Take a ‘Voyage of Time’ This Weekend

Voyage of Time opens this weekend. Narrated by Brad Pitt, Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience is an epic documentary that promises to take you on a journey through time from the origins of the universe to the impact—both good and bad—that mankind has had on this planet we call home, and provide a glimpse of what our future might hold.

I had a chance to speak with Dr. Andrew Knoll—the chief science advisor for the movie. While Voyage of Time was created by writer and director Terrence Malick, Knoll explained that it was his role to make sure Malick got the science right.

We talked about how a documentary like this is part art. It tells a story and conveys it in a more visually appealing way than a traditional documentary. At its heart, though, it has to be based on science and the story that is told has to be plausible from a scientific perspective.

“I find it fascinating in part because if someone like me were to do a documentary it would like something you’d see on Nova.” No offense intended to Nova documentaries, but Knoll explained that it was the difference between a purely scientific—and dry—documentary, as opposed to the awe-inspiring journey that is the Voyage of Time.

According to Dr. Knoll, Voyage of Time tries to interweave the science itself into a philosophy-based story of how we’ve evolved over the millennia. It is more of an abstract philosophical rumination about what it means for us to be at this point—a culmination of the 15 billion years our universe has existed.

This movie has a purpose or mission as well—to stimulate interest and spark the imagination of the next generation. Knoll told me, “One of the things I really like about Voyage of Time is that Terry really is trying to inspire awe in people,” adding, “It’s an awesome story. If I were 16 and I saw this film I would think ‘How can I get involved in this?’.”