MOVIE
Review:
IMAX film captures excitement of NASCAR
NIKA ROLCZEWSKI
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
"There is no doubt about precisely when
folks began racing each other in automobiles.
It was the day they built the second
automobile."— racing legend Richard Petty
Strap into your theatre seat, put on your
kooky shades, sit back and hang on — it's
NASCAR 3D.
Presented on IMAX screens towering up to
eight stories high — with 12,000 watts of
digital Surround Sound capturing the
thundering engines and the roar of the crowd —
the film is a visceral journey inside
America's most popular spectator sport.
The many sides of NASCAR are yours for the
viewing: the imaginary passenger seat of your
favourite driver, up in the media centre, down
in the paddock with the team and on the roof
of your camper with the devoted fans.
You are in the fabrication shop at Roush
Racing, the boardroom at DEI (Dale Earnhardt
Industries) and in the F16 fighter jet on its
fly-by — you are everywhere.
You experience depth of picture with
balanced realistic audio. The scenes show the
intensity of NASCAR racing: the cars tearing
around the track at breakneck speeds, the
accelerated choreography of the pit crews and
the shrines erected by fans who follow their
favourite drivers around the circuit
"When you're at the track, the sound almost
trembles through your soul; it's mind
numbing," says director Simon Wincer, who has
directed movies such as Free Willy and
Lonesome Dove. "There is nothing small about
NASCAR and, until you actually experience a
race, it's hard to comprehend the scale of
this sport. I've been into sports all my life
and I've never seen anything as intense as
this. It's just extraordinary."
In its documentary style and with narration
by actor Keifer Sutherland, the film becomes a
NASCAR 101.
In just under an hour, it captures the
personalities behind the sport while giving
the viewer the sense of being there. Even for
those who recognize the sport, the thrill is
in the cinematography of being there,
centimetres from the rear of the car in front.
"This footage portrays NASCAR in its truest
sense," says third-generation NASCAR driver
Dale Earnhardt Jr. "It's really exciting and
really loud, which is exactly what it's like
when you're inside the car."
Enjoy it. I did. Just throw in the scent of
burning rubber and I'd swear I was at the
Daytona 500.
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NASCAR 3D opened March 12th at select IMAX
theatres across the GTA. |
