‘Super Speedway’ Latest Big-Screen Thrill At Imax
Never been to outer space? No matter. Just watch “The Blue Planet.”
Never sat in the seat of a Blue Angels jet? No problem. Just watch “The Magic of Flight.”
Never… well, never mind. You get my point. The people who make IMAX movies like to take us where we’ve never been.
And in the case of the newest HUGE-screen feature, that means the seat of an Indy-style racing car going up to 240 mph.
“Super Speedway” is more of an actual documentary than many of the earlier efforts. Going through the Grand Canyon or refighting the battle of the Alamo were fine, but there was a lot of dead space between the visually interesting moments.
What a waste of technology.
You certainly can’t say that about “Super Speedway.” The film tells two stories at once: As car restorer Don Lyons rebuilds a 1964 roadster from rusty scratch, a high-powered racing team builds a brand new, state-of-the-art racer for driver Michael Andretti.
Thus we watch as Lyons pulls the heap that he’s interested in out of the barn where it has been sitting, while across the world designers, engineers, scientists and mechanics craft the new car with the help of space-age technology.
In one sense, the movie is a working advertisement for Michael Andretti and his father, legendary racer Mario Andretti. It tries to capture the essence of the elder Adretti’s career, even as he now serves mostly as an adviser to his racing son.
But enough of the boring stuff. “Super Speedway,” like “Blue Planet” and “Magic of Flight,” represents the most exciting elements of IMAX cinematography.
As the racers take that camera down a straightaway, and the corner comes up on you almost faster than you can react, “Super Speedway” achieves what few films ever truly do.
It makes you almost forget you’re in a movie.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “Super Speedway” *** 1/2 Locations: IMAX Theatre Credits: Directed by Stephen Low, starring Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti Running time: :44 Rating: Not rated