Beautiful landscapes and some information on William Randolph Hearst are evened out by terrible writing and acting to make this Imax film very average. And it could be good, had they put a little more into the writing, and into the casting department. What we have here is a 40 minute movie depicting William Randolph Hearst's life....sort of. What is actually portrayed is his life as a kid, and then as an older man building the beautiful castle. It is narrated by some fictional pilot who flies guests to the castle, then later narrated by a female guest explaining how great this place is. If you're watching this, most likely, you're about to take the tour and find out how great it is for yourself. One scene in the film where Young Hearst and old Hearst look at each other with kind of a silent happiness at what they've accomplished is one of the worst scenes in modern cinema. So, go see this if you have an hour to kill before your tour is ready, but you won't like it.
My rating: ** out of ****. 40 mins.
