SOLAR MAX

By John Petrakis

Though it sounds like the title of an animated series about an action-adventure hero who is powered by the rays of the sun ("Look, behind that corona, it's Solar Max!"), this is in fact the latest Omnimax film to play at the Museum of Science and Industry. And if you're looking for really impressive close-ups of an awfully angry star, set to pounding music and creepy sound effects, "Solarmax" is your ticket to ride.

Of course, what the film really hopes to do during its 45-minute running length is provide a short history of the sun, spiced up with plenty of never-before-seen images of the big guy itself, courtesy of high-powered telescopes and higher-flying satellites.

(As I watched "Solarmax" in all its visual glory, I found myself thinking back to Frank Capra's benign but famous 1950s educational film "Meet Mr. Sun," which introduced many baby-boomers to our steamy neighbor 93 million miles away.)

This film is chock full of information that science guys will love. For instance, did you know that every 11 years or so, the sun's poles reverse with a whole lotta shakin' goin' on, which is called a solarmax? That the sun's interior could hold 1.3 million Earths? Or that energy generated in the sun's core takes more than a million years to reach its surface?

The film also gives a thumbnail sketch of man's gradual understanding of the sun's position in the universe, from Aristotle (wrong) and Copernicus (right), on through Galileo and Newton, all the way to Cluster II, a collection of spacecraft flying in geometric formation that scientists hope will discover more about the physical relationship between the Earth and the sun.

But the big-ticket items here are definitely the full-ceiling shots of the sun itself, spewing out flames and showing off. And when these take-no-prisoner images are juxtaposed with aerial shots of famous ancient landmarks, from Ireland to Mexico, that welcomed the sun's rays as a promise that all was still right in the world, it makes for a very impressive montage.

I could have used a bit more history and a little less hard science, but as a family outing to take the (older) kids to, "Solarmax" is pretty hot stuff.
"Solarmax"

3 stars (out of 4)

source: www.metromix.com

 

Return to Reviews