Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.
Victor Sluzhkin signs on as a teacher of geography in a secondary school in his native Perm (in the Urals) and gets lost in a haze of hard vodka, desperate love for a nymphet-like student and the stress of educating teenagers. Geographer, as the students immediately dub Sluzhkin, attempts to escape from the grueling, dull, stultifying reality of Russia's provincial life in a rafting tour to the Urals. Accompanied by wild, adventure-seeking adolescents, faced with the numerous grim surprises of the nature, Geographer is poised to find himself and his own truth.
A couple on a deep-wilderness hike become hopelessly lost within an aggressive black bear's territory.
This short documentary by Bill Mason explores Pukaskwa National Park on Lake Superior, providing a background of the park's geological past and plant life. The film also shows scenes of hiking, canoeing and camping. The result is to put us back in touch with the natural elements that our ancestors both fought and enjoyed.
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
When Todd takes his girlfriend Cammie up to the family cottage for a reclusive proposal, the last thing he expected to be doing was dealing with was his slacker brother and his hippie girlfriend. But in this comedy of errors, Todd and Cammie, have to deal with his accidentally murdered brother in order to live happily ever after.
A group of former military elites set out to explore an uncharted abyss, not knowing their worst nightmare is waiting for them deep beneath the ground.
On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.
In the depths of an ancient forest, something has been growing. Something older than humanity itself, and perhaps greater too. When a park ranger discovers a man and his son living wild, she stumbles onto a secret that is about to change the world.
A story within a story within a story. In Australia's Northern Territory, an Aboriginal narrator tells a story about his ancestors on a goose hunt. A youngster on the hunt is being tempted to adultery with his elder brother's wife, so an elder tells him a story from the mythical past about how evil can slip in and cause havoc unless prevented by virtue according to customary tribal law.
Buster and Phyllis endure a number of outdoor adventures trying to prove to each other their survival skills. The balloon which lands Buster in the wilderness proves useful later on as their canoe is about go over a waterfall.
This short film from canoeist Bill Mason illustrates the joy and poetry of paddling solo. All the basic strokes used to control the canoe are rendered with perfect clarity through animated lines. Part of 'Path of the Paddle: Quiet Water', in Bill Mason's Path of the Paddle Series.
A boy's carved boat travels through the Canadian wilderness until it reaches the ocean.
In this documentary short, two men paddle a canoe across a remote part of northern Lake Superior. Each stroke brings them closer to the culmination of an artistic and spiritual journey, one that begins with ancient rock paintings from their Anishinaabe ancestors.
When Maxwell goes on a canoe trip with his grandpa, they appreciate the wonders of the world around them and reflect on their differences and similarities.
An evil scientist in a remote jungle location cultivates giant crawfish (!) as a means of scaring trespassers away from his diamond mine. Condensed from one of the last Republic serials, "Panther Girl of the Congo". (1955).
This short film from canoeist Bill Mason demonstrates the basic doubles paddling strokes and how to apply them in various combinations. The application of each stroke in rapids is shown briefly and the emphasis is always on working as a well-coordinated team.
Part of 'Path of the Paddle: Quiet Water', in Bill Mason's Path of the Paddle Series.
The second IMAX film made, commissioned by the Ontario Government, and produced by MultiScreen Corporation, later to become IMAX corporation. North of Superior is a Northern Ontario travelogue, and was the first short feature to be shown at the newly created Ontario government theme park, Ontario Place, in it's state of the art cinema, Cinesphere, the first permanent IMAX installation.
This short film from canoeist Bill Mason shows how to read the rapids and plan a course and follow it, with complete control of the boat, using the basic paddling strokes. Running rapids will always be a calculated risk, but risk diminishes with skill and knowledge. The strokes can be used in endless combination to reduce the risks of whitewater canoeing and increase the sheer joy and exuberance.
Part of 'Path of the Paddle: Whitewater', in Bill Mason's Path of the Paddle Series.