Now we don’t typical cover the goings on at the Ontario Science Centre here at Lucid Forge, but exceptions can, and should, be made for new IMAX films. IMAX, a Canadian invention, is growing in popularity and multiplying in number across North America. Of course, at the OSC you’re not going to be seeing the IMAX version of Speed Racer or Kung Fu Panda, but it’s a tremendous medium for offering insight into the world around us. And with the latest offering from Science North, for those of us in Southern Ontario anyway, this can be taken quite literally.

Mysteries of the Great Lakes is a journey of discovery about the largest deposit of fresh water in North America; from their formation by receding glaciers at the end of the last ice age to the threats of pollution in the 70s and the fight to keep them clean today. The cameras of director David Lickley gather some amazing vistas and views from the western tip of Lake Superior to the eastern end of Lake Ontario. But aside from offering some great visuals, Mysteries is also a conservation story as Lickley chronicles scientists’ efforts to rebuild the sturgeon population in the rivers and tributaries that feed the lakes.

Yeah, I know, sounds exciting but I dare anyone to not get sucked into this sitting underneath the Omnimax Dome at the OSC; pretty much anywhere you sit in the theatre - there’s no way you can escape the screen. This is incredible for those panoramic views of the Lakes; the flying shots where you coast along near the shoreline or drift over the edge of a cliff or Niagara Falls. And that’s without mentioning the sheer diversity of shots Lickley works into the film… So if your sole vantage point of the Great Lakes is the view from Lakeshore, prepare to have an eye-opening experience.

I will say that for a movie entitled Mysteries of the Great Lakes there really isn’t anything terribly mysterious about it. I mean there’s a lot of talk about the sturgeon population but the only mystery is whether the efforts of the scientists to repopulate are going to be successful. Another minor gripe that I heard was that there wasn’t enough of a focus on the current environmental state of the Lakes even though the film touched on the Cuyahoga River Fire of June 1969. But mostly, the main complaint everyone had was that the film was to short. Obviously, running time is a factor in IMAX films shot entirely in the format and Lickley does a good job telling a cohesive story.

But a movie, especially documentaries, will almost always be missing something we think that they need to be complete and/or better. The important thing to remember here is that Mysteries of the Great Lakes is highly compelling as is. With the authoritative voice of Gordon Pinsent and the apropos sounds of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” as your guide, the mystery of whether you should make your way to the OSC to check this out is easily solved.

Mysteries of the Great Lakes is currently playing at the Omnimax Dome and the Ontario Science Centre and will soon come to IMAX theatres across North America.