Across the Sea of Time

I was left on the cutting room floor when they edited this film. In October, 1995, I brought my parents and aunt to visit New York City for a week. Either Wednesday or Thursday of that week, we went to the Natural History Museum on the Upper West Side. Mid-afternoon, we finished up there and walked down to see Lincoln Center. When we got there, they were filming a sequence where the Minton character was to walk along the retaining wall of the fountain. While they were setting up the shot, someone came up to my father and asked if I would like to be an extra. I said yes and was brought over and placed with a group of three other men. Our duty as extras was to walk around behind the fountain while Minton walked on the wall that faced Broadway. It took four or five takes before we were done. During the set up for one of the takes, the group of us were standing next the young actor playing Minton. One of the group asked him where he was born and he answered "St. Petersburg." The person asking responded "Oh, in Florida?" and the little guy barked back "No, Russia!"

I eventually rented the movie and that entire sequence had been abandoned.

This is a beautiful film, enhanced by John Barry's fabulous score (although some parts were written for a previous movie.) I have seen this film 3 times. Sydney Imax, Adelaide Imax and Melbourne Imax. At Melbourne, the right eye image was OUT OF FOCUS!! No, it was not me having had a few too many, and it was not the glasses. Changing them made no difference. I wrote a letter of complaint to Melbourne Imax but guess what? They didn't reply. All too hard I suppose. Considering the technology of the move projection (IE only one projector not two) it is hard to understand how one image was out of focus and not both. Someone else can explain this to me. Apart from all that, the 3D in this movie, the stereo cards, and the music - everything is just wonderful.Yes, the story too! Being a collector of stereo cards (and also having been to NYC) this movie has special significance for me. I took a friend who is also a stereo photography guru and he was totally overcome by the total experience. Now....... I made a very big mistake of buying the VHS video tape last week. One word or advice - DON'T - unless you only have one eye and/or never have and never will see the 3D version!! Such a let-down and so disappointing. If you like the music you can get the CD. Question: When will Sony Picture bring it back? It is timeless - way beyond the bounds of fashion or modernity. At least they should release it on a 3D DVD!! (Polarised glasses too...?) Maybe the technology is already here, but I haven't heard about it. Tomas Minton well done! PS. I had already posted this then I read John Frame's comments: "Blending the best 3D imagery from 1916 and 1995, 4 January 2003" John, just to add to your nice review, the WTC towers DO feature quite prominently in at least two scenes in the movie. A jolt to bring us back to modern times hey!

A grand scale IMAX 3D mini-epic blending state of the art monochrome 3D still photography from 1916, with stunning full-colour 3D motion and surround sound from 1995.

The story is obviously contrived to make optimum use of the archival material: a young Russian boy, Tomas Minton, travels "blind" (i.e. in a room with no view) by ship to New York, and jumps ship to search for a relative who emigrated early in the century. That man had found paid work as a specialist 3D photographer and had sent home a viewer and a set of his slides which showed many aspects of 1916 New York life. Tomas routinely refers to this collection of pictures as he wanders the city trying to find recognisable landmarks in the modern skyline.

(N.B. The World Trade Centre doesn't get any special attention, if it appears at all.)

The 1916 images are extraordinarily detailed, fully justifying the IMAX big screen and we see a lot more than just the facade of skyscrapers, or the tinsel of Broadway. I am never likely to see New York in person, so I was impressed by all of the visuals.

Director Stephen Low takes advantage of opportunities to push people's 3D response buttons, but it's not done excessively. The overall impact is of a very big city, with a personal history of endurance in the face of hardship, and with many elements of true beauty in its landscape and architecture.

There's a rather natty but very unlikely happy ending, instead of the most likely event of Tomas being grabbed by Immigration and thrown on the first plane back to Russia (proving that this really is a work of fiction).

Brisbane's IMAX theatre closes down this month, after consistently losing money since it opened. I feel especially privileged to have been able to experience this film in the world's biggest and best of movie theatre environments.

This is undoubtedly the single greatest IMAX film I have ever seen. Its visual effects may seem a little outdated - although this certainly adds to the charm - but it conveys its sweet little plot with a sense of grandeur. Whereas most IMAX films try to make you feel like you're in a theme park, watching some special effects extravaganza, "Across The Sea Of Time" could stand independently as an example of exceptional storytelling, and a great FILM.

I'm shocked and disappointed that it clearly wasn't popular enough to sustain an audience, as it is now virtually impossible to find a cinema anywhere that is showing it. So sad.

If IMAX want to save themselves, they need to commit to getting great filmmakers and allowing them to tell their stories on the big screen, as was clearly their policy when they created this.

Do NOT, under any circumstances, miss this film.

Dear Mr. Gillis; I'm an actor, but not writing to you as one. I recently saw the above film, "Across the Sea of Time," that you wrote in 1995 and just wanted to tell you that I absolutely loved it. It was a beautiful film and you should be very proud of it.Too bad more people haven't had the opportunity to see it. Loved seeing the old photos of New York in the early 1900's, the young boy actor and the theme of the story. After seeing it I called the casting director to see if I could get some kind of a work address to send a "thank you" to you, but they would not give me anything which, I guess, is the right thing to do! Wish there were more films like this today. Thank you!

Best wishes, A fan