To the Arctic 3D (2012)

That was an excellent one.

One of my all time favorites.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This documentary film is about the life of wild polar bears residing in the Arctic.Though it is just under 40 minutes long, "To The Arctic" transports us to an unfamiliar world where the landscape is just barren ice and snow. The landscape is beautiful, and the only life forms we see are polar bears. Filming the polar bears curiously exploring the camouflaged camera was a nice touch, as it was funny and provided a light touch to the documentary. The scene where mama polar bear protects her cubs from the other polar bear is tense and thrilling as well. However, it would have been good to have more educational elements as well. As it stands currently, it is more like a collection of footage of polar bears rather than a complete educational documentary.

So the camera work was good but not awesome as one would expect in an Imax theater. It was not (in the theater that I went to) even blue ray type quality and sound was muddy. There was no real plot. There are other animals in the Artic other than Polar bears. The worst part about the movie was (as I was watching this with my daughter) that about 10 of the 40 minutes of this movie was about how the Mother was trying to escape the "big bad" father of the cubs. I am not saying don't mention it but come on 25% of the movie?? MY 10 year old did NOT like it and neither did I. I won't say don't watch this movie... oh wait yes I will.

The flick begins by mentioning that polar bears resulted from brown bears (grizzly bears) migrating to the Arctic and adapting to that environment, a theory that comports with accepted thinking. Unfortunately, the idea that polar bears might migrate south and re-adapt to a different climate totally escapes the biased story-line developer. Never have I heard such misguided and erroneous information about anthropogenic global warming and the plight of a subspecies. That said, the photography was exceptionally good in part. While providing a glimpse into the life of polar bears, the focus on their supposed plight became tedious and boring. Minor and limited photography of other wildlife and sea creatures was of interest if you can forget the overall bias. I have to wonder how the story-line might be altered if presented from the point of view of the seal - a primary source of food for the bear as presented by the flick. I also continue to ask myself the question, "Does Ms. Streep have the slightest clue why Greenland is so named when 80% is covered in ice today?". I certainly enjoyed much of the photography, though the film dragged at times and the bias caused attention to drag.

The last time I went to an OMNI-MAX was back in 2006 with the release of "Beavers." It has always been a treat to see a movie on such a large screen. "To The Arctic" does not let down on its sweeping shots of landscapes and emphasis of SFX and sound. Meryl Streep as the narrator is a nice break from the typical voice-overs, such as Morgan Freeman and Peter Coyote. Unfortunately, this documentary is a disappointment on two crucial parts. First is the material that is covered. The movie presents itself as exploring the Arctic Circle. It covers seals, walruses, the land, brief blips of filmmakers, and polar bears. This is all fine, but the problem is that the narrative wonders. It starts with one subject, then changes to another without giving the viewer enough information, much less time to digest it. I did not learn anything nature-wise due to this.The bigger issue is the underlying message. In documentaries like these, it is common to add personification to the animals as a means to gain some emotional attachments. What I did not anticipate was that this G-rated, family-oriented documentary has an agenda. It is not to give us a nature lesson, rather, it states that we are responsible for the destruction of the arctic and the wildlife within it. The movie goes on, claiming that the greenhouse effect is a cause for this. I half expected Al Gore to make a cameo. I don't necessarily oppose this message, but I do find it wrong to disguise it in a film that is supposed to be about nature. The fact that the filmmakers use cute polar bears that are struggling to survive as an excuse for this message is borderline appalling. "To The Arctic" has good visuals that are suitable for the OMNI-MAX, but watch out for its more than biased message.