Documentary DVDs

A state-of-the-art, edge-of-your-seat experience! Get in the cockpit with the world's best pilots to witness the most challenging flying of their careers! Follow a young American pilot as he makes his way through Red Flag - the world's most intense, simulated air war, training event - where U.S. and international pilots, ground crews, mechanics and rescue personnel are taken to the limits of their endurance. Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag delivers speeds of up to 800 miles per hour with thundering, roaring, screaming sound and stunning aerobatics that will blow you away! Filmed over the Nevada desert with unprecedented access to military procedures, the film features an enormous armada of aircraft!

More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical, and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000 features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's <I>The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death, and rebirth to Stravinsky's <I>The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original <I>Fantasia's <I>Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on target, <I>Fantasia 2000 is glorious enough to make you giddy. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a perfect narrative set to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Donald Duck's guest appearance as the assistant to Noah (of ark fame) set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches is a welcome companion piece (though not an equal) to <I>The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the one original Fantasia piece included here. The high point of Fantasia 2000, though, is a fantastic day-in-the-life sequence of 1930s New York City set to Gershwin's <I>Rhapsody in Blue and animated in the style of cartoonist Al Hirschfeld; it's a perfect melding of music, story, and animation. Let's hope future Fantasias (reportedly in the works) take a cue from the best of this compilation. The music is provided by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, interspersed with negligible intros by Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Itzhak Perlman, James Earl Jones, and others. --Mark Englehart

Take a technological thrill ride faster, higher, and wilder than modern science or even your imagination! Relive the historical first flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903, then soar with the world-famous Blue Angels as they defy the laws of gravity with their most breathtaking maneuvers. Narrated by Tom Selleck, The Magic of Flight highlights and salutes a variety of modern aircraft, the people who fly them, and the human potential of training and performance. Ever wonder "how did they do that?" "The Making of 'The Magic of Flight'" (42 min.) puts you behind the camera and provides further insights into the world of aviation and the techniques used to get some of the most amazing airborne footage ever captured on film. Shot using high-definition cameras, "The Making of 'The Magic of Flight'" captures the enthusiasm and excitement of the crew who made this groundbreaking film.

This 5- disc Mother Earth Blu-ray edition will take you on an amazing journey of beauty and wonder as never experienced before. Filmed on location throughout the globe for large formated IMAX theaters, the imagery of these 5 discs is unlike anything you have seen before. With the exceptional clarity and sound that only IMAX can deliver. Each title is independently produced to provide viewers with an up close and personal experience with our Mother Earth. Providing an understanding of our beautiful planet and the need to preserve it.

Titles included in this 10-Disc collection are<BR> Africa, The Serengeti<BR> Alaska, Spirit of the Wild
Antarctica, An Adventure of a Different Nature
Ocean Oasis <BR> Australia, Land Beyond Time

These films were originally filmed for IMAX© and other large format theaters throughout the world. This video version of the film has been digitally masters and transferred using the original large format film elements and was produced to the highest standards in the industry. The sound components have been specially mixed and mastered to produce the finest quality Dolby Surround soundtrack, fully compatible with both stereo and mono audio systems.