Galapagos 3D

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Description:
Remote Galapagos Islands. Amazing Wildlife. A trip of a lifetime. Houston Museum of Natural Science Wortham IMAX Theatre presents Galapagos 3D.

Retrace Charles Darwin's historic and ground-breaking journey with a young marine biologist as she explores the biological diversity and unique geological history of the Galapagos archipelago.

Journey beyond the world that Darwin visited 160 years ago through the use of the state-of-the-art technological equipment to witness the biodiversity and the process of evolution surrounding the isolated Galapagos Islands.

IMAX 3D® technology will send you plunging 3,000 feet underwater into underground lava tubes, soaring over the peaks of 5,000-foot volcanoes and bring you face-to-face with an abundance of marine life, including marine iguanas and the world's largest shark, the whale shark.

Almost a billion people around the world have traveled to places that they may never have seen except through the magical lens of IMAX®.

Plunge 3,000 feet underwater into lava tubes, soar over the peaks of 5,000-foot volcanoes and come face-to-face with an abundance of marine life, including sea lions; giant tortoises; marine iguanas; and the world's largest shark.

Follow Smithsonian Institution marine biologist Dr. Carole Baldwin on her first undersea, on-land expedition to the Galapagos Islands, a group of 19 islands and 42 islets located on the equator, 600 miles west of the Ecuadorian mainland. Featuring stark landscapes that show clear evidence of the violent physical forces that originally created the islands fewer than three million years ago, these same forces continue to change the islands even today.

Galápagos like never before."

“Most marine biologists never get the chance to go deep-sea-diving. Since less than one percent of the ocean's floor has been explored, this expedition was a dream come true,” said Baldwin.

“We made some of the most eye-opening discoveries between 200 and 1,000 feet, a level rich in sea life, but too deep for conventional scuba gear and often neglected by deep-sea explorers. Below 1,200 feet, it's perpetually dark, and that's where you begin to find the curious bioluminescent animals. The amount of activity at 3,000 feet is incredible.”

Filming underwater in 3D format presented some technical challenges for the film crew. The biggest test was figuring out how to handle and operate the camera, which weighs 1700 pounds, and to maneuver the camera in a natural history configuration.

“With the enormity of the camera itself, coupled with the large casing that was needed to withstand water seepage and the pressure at lower depths, it would take 10 people to get the camera into the water, and between two to five of us to get it to the bottom,” said Al Gidding, co-director, producer and underwater cinematographer.

“Trying to do moving shots and drift with the current, trying to get to the sharks and other animals when you need four or five people just to help you get the camera to the shooting position.”"

Narrated by actor Kenneth Branagh and presented by the Smithsonian Institution and IMAX Ltd., Galapagos 3D is the next best thing to being there.

Click here to visit the film's official website.