There is a reasonable chance that you haven’t heard of Postcard from Earth. Honestly, I hadn’t either until I was planning my visit to Las Vegas and found that Darren Aranofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) had made a 55-minute experience that only plays at Sphere. Yeah, THAT Sphere.
Postcard from Earth is a film that was created specifically to be screened on the 160,000 square-foot, 270-degree screen of Sphere. And it’s not just a horizontal field of view either, the screen extends over and past your head. Imagine being in a dome and you whole field of view is nothing but screen. The only part of the ~20,000 people amphitheatre that is not screen is directly behind you.
It’s a 4D pastiche film showing the history and nature of Earth filmed in 18K resolution. The showing has climate control to make you feel the wind on your face, seat haptics to rumble along with the elephants walking by you, and even scents to immerse you in the environment of the scene. Now the actual content of the film isn’t necessarily much to write home about on its own given the innumerable nature documentaries at our disposal. It really is the experience of seeing this on this unparalleled screen and amphitheatre that blows you away. The footage and quality you are watching it in is just amazing. Whether you’re flying over a snowy peak, under the sea with sharks or in the middle of a celebration of colours in India, every new image blows you away.
I cannot speak enough about what a unique and memorable experience this was. If you look through my other reviews, you’ll see my affinity for stories and characters and themes. This film has a trite setup for a simplistic story, but that’s not the point. Sometimes, it’s just about the visuals and the experience. And I will always recommend checking this out to anyone who happens to go to Las Vegas. The other parts of the Sphere are fine – it looks cool, but there isn’t much else to it. Here are a few photos I took of it:
I could keep going on about Postcard from Earth and what’s on screen and whatnot, but there is nothing that I can say that could come close to explaining the incomparable journey of sitting there and watching this. So I won’t try more than that. Just put this on your bucket list of things to check out, especially if you’re the type of person who loves seeing nature footage or watching those IMAX movies at your local science centre.
GCReaction
An unmatachable experience anywhere else in the world. Postcard from Earth is something that I will never forget and I can only hope others get to witness it for themselves. Any photo or reaction article can only hope to come close to describing it for you, but if you really want to get your mind blown, I cannot imagine a visual experience on a screen that could achieve that more than this. Absolutely fantastic!
