MacGillivray Freeman's Arabia

I found this documentary disappointing. It offers no information you can't get on Wickipedia. It's just a fairly routine 45-minute travelogue given the IMAX 3D treatment. Alas, the film maker did not even exploit the possibilities of IMAX 3D. I wish the film maker had looked at some of the travelogues of Disney from the 50s, which were always enjoyable. This one has no real structure; it's just a lot of pretty pictures. I am not a fan of IMAX. (I've only seen one other IMAX film, FANTASIA 2000. IMAX is just too big. I don't think it really works. In FANTASIA 2000 the severely face-lifted Steve Martin and Bette Midler were grotesque in such extreme closeup where you could see how their skin had been pulled and stretched in all directions and distorted their features. This probably would not have been noticeable had the screen been a normal size.) I sat in the middle of the house and that was too close. The 3D dis not really work at that distance. It was like watching an old TV where objects and people had "shadows" around them. Maybe it was better from the last row. This could have been great, but it wasn't. It does not really scratch the surface of the country and is surprisingly uncinematic. I predict that unless some more appropriate product is produced, the IMAX will go the way of Cinerama.

I didn't watch this in IMAX, however this movie did have a lot of beautiful footage of Saudia Arabia. The animation and narrative however were amateurish and almost childish--the narrative one step from being stupid.

Am an arabphile and was very interested in seeing visuals of this place. However this brief travelogue barely touches the surface. Most of the scenery is modern motor ways--fine but I would like to have seen more of the natural beauty.

The third golden age the narrator talks of is nonsense built on sand...well what is under the sand = petro dollars. Once these run out grandiose projects like the centers of learning and places like Dubai with air-conditioned sand beaches (yes the sand itself is cooled) will likely not be sustainable.

However the Islamic religion and the culture of the Arabian peninsula is something that will always be there to appreciate.

Over all this documentary is juvenile and idiotic but what scenery there is is good.