Thrill Ride - The Science of Fun (Large Format)

Starring:Paul Harper, Cassandra Peterson, Harry Shearer, Neil Armstrong
Director: Ben Stassen
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Ever since a daring fellow in France constructed the first rudimentary roller coaster nearly 200 years ago, people have eagerly sought thrills and chills on the most frightening rides they could find. Featured in this video are the royalty of today's white-knuckle adventure rides, including high-tech roller coasters in Tampa's Busch Gardens and the Big Shot ride in Las Vegas which magnifies its intensity by being perched atop a skyscraper. Originally filmed in 70mm, the footage of the rides is intense even on the small screen. But the video loses velocity during segments explaining how the technology of thrill rides has merged with movie special effects, and the video never fully recovers from the uneven pacing. The material covered is consistently interesting, but there's no escaping the reality that explanations of how rides are conceived are no substitute for the fun of the rides themselves. But if the video never fully lives up to the promise of its first several minutes, there are still scenes in the video that are heart-stopping, and it does provide an entertaining look at the science of thrill rides. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews:

Great fun to be learned by all!.......2007-05-13

Thrill Ride is educational, while still living up to its name. Having enjoyed this while it was in IMAX theaters, I was extremely excited to see it on the small screen. Be warned, though, that if you view it on a large enough screen, you're likely to be pretty nauseous by the end. Even on a 19" screen you will still feel your stomach jerked this way and that. After the IMAX experience, it was a few hours before I recovered. Who knew nausea could be so fun?

A history of thrill rides, this film takes a deliberate slant toward motion simulators as we get closer to our own time. Since this is a movie about thrill rides, and not just roller coasters, that made sense to me. The history and technology behind thrill rides are cut in with fly-throughs of a few rides, some famous and some created (I believe) just for Thrill Ride. There's even a pretty good-sized chunk of the Back to the Future ride from Universal.

If you have even a passing interest in amusement park rides (especially motion simulators), or if you have a home theater projector, *definitely* get this movie.

Roller cosster Expirience..........2005-09-11

A Very nice experience for those who love roller coasters with explanation of the "fun" idea. You'll find here some of the best roller coaster in the world and even experience a little feeling like being on theme for real :)
Ran

Media Tech for Students and ahem Older Community.......2004-05-13

Just saw this on video from library and ordered DVD from Amazon. The best media experiences lately both entertain and educate, if subtly. Think back to "Back to the Future" which Michael J. Fox described as "a comedy-action-fantasy-adventure-coming-of-age film", and "a very life-affirming story about relationships, as well as a 'what if?' movie which audiences love"

I rate "Thrill Ride" high because of its value to "edutain" high school students I am working with who are interested in media technology. I am a volunteer looking for ways to clarify to them WHAT "media technology" is, HOW it connects to their school classes, and HOW graduating will help them make good careers and community impact.

It's tough keeping the connection between school and real life present in kid's experience and this film is a great way to connect "marketable skills" with "academics". It shows LOTS of rides and still shows how roller coaster design, combat flight simulators, and hollywood film making combined to make the current thrill rides.

Any teacher worth their salt (and I am married to one) can make the connections between the film and their academic subjects, including: (AND IF YOU THINK THIS IS A LONG LIST, IT'S WHAT MY HIGH SCHOOL KIDS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLETING TO GRADUATE!) English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Computers, Graphics, Photography, Health, World Languages, Arts, Speech, and Technology.

For those of us who are ahem older it also reminds us how much has evolved in a few short years from old amusement park rides to new.

The kids I am working with have been taught more and more by volunteers about real-life connections. This has raised their desire to 90% to: 1. Complete high school with a full load of academics, and 2. Go on to 2 or 4 year colleges. This is good for their future and good for us as parents and community!

Fabulous Movie.......2003-07-23

This is a fabulous IMAX movie about Motion Simulators. It would be of great interest to those who do 3D Computer Graphics programming, and looking for some great project idea for their course.

An uninteresting disappointment.......2003-02-27

Thrill Ride The Science of Fun is a movie made for the IMAX theater, focusing on thrill rides. This is a boring, uninteresting film that gives a one-sided view of today's thrill rides. The producers of Thrill Ride think that the only type of thrill rides available today are motion simulators, and they are convinced that simulators are able to live up to real thrill rides, and may someday be the only type of thrill ride available. 32 out of 40 minutes are spent covering simulator rides. Unfortunately, this film was made in 1997, and a lot of new technology has since come on the market, leaving older, relatively low-tech attractions on this film. I am not one who enjoys motion simulators most of the time. This film spends a lot of time explaining how high-tech and very good quality computer-generated images are created and used. Of course, in 1997 technology was not that advanced, so the images they're talking about lack the realism of today's CGI. 5 minutes is spent on explaining how simulators for full size airplanes and jets work. I want thrill rides, not airplane sims! A portion of the film is hosted by a crazy old farmer/miner whose accent, attitude, and antics are completely unentertaining. The majority of thrill rides are roller coasters, not simulators, yet this film spends only 8 minutes on coasters and droptowers. Included are POV footage on Kumba and Montu, and Big Shot droptower in Las Vegas, as well as some rare footage from the old movie "This is Cinerama" featuring the defunct wood coaster from New York's defunct Rockaway Playland. Unfortunately, especially in the case of Cinerama, the entire ride is not shown, only a portion. I really wanted to see more of the Cinerama coaster, considering how it is impossible to ride it in reality. This video gets one point for two reasons. First, the minute or two of Cinerama POV footage was interesting (just not long enough). Second, the video offers a behind-the-scenes look at Back To The Future, the ride, from Universal Studios. This was also interesting. Unfortunately, about 80% of this video is sleep-inducing and uninteresting. All in all, I do not recommend buying Thrill Ride - it is a boring disappointment.

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