Critical Acclaim for Mystery of the Nile

Critics from far and wide extol the virtues of the giant screen film, Mystery of the Nile, and its companion book by the same name…

“Giant-format movies are at their best when they capture real-life experiences that fill vast Imax screens with action and excitement. Mystery of the Nile is just such a film, as heart-pounding an adventure as the spectacular Everest, which set the benchmark for Imax productions.”
-- Cincinnati Enquirer

“Mystery of the Nile is a beautiful, eye-opening, heart-pounding adventure from one end of the great river to the other….Llompart and cinematographer Reed Smoot made magic shooting the film.”
-- Charleston City Paper

“[A] thrilling Imax film……[Mystery of the Nile] is an exciting journey, full of dazzling images. And IMAX makes it all so real that you an only be deeply thankful that OMSI is as close as you will get to some places.”
-- The Oregonian

“Movies like this are what IMAX was made for—sharing singular, hard-to-access experiences with a mass audience in a way that engages the viewer through the senses. (4 stars)”
-- Ottawa Citizen (Ontario, Canada)

“…[a] thrilling IMAX adventure. (4 stars)”
-- Providence Journal

“…[Mystery of the Nile] surpasses most of the format’s movies, engrossing your brain as it enraptures your eyes.”
-- Fort Worth Star Telegram

“A quintessential Imax film. (Four Stars)”
-- San Jose Mercury News

“MacGillivray Freeman Films, the makers of Everest, deliver another spectacular journey for the IMAX screen!”
-- Boston Post-Gazette

“With a majestic quality befitting its subject, Mystery of the Nile is an IMAX film with meat on its bones. More than a breathtaking visual record—though it is that, as well—the movie conveys much that is eternal about ‘the Mount Everest of rivers,’ sustenance of civilizations from antiquity to the present day….The only real problem with ‘Nile’ is that it doesn’t last longer.”
-- Charleston Post and Courier

“[Mystery of the Nile] is a spectacular cinematic journey that begins in legend, passes through history and concludes with a hard-earned epiphany….47 adrenaline-flushed minutes.”
-- MetroWest Daily News (Boston)

“…[a] thrilling IMAX adventure.”
-- Albuquerque Tribune

“Mix together brilliant cinematography and great African music. Combine it with the backdrop of a beautiful country, and you have one fine documentary on Egypt’s Nile River….A must-see for the adventurous.”
-- The Daily News (South Africa)

“Documenting the first full descent of the Nile River through three countries, the latest IMAX film Mystery of the Nile does not fail to boggle the mind….The courage, curiosity and perhaps partial insanity of the explorers—not to mention the film crew—are admirable, as their trials and tribulations yield stunning images galore….made all the more glorious by the large-screen format….[a movie of] stirring beauty and scope.”
-- Box Office Magazine

“Somewhere, Sir Richard Francis Burton is envious. Had the great British explorer lived but a century or so later, he surely would have been the one to lead the first successful navigation of the length of the Nile….He’d have looked great in IMAX, too, as does everything in Mystery of the Nile, the latest documentary vertigo thriller from MacGillivray Freeman Films….the film provides a real feel for the long history and yes, mysterious spirit of the river.”
-- San Diego Union Tribune

“Mystery of the Nile is the latest Omnimax film adventure to transport its viewers to a dramatic, dangerous and compelling landscape that most will never see in person….It’s a journey that’s fascinating on various levels, from the historical and sociological aspects to breathtaking scenery and human determination and courage. Grade: A”
-- Cincinnati Post

“Mystery of the Nile is a startling record of the adventurers’ progress, setbacks and encounters with natives and antiquities…[The film] includes several dazzling sequences. Rafts capsizing on violent rapids and a scene in which Brown is fired upon by a thief in a canyon are true nail-biters. Most memorable, however, is the laughter and delight of people everywhere who encounter Mystery’s crazy explorers as they make their way to the sea.”
-- Seattle Times

