IMAX: Voyage of Time

It’s hard not to like Voyage of Time, a film playing for a limited time in the IMAX format. VOT unfolds like a forty-five-minute art film directed by Terrence Malick. That’s because Voyage of Time is directed by Terrence Malick.

Malick cut the Brad Pitt narration from the original IMAX release, which Houston didn’t get two months ago. Nonetheless the film flows perfectly with no voice-over. The images are that cool. Whether it’s the Big Bang or the visualization of entropy or even a little girl wandering around a parking lot overgrown with grass the metaphor of life abounds.

Malick used some of this material during a sequence in the narrative Tree of Life (2011), particularly shots taken at a volcano in Hawaii or canyons in the American Southwest. There’s also a full-length version of Voyage of Time featuring narration by Cate Blanchett. Malick introduces early humans in a scene that recalls 2024. Another stupendous shot comes from a helicopter flying over the magnificent Dubai Airport Hotel at night. The IMAX version has an ‘ultra widescreen” aspect ratio of 3.6:1. The images are super sharp with precise details.

Voyage of Time plays once a day at the IMAX Theatre at the Edwards Marq*e. Check their schedule for times.

by Michael Bergeron