Overall, Pandas is a wonderful experience. I didn't know much about them prior to watching this video, and I'm sure there is more to explore afterward. Qian Qian's journey helped to put some important perspective in the crisis pandas are going through. The panda's lone story will certainly echo many more pandas to come. A very good IMAX experience nonetheless.
Who would have thunk pandas could squeak? They’re rather adorable.
Official Synopsis
After years of success breeding captive pandas, scientists at the Chengdu Research Base For Giant Panda Breeding (aka Chengdu Panda Base) in China are taking their efforts to the next stage and preparing captive-born cubs for release in the wild. This film follows one such researcher, whose passion leads her to initiate a new reintroduction technique inspired by a black bear rehabilitator in rural New Hampshire.
What starts as a cross-cultural collaboration becomes a life-changing journey for a team of scientists and one special panda named Qian Qian (pronounced Chen Chen). The film, captured with IMAX® cameras, follows Qian Qian on an exciting new adventure into the mountains of Sichuan as she experiences nature for the first time and discovers the freedom – and perils – of the wild side.
The story behind Pandas is that of a short 45-minute experience filled full of adventure, adorable/cuteness, and a dash of peril. It’s a neat experience that spends its time in two worlds before giving itself to one.
Let’s get this party going.
The first act of Pandas introduces us quickly to two sets of family — Pandas and Black Bears. While two very different families and locales, with different needs, the construction and raising of both from a young age crisscross between worlds in a similar fashion. So similar in the fact that each family raising their respective cubs can help each other out.
Starting with the Chengdu Panda Base, we find the camp breeding/raising pandas in hopes of re-population after pandas desperately skim the brink of extinction. Raising the cute pandas from a young age and enjoying them, is one thing, but teaching them to survive in the wild is wholly other. If prepared poorly, the pandas chance of survival is low. Making sure they have hunting skills (mostly bamboo) and climbing skills will help them to survive in the wild. Wanting to make sure they’re doing it right, and not just sending the poor pandas out to die, the group seeks out an American family who raises black bears for a living and trains the bears to get back into the groove of the wild.
Not an easy task at all, but a patient one.
While I would have loved to see a bit more technique explained from the black bear group on how they adjust in the wild, and their success/failure rate, I fully understand there isn’t a lot of time to put that together for an IMAX skim. Act one just seems to be a bit rushed in getting to the main story, which is fine, but it doesn’t add a lot to the training portion of the storyline. I wanted a bit more information to help me understand what it takes to get these animals back into ‘wild’ status.
After a brief introduction to the black bear family, act two starts with the meeting of the two bear groups. After briefly staying in the world of the black bear, where we see the training in action (taking the bears on hikes and slowly re-introducing them back into the wild) the groups retreat back to the panda base, where they train and release a panda named Qian Qian. Act two has Qian Qian, and her trainers, prepare for the release back to the wild, which happens by the end of the closing minutes of the act.
The relationship between Qian Qian’s trainer and the panda is very firmly established in this act. It’s important for that to be in lockdown, as the third act plays off of it quite heavily. This act also appropriately gives us a personality of the panda, which helps attach the name to it. It’s amazing how much a name matters when it comes to caring about an animal in 45 minutes. Seeing the animal in action and showing its personality helps add to that name. It’s kinda like Black Fish, where we learn the killer whale names, thus attaching personalities to those names. It helps in seeing where the story is going as well.
The third act is where the peak of our rising action occurs. Qian Qian is released back into the wild and does well for a period of weeks. As a third act would go, where there is a jaw-dropping crisis, Pandas doesn’t disappoint. Something happens to Qian Qian and the rush to find the panda goes into fifth gear. How it ends, well…you’re going to have to discover that yourself. There’s enough guff in act two to warrant concern in act three, but that’s all we’re going to tell you. My family was glued to the set in this act, so prepare yourself.
Overall, Pandas is a wonderful experience. I didn’t know much about them prior to watching this video, and I’m sure there is more to explore afterward. Qian Qian’s journey helped to put some important perspective in the crisis pandas are going through. The panda’s lone story will certainly echo many more pandas to come. A very good IMAX experience nonetheless.
4K Quality
The 4K quality of the IMAX Pandas experience is insane. I don’t have to tell you the wonderful scope of the film, as you can guess how bulky those wide shots are, as the majesty of the experience engulfs you with the colors. The HDR (High Dynamic Range) is everything you want it to be for a feature on rural China and its panda population. You get a range of colors from green to red, with the beauty shots being the black/white of the pandas. The picture is deep and rich with color, so your HDR experience won’t be wasted one second.
