New IMAX movie brings space fantasies into 3D

During the IMAX documentary "Space Station 3D," an astronaut aboard the International Space Station playfully tosses an orange toward the camera operator.

Since it's 3D, the orange soars towards the audience, daring us to reach out and grab it, and inspiring kid-like grins beneath our goggles. 3D, let us not forget, is cool.

Set on the space station, orbiting 220 miles above Earth, this brief documentary is perfectly suited for kids (and grown-ups) who dream of conquering space.

Much of the zero-gravity stuff is familiar territory — we've all seen the free-floating droplets of water, or the merry mealtimes with airborne food — but it's always fun to watch. (In the possible area of new territory, though, we do see someone getting a haircut in space.)

Tom Cruise, sounding both awed and ever-so-slightly amused, provides sturdy narration, even when he's saddled with lines like "Space is a very special place."

More interesting, though, are the American and Russian astronauts we come to know, a genial bunch who seemed thrilled with their luck. One reads "The Last of the Mohicans" on a treadmill aboard the station; another's necklace bobs around her face as she works in the on-board lab.

Ultimately, though, "Space Station 3D" really isn't about the people, but about its audience — the film, the first IMAX 3D movie from space, is all about giving us an idea of what space flight feels like.

The enormous screen and explosive sound bring the shuttle launch to life (as does surprisingly ominous footage of the long, long elevator ride to board the shuttle).

And the camera, perched on the exterior of the space station, takes us as close as most of us will ever get to actually floating in the final frontier.

The film is clearly aimed at a young audience, focusing more on the gee-whiz aspects of the space voyage than its actual science, and that's as it should be.

(It's disappointing, though, that the film includes the voice-over comment "Every now and then we bring them a woman" as a female astronaut is carried in the arms of a male astronaut. Grown-ups will recognize this for the joke that it is; younger audience members may not.)

But it's easy to ignore the occasionally ham-fisted dialogue. Just look at that footage — a perfect launching pad for space-travel dreams.

Moira Macdonald can be reached at 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com.