus. Which is pretty freaky, since they were thought to go extinct about 65 million years ago.

Yes, that's a full-length shark in the jaws of the Tylosaurus. And I just watched Sea Monsters at the Pacific Science Center. It's amazing! Its been 15 years since I was in an IMAX, and they've dramatically improved on it since then, with sound that reverberates the seats. Its been 4 years since I last saw a 3-D movie, and they've also greatly improved over the dreadful Spy Kids. This was as if you were actually there, swimming with the sharks, and being eaten by the Dolichorhynchops. They made the animals appear as if they were right in front of each of us, merging with the audience. I could sit there forever and just be immersed in this new world of great age, floating about me.

And the producers didn't make it merely entertaining. There was also a great deal of history and archaeological procedure given, but in an engaging manner. It's hard to make that interesting to the general public. But it helped that the people were also in 3-D- in the present and 1900's period portrayals. And the producers pieced together actual fossil finds to create a personal story about the Dolichorhynchops.

The best part was that there was a whole class of 2nd graders there in the audience too. As they walked down into the theatre, I must confess an inward groan. They seemed very rambunctious, and I thought it would be distracting from the experience. I needn't have worried, for the sounds were so intense that you couldn't hear the audience over them. But even more, as in travel, its so much better to watch this kind of movie with a bunch of children! I soon repented of my earlier pediaphobia. For their excitement was incredible, and contagious. They saw everything anew, as new-born babes, grasping out at the grass that brushed by them and the fish that swam towards them, gasping when it seemed that a prehistoric monster was about to spear them. The IMAX experience was incredible, but all the more joyous for the children present.

Comments

drh said…
IMAX is sweet! We have one in Dayton, too.

So tell me...what was inward grown?

Popular Posts