Toni Myers’ film, A Beautiful Planet, presents an amazing glimpse of Earth and a hopeful look into the future of humanity.
A Beautiful Planet is a breathtaking IMAX film that shows Earth from space, providing a unique perspective and increased understanding of our planet and galaxy as never seen before. The film was made in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This project features stunning footage of our magnificent blue planet, and the effects humanity has had on it over time captured, like the impact of the drought on a now brown California. As a result, the film serves as a call to preserve our planet.
“I wanted to call attention to the environment, to inspire young people,” said director Toni Myers.
“I feel like this movie is the most important thing I did because it brings space to people,” said astronaut Terry Virts.
Cinematographer James Neihouse echoed how important this movie was to the astronauts, explaining that they were only given 30 hours to get all their shots so most of the film was made on the astronauts spare time.
“A real labor of love,” Neihouse called it.
That love came through because even though this movie is a scientific documentary, it managed to avoid the coldness that often comes with facts, and fill the movie with intimacy.
“The key thing with a movie like this is you can see it, its not just numbers on a graph,” said climate scientist Gavin Schmidt
Added to the most realistic depiction of space to hit theaters, audiences were also treated to glimpses into the lives of the astronauts. Jennifer Lawrence was the main narrator, but the moments where the astronauts were also the narrators added an extra layer of otherwise unknown perspective to the general public. Once viewers get passed the possible motion sickness stemming from the 1st person 3D perspective of being upside down at times, the film is a great watch. Viewers of the film will get to see the comradery between the space travelers regardless of their backgrounds, as well as the awesomeness of our planet through some amazing camera work, much of it captured by the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
“There’s no way to match what you see in orbit but this comes as close as possible,” said astronaut Butch Wilmore.
Even though A Beautiful Planet is a short documentary, only 40 minutes long, it’s awe-inspiring depictions of outer-space, insights into astronaut lives and important environmental cause make the film worth the price of admission. A Beautiful Planet will be shown to the public exclusively in IMAX® and IMAX® 3D theaters beginning April 29.