IMAX Hubble

May 2009. The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off with seven astronauts. The task is to repair the telescope in orbit for the last time. It has been up there for twenty years and its parts have aged; a camera and gyroscopes need replacing. The astronauts go out on spacewalks, undo bolts in gloves and work for hours in vacuum. They also have a large format three dimensional camera with them, and they operate that too. The film shows both the repair and journeys through space built from images the telescope has already sent back. Toni Myers directed and wrote it; Leonardo DiCaprio narrates. It is an American production. The footage in space was shot not by a professional cinematographer but by the astronauts themselves. The camera was large format and could carry only a limited amount of film; every shot was planned in advance. This was the last servicing mission flown to the telescope. The matter it treats is maintenance; the film tells the story of repair work rather than discovery. The flights through space built from telescope data rest on real observations. The narrative keeps the science plain and expects no prior knowledge. The film is short, a little over forty minutes. Its limit is form; it was made for a very large screen and loses most of its effect on a small one. Who it is for: people interested in space and viewers who like large format documentary. Who it is not for: it is short, surface level, and was not designed for home viewing.