MOVIE REVIEW : Outer ‘Limit’ Has More Impact Than Inner

Although it is fascinating to watch a heart valve open and close, part of the allure of “To the Limit,” the new film debuting at the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater, the inner-body sequences in the IMAX/OMNIMAX film are a little too surreal to have a strong impact on an audience. They look far too much like scenes from the movie “Fantastic Voyage.” Any minute, the viewer expects to see Raquel Welch guiding a mini-submarine.

However, the outer body photography of “To the Limit” is spectacular.

The movie’s photographers clearly love the IMAX and OMNIMAX format. Like children experimenting with a new toy, their exuberance shines through in the film, which makes its world debut Saturday at the space theater.

It is not hard to picture the MacGillivray/Freeman Films production crew sitting around, rubbing their hands, gleefully asking, “What can we do next?”

The film is designed as a look at the performance abilities of the human body when pushed to its limits. To illustrate the body’s exquisite potential, the production group chose to focus on a rock climber, a skier and a Russian ballerina.

The IMAX and OMNIMAX format, with the largest motion picture frame ever developed, is able to grip an audience with the sheer magnitude of its image splashed across the space theater dome. The MacGillivray/Freeman crews, producers of the popular “To Fly” and “Speed,” clearly relish its potential.

Time after time in “To the Limit,” they’ve produced images that make the viewer pause to ask, “How did they do that?”

The panoramic shots of climber Tony Yaniro dangling from a cliff are perfect for the huge screen. When he hops along the face, secured only by a thin rope, he appears to sail across the theater. When Yaniro’s adrenaline begins to pump, as he attempts to inch his way up a precipice, the audience’s adrenaline level rises, too.

Downhill skier Maria Walliser provides yet another opportunity for MacGillivray’s crew to stun the audience. A camera on the skies puts them in Walliser’s boots as she races down the mountain. Aerial shots provide a stunning perspective on her sport.

Equally stunning is the footage of Nina Ananiashvili, a prima ballerina with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet. The slow-motion effects capture her beauty, grace and power. The film vividly portrays the dancer’s dedication as she trains her body to do what few can.

Random shots inserted between the vignettes are both visually and mentally stimulating--sprinter Carl Lewis striding out, marathon runners crowding over a bridge, hundreds of children starting a cross-country skiing race.

The joy of the huge-screen format is in the complexity of the image. Studying the pictures reveals new nuances and tidbits of information--a skier tripping in the far corner of the screen, a bird soaring above the cliff.

Each physical achievement is designed to illustrate the responsiveness of the body. The inner-body photography, with the narration, is meant to show how the body responds. It is an education for children, and parts of it are visually stimulating. A scene of blood rushing through the artery, accompanied by classical music, makes for a fascinating dance of red blood cells.

But the inner body photography is only a small part of the film, a sideshow to the stupendous images of people pushing their bodies “To the Limit.”