'Legends of Flight': Documentary on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner soars

If you've seen "Avatar" in IMAX 3-D, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Opening Friday at the Pacific Science Center, "Legends of Flight," a new IMAX documentary on the making of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, displays far more dazzling 3-D effects.

Birds, bees and the wingtips of airplanes seem to exit the 60-foot-high screen and glide within easy touching distance. When the landing gear of a 787 on Boeing's assembly line in Everett drops down and swings out toward the viewer, the massive tires appear to brush the heads of the people seated one row ahead.

At a recent press screening, 9-year-olds on a field trip from Catharine Blaine K-8 School in Magnolia threw up their arms to grab at virtual images overhead.

In addition to ravishing footage of airplanes in flight over beautiful landscapes, the movie presents impressive 3-D graphics. In one scene, the viewer flies like an insect through the intricate digital image of the Dreamliner's innards.

"Legends of Flight" is pitched as a documentary history of the latest developments in airplane technology, intended to inspire careers in engineering and science, and supposedly starring both the Dreamliner and the Airbus A380 superjumbo jet.

But the movie's title and marketing slant are misleading. Airbus plays a very minor role. The $10 million movie, partly funded by Boeing and narrated by chief Dreamliner test pilot Mike Carriker, is really a promotional film for the 787.

Aviation geeks will be a little disappointed that much of the flight footage is created with computers. A glider — flying among the peaks near Whistler, B.C. — is computer-generated, painted in over real images of the landscape.

Also faked, but considerably more lame, are a few staged meetings in Boeing conference rooms, where Carriker, a former Navy flying ace, pretends to discuss key decisions in the Dreamliner's development.

But making up for that is the technological magic from Boeing and IMAX.

Filmmaker Stephen Low said he uses a filming technique different from Hollywood's to create a stereoscopic-vision effect that allows images to jump out, add realism and yet avoid the potential for disorientation and dizziness.

The 3-D effects, though mind-blowing, are easy on the eyes. And all the flying scenes, both fake and real, look wonderful.

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com