Living in the Age of Airplanes

Narrated by Harrison Ford, this IMAX travelogue produced by National Geographic and directed by Brian J. Terwilliger tackles the not-exactly-groundbreaking topic of aviation—not with typical history timelines or lovingly-shot hardware, but rather by illustrating how different the world would be…without aircraft. Graphics and journeys to all seven continents make the point that air travel has given modern society easy access to places that, just a few generations ago, were more or less inaccessible. Air-courier-based trade is symbolized by an extravagant sequence of flowers picked in Kenya arriving, still fresh, at a table in a house in Alaska. And seaplanes are practically the only practical way of connecting the island-chain nation of the Maldives. Extras include deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes, including—for plane-spotters disappointed by the relative lack of tech imagery in the main feature—a number of “partner video” promos provided by collaborators Airbus, FedEx, and GE. Although a bit lite on the subject matter side, this IMAX film does boast characteristically excellent visuals. Recommended, overall. Aud: P. (C. Cassady)