This Is Cinerama (1952)
** (out of 4)
Lowell Thomas, in a standard B&W prologue, gives us a quick history lesson in regards to film before history is set yet again when the screen opens wide and we're introduced to beautiful color and Cinerama. THIS IS CINERAMA is somewhat a historic little documentary since it did pretty much introduce people to what Hollywood was going to use to try and battle television, which had been taking away their profits. There's no question that the opening sequence is quite impressive and you can just feel the historic nature of it. With that said, everything that follows is pretty bland and boring when viewed today. I'm really not sure what they could have done to show off this format as the actual movies that would come would do that themselves. This here basically features a bunch of smaller things just to show off the format. We start off with a roller coaster ride before hitting other things including a large number of people water skiing, people dancing and various other short stories. The problem I had is that none of these short stories are all that interesting and I think you could argue that none of them really do justice to Cinerama. Still, considering this format was new and just being introduced here, I guess you can't blame the film too much. Is the film worth watching? I would say yes simply for its historic side but I think most people won't be that entertained.
** (out of 4)
Lowell Thomas, in a standard B&W prologue, gives us a quick history lesson in regards to film before history is set yet again when the screen opens wide and we're introduced to beautiful color and Cinerama. THIS IS CINERAMA is somewhat a historic little documentary since it did pretty much introduce people to what Hollywood was going to use to try and battle television, which had been taking away their profits. There's no question that the opening sequence is quite impressive and you can just feel the historic nature of it. With that said, everything that follows is pretty bland and boring when viewed today. I'm really not sure what they could have done to show off this format as the actual movies that would come would do that themselves. This here basically features a bunch of smaller things just to show off the format. We start off with a roller coaster ride before hitting other things including a large number of people water skiing, people dancing and various other short stories. The problem I had is that none of these short stories are all that interesting and I think you could argue that none of them really do justice to Cinerama. Still, considering this format was new and just being introduced here, I guess you can't blame the film too much. Is the film worth watching? I would say yes simply for its historic side but I think most people won't be that entertained.