“Beautiful cinematography….the audience will feel as though they, too, are running the rapids and flying above the river like the birds.”
-- Newark Star-Ledger

“The giant screen…perfectly conveys just how small and out of place Brown and Scaturro’s rafts become in a river as grand and destructive as the Nile. With the screen awash in behemoth waves, the audience can’t help but feel—in at least a few instances—as battered as the brave crew….lovely.”
-- Rocky Mountain News

“As a series of achingly beautiful pictures, Mystery of the Nile is almost too much for the eye to soak up….This is one pretty movie.”
-- Kansas City Star

“Mystery of the Nile is by far the most economically priced trip you’ll ever take to Africa. That’s what the IMAX experience delivers: the feeling that you’re there, soaring above the Nile River from source to end….Mystery of the Nile is a gorgeous film….”
-- South Florida Sun-Sentinel

“Once you’ve seen an adventure travelogue in Imax or other super-duper large-screen formats, you don’t want to see such stuff on TV, no matter how good a job the Discovery Channel does. The clarity of the image, the sheer scope of the screen, taking you up Everest, into a volcano or swooping down a river, can be breathtaking. And so it is in the new IMAX epic, Mystery of the Nile. . . .[the film] is most striking, taking us places we’ve never been before.”
-- Orlando Sentinel

“MacGillivray Freeman Films, one of the most prominent makers of large-format IMAX movies, brings its veteran status to this breathtaking travelogue, which explores the length and breadth of the Nile River….Mystery of the Nile is as impressive as filmmaker Greg MacGillivray’s Oscar-nominated Dolphins and The Living Sea.”
-- Ft. Lauderdale City Link

“Shot in part by legendary IMAX cinematographer Reed Smoot, [Mystery of the Nile] offers outstanding large-format footage of some of the most remote locations in Africa.”
-- Film Journal International

“Filmed with one IMAX camera and two videocams, the filmmakers take the audience along the harrowing journey with as much pulse-pounding drama and suspense as the actual trip must have been….Mystery of the Nile captures the danger and beauty of this great river while simultaneously offering a tale of human triumph and self-discovery. (4 stars)”
-- Cedar Rapids Gazette

“…drop-dead footage.”
-- Outside Magazine

“…breathtakingly beautiful….”
-- Colorado Springs Gazette

“Mystery of the Nile has just about everything you could want in a large format film. You will feel like you are on one of those 16-foot rafts as they crash through the rapids in Ethiopia’s desert canyons….Mystery of the Nile is both educational and fun and an excellent addition to the large format films currently being shown at the science center.”
-- Osceola News-Gazette (Florida)

“Mystery of the Nile accomplishes what the IMAX format does best: it vicariously lets us experience a journey that very few of us will ever take on our own.”
-- Ardmore Main Line Times (Ardmore, PA)

“…[Mystery of the Nile] offers stunning large-format footage of some of Africa’s most breathtaking locations.”
-- Norwalk Citizen-News

“Editor’s Pick” -- Richmond Magazine

“…Mystery of the Nile will suit all ages and excite both history buffs and armchair adventurers.”
-- Dallas Observer

“Another terrific IMAX adventure film….There are three reasons to see this movie. First, we learn about an ancient civilization. Second, we experience an expedition that has never been accomplished before. And third, we see Africa and the Nile through the eyes of the IMAX camera. And what a sight that is to behold. (4 stars)”
-- Cranston (RI) Herald

Critical Acclaim for the Companion Book

“In Mystery of the Nile, Richard Bangs…deftly recounts Pasquale Scaturro and his team’s 2004 voyage out of Ethiopia, down the entire length of the Blue Nile…a definitive report. By turns harrowing and triumphant, [Mystery of the Nile] proves that giant deeds demand not just guts, but strong interpersonal skills to match.”
-- National Geographic Adventure

“…a fascinating outdoor book.”
-- The Seattle Times

“…a moving account of an incredible journey.”
-- Booklist