Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't Try to Blind Me with "Science"

Reviewed by Michael Reuben May 31, 2012

One person's passion is another's "who cares?" I have good friends who can't fathom the time I spend fussing over grain structures, color densities and aspect ratios. I feel the same way (and then some) about the principals of this short IMAX documentary, who exercise ever greater ingenuity in search of what the thrill-seeking bank robbers in Point Break would call a "killer rush".

The subject of an IMAX documentary often seems to be no more than a pretext to get the big-format camera into dramatic locations where it can record vistas that most audience members aren't likely ever to see in the flesh. In the case of Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk, this includes dramatic aerial views from a skydiver's perspective—and not just any skydiver, but one wearing a specially designed "flying" suit intended to extend the jump to several times its normal duration—as well as spectacular scenes of Norwegian mountains and fjords, a favored destination for "base-jumpers" (i.e., parachutists who leap from high points on earth rather than diving from airplanes). Despite the film's subtitle, and some thinly reasoned attempts to link the extreme sports pursued by these adrenaline junkies to the daily lives of normal people, there's very little "science" involved.

Four subjects are covered in Adrenaline Rush. They don't all fit smoothly together when you look at them critically, but for purposes of entertainment, they're connected by the urgently insistent narrative voice of Georges Morris and a flexible (or, to be less charitable, sloppy) use of key terms like "risk".

The first subject is the basic biology of the human reaction to danger, which results in the release of adrenaline and the "fight or flight" response. In what is almost certainly an oversimplified presentation, the narrator notes that adrenaline junkies typically have significantly lower levels of MAO, an enzyme critical to neurological functions, and that sociopaths, artists and other unusual personalities have also been found to share this condition. (Undoubtedly many individuals who have never been tested also share it.) For some reason, the filmmakers choose to illustrate this topic with scenes of a young boy confronting the anxiety of starting at a new school and, later, bringing a pet iguana to show-and-tell.

The remaining three subjects are the film's raison d'etre, because they concern people who actively cultivate the "fight or flight" state for pleasure. Skydiving is one of the best known high-adrenaline sports, and the camera follows skydiving couple Adrian Nicholas and Katarina Ollikainen and other enthusiasts on a variety of jumps with both standard parachutes and the special "winged" suits designed to simulate the sensation of flight. Much of this footage is remarkable, and my only criticism is that I would have liked to hear more from Nicholas and Ollikainen about their history with the sport and their passion for it.

Base-jumping could be the subject of an entire film in itself, because it varies depending on the point of origin: tall building, bridge, dam, mountain peak. It's also more dangerous than skydiving, because of the proximity of solid objects with which the jumper risks collision. The dramatic location used in Adrenaline Rush is the Katthammaren Wall in Norway, no doubt for the spectacular view from both the top of the cliff and all the way down the sheer drop to the ground and lake below. After a brief description of base-jumping and its risks, multiple cameras record a group of jumpers going over the edge from different angles, including one camera strapped to a member of the group that records the descent. By this point in the film, any pretense of "science" has been cast aside. It's strictly thrill-seeker porn for the armchair traveler.

The film's final subject attempts to re-establish its scientific credentials by chronicling a project by Nicholas, Ollikainen and others to build the earliest known concept for a parachute as conceived by Leonardo da Vinci in his Codex Atlanticus. Whether or not this pursuit is truly "scientific" is open to question (it sounds more like something from a Dan Brown novel), but it's certainly an intriguing historical pursuit. Since da Vinci never progressed beyond sketches, he didn't have to confront practical necessities such as weight, transport and packing. His parachute is a massive pyramid that has to be lifted off the ground with a hot air balloon, then released at a suitable altitude to determine whether it's aerodynamically feasible. (Computer simulations indicated that it would be.) Nicholas hangs suspended from the contraption, with a regular parachute on his back in case the da Vinci chute fails. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that da Vinci's design works, because it wouldn't be part of the documentary otherwise.

In an ill-advised coda, Adrenaline Rush attempts to establish a common bond between thrill-seekers and the rest of us by urging that life is all about risk. It's something of a copout given all the graphic footage and sensationalist narration designed to provoke the opposite reaction (as in, "These people are insane!"). The film could have better achieved its apparent goal of finding value in the pursuit of pure adrenaline by better explaining the research aspects of the da Vinci project, which are mentioned in passing but poorly explained. Somehow, data gathered from the da Vinci parachute's flight may prove useful in medical research, but the makers of Adrenaline Rush apparently didn't find that topic "sexy" enough to pursue in any depth.

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I was unable to find detailed specs on the shooting format for Adrenaline Rush, but since it was created for IMAX exhibition, one can reasonably assume that IMAX cameras were used for most of the photography. The credits indicate digital scanning and compositing, and this makes sense for sequences such as those that animate and superimpose diagrams of the human body or excerpts from Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks. Also, a few of the skydiving shots appear to have been captured with 35mm cameras, then blown up to IMAX scale, because the lesser resolution is immediately obvious in comparison. On the whole, though, Adrenaline Rush delivers exactly the sort of eye candy that one expects from an IMAX film, and Image's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray reproduces the impact as well as can be expected in the home (the point of IMAX being to enhance the theatrical experience). Detail is excellent, colors are vivid and contrast is distinct without overstatement. The quality of the black levels becomes evident in a brief B&W sequence at the end. With such a short program and scant extras, compression artifacts are never an issue.

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In what is surely a hommage to Apocalypse Now, the film opens with a repeated "fly around" by the title through all five speakers, before it settles down to display itself on the screen in front. It's the single most gimmicky moment on the entire DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, as if the sound designers wanted to let us know that all channels are active, before they settle down to the business of supporting the film's narrative (such as it is). For the remainder of Adrenaline Rush, the soundtrack attempts to provide an appropriate sonic environment for the various actions on screen. Usually this consists of little more than the sound of plane engines, chutes opening or wind rushing past a skydiver or base-jumper in free fall. The narration has been well-recorded, and there's effective underscoring and songs by composers with names like Abasi, Poulet Ch and Chevalier F. The main theme, which plays over the credits and also over the disc's menu, is appropriately entitled "When You're Fallin'", and it sounds like a lost Peter Gabriel song, but it's by a group called Afro Celt Sound System.

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Although the Blu-ray jacket indicates a 22-minute "making of" feature, there is no such item on the disc.

• Trailers (HD, 1080p)
• The Alps (1:31)
• Grand Canyon Adventure - River at Risk (1:44)
• Hurricane on the Bayou (1:35)
• Journey into the Amazing Caves (1:25)
• Volcanoes of the Deep Sea (1:49)
• Dinosaurs - Giants of Patagonia (1:32)
• Adrenaline Rush (1:38)


• BD-Live

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk didn't help me better understand adrenaline junkies, but it did make me glad I don't suffer from their condition—and gladder still that no one I care about is one of them. Other than that, I enjoyed the pretty pictures. Recommended if you like IMAX films. If you're a skydiver or base-jumper, I suspect only the real thing will satisfy.