Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon (2005)
Herzog-Cowen Entertainment

Description

Presented and narrated by Tom Hanks, Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon is an IMAX documentary film that transports the viewer to lunar surface, where they can walk alongside the 12 extraordinary astronauts who have been there, experiencing what they saw, heard, and felt.

Reviews

8.0 Washington Post | Desson Thomson

... a gee-wonderful virtual visit to the arid orb, which uses ingenious technical sleight of hand to - let's face it - fake it beautifully.
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8.0 Los Angeles Times

Their number is small and their status is elite: They are the only humans to have visited another world, to have actually walked on or been in close proximity to the moon. Their story, as captured in the riveting documentary "In the Shadow of the Moon," is an unexpected knockout.
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8.0 Amazon user reviews

The recreation of Apollo 15 landing on and exploring the Plains of Hadley Rille is worth the cost of this DVD alone.
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7.5 Entertainment Weekly | Scott Brown

Perhaps if Desolation hadn't skimped on the science in its race to grab kids' eyeballs, it might've grabbed a couple of future astronauts by the brain.
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7.0 DVD Verdict | Ben Saylor

I'm sure Magnificent Desolation plays well with children, and it was clearly made with good intentions, but at the end of the day, it is still a wildly uneven exercise from talents who could have done better. Guilty of failing to live up to expectations.
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7.0 Filmcritic.com | Norm Schrager

Magnificent Desolation is another Hanks love letter to the country's lunar program, and his earnestness makes for compelling content about American moon voyages and the details within. But the real awe comes from the film's incredible 3D, giant screen versions of moonwalks, as guided by director Mark Cowen.
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6.0 New York Times | Anita Gates

The illusion is impressive but incomplete, and therefore mildly disappointing. But I cannot deny having felt a little nervous when "we" (the astronaut on screen and I) were standing too close to the edge at the Grand Canyon-like Hadley Rille. So clearly I'm a liar.
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6.0 Variety | Joe Leydon

... an earnest but insubstantial Imax 3-D spectacle that, even at 40 minutes, seems unduly padded. Obviously aimed at schoolchildren likely to be bused in for matinee screenings, docu offers grown-ups very little that is fresh or insightful, and too much that is facile or hokey.
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5.0 DVD Talk | Francis Rizzo III

The big issue here is the length, and the fact that you don't have an IMAX theater in your house. If we could solve those problems, this would be a pretty awesome experience (and make sure to invite me over.)
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