Susan Granger’s review of “LEWIS & CLARK: GREAT JOURNEY WEST” (IMAX)
National Geographic’s “Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West” chronicles the daunting 8,000-mile expedition led by Meriweather Lewis and William Clark through uncharted territory to find the legendary Northwest Passage and map a waterway for commerce to the Pacific Ocean. Its release is part of a three-year bicentennial celebration. In a letter to Congress dated January 18, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson requested approval and funding to explore the Louisiana Purchase, a vast wilderness in the North American continent. Jefferson appointed his secretary, Meriweather Lewis, a studious 28 year-old naturalist and U.S. Army captain, to lead 31 determined adventurers known as the Corps of Discovery. Lewis then chose 32 year-old William Clark, his close friend, to co-captain with him. Their bold voyage would change the course of history. In its day, it was the equivalent of a trip to the moon. Jeff Bridges narrates this bicentennial IMAX docudrama which begins with a sail up the Missouri River from St. Louis. The courageous travelers quickly realized that their excursion could only succeed with the help of the Native Americans they met along the way. En route, they encountered 50 different tribes. But the most important contribution came from their teenage Shoshone Indian interpreter Sacagawea (pronounced here sa-CA-ga-WEE-ah, with a hard g, although the more popular pronunciation is SA-ca-ja-WAY-uh), who carried her infant son along the way. Written by Mose Richards, directed by Bruce Neibaur and photographed by T.C. Christensen, it’s a 42-minute visual spectacle, complete with jagged, snow-capped mountains, thick forests, perilous rapids, a thundering herd of bison and a charging grizzly bear. The narrative sensitively condenses and sanitizes its trail-blazing content (i.e.: an African-American man named York is described as Clark’s “slave and lifelong friend.”) with little insight or emphasis on character development. Nevertheless, purely as an educational travelogue-adventure, on the Granger IMAX Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West'” is an exciting 8. On the huge screen, it’s exhilarating. And for a full list of Lewis & Clark bicentennial events, visit www.lewisandclark200.org.
