Audio Video News

There may be more than 220 IMAX theaters operating in 28 countries around the world, but videophiles still love to get their hands on IMAX videos, long acknowledged to be some of home theater's finest demo materials. Favorites among the dozen IMAX DVDs already available include Super Speedway, Everest, and The Magic of Flight. Now, more are on the way.

On June 12, Warner Home Video (WHV) says it will "explore the world of science in a big way" with the release of several science-themed DVDs, including two of the most popular the IMAX films not released so far, The Dream Is Alive and Blue Planet, which will be released in new, IMAX-branded packaging. The two IMAX titles will be joined by PBS Home Video's Tesla: Master of Lightning and Life Beyond Earth; all four DVDs will be priced at $19.98. Also in the offing are special interest titles from BBC Video, HBO, and PBS Home Video.

The Dream Is Alive, narrated by Walter Cronkite, has done exceptionally well for a special-format film, earning more than $200 million at the box office to date. The film takes viewers into space alongside a group of astronauts as they orbit the Earth over the Andes, the boot of Italy, and Egypt and the Nile.

Hitting stores at the same time as The Dream Is Alive will be the $70 million IMAX film Blue Planet, which presents a view of earth from 200 miles above the planet's surface. IMAX says that the film shows how natural forces (volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes) affect our world and "how a powerful new force, humankind, has begun to alter the face of the planet."

WHV's Douglas Wadleigh concludes that "The Dream is Alive and Blue Planet offer the groundbreaking, extraordinary images that have come to represent the IMAX experience."