Living in the Age of Airplanes

, formerly titled Aviation: The Invisible Highway and Aviation Epic, is a 2015 epic experimental IMAX documentary about the significance of aviation within humanity. It is directed by, narrated by , and backed by a soundtrack. It was shot on all seven continents, the first of its kind.

Tagline: A mile of runway can take you anywhere.

Narration

 * Since we were all born into a time when airplanes already existed,
 * they don't seem exciting, new.
 * was over long ago.
 * Even though it's only been a few decades since flying became possible,
 * our opinion of it has quickly swung from fascination
 * to frustration.
 * As we get lost in the details of the process,
 * it's easy to forget how extraordinary it is
 * that we can fly so far, so fast...
 * or that we could even fly at all.


 * [In ancient times], traveling from one distant place to another
 * wasn't a matter of hours or days,
 * it was a matter of lifetimes.


 * In ancient times, we rarely traveled more than 20 miles from where we were born.
 * We saw more of the universe than we did with our own home,
 * which is why we mapped the sky
 * long before the Earth.


 * When we mastered the sea,
 * travel became faster,
 * but our world became larger.


 * [Referring to steam transport] Instead of harnessing power,
 * we created our own.




 * Airplanes liberated us from the ground.


 * The network of airplanes is practically invisible,
 * yet their constant circulation
 * is the lifeblood of the modern world.


 * When we enter an airport, we're entering a portal to the planet.
 * Each gate is a doorway to another part of the world.
 * In a sense, we're walking distance to almost anywhere.


 * We bridged the gap that once
 * separate and isolate entire cultures.
 * We go beyond what we've learned about our history,
 * and set in the very places where it unfolded.
 * The airplane...
 * ...is the closest thing we've ever had...
 * ...to a.


 * [Referring to the ] Part plane, part boat:
 * it bridges the sky and the ocean.




 * In the age of airplanes,
 * we've become explorers once again.


 * Aviation's influence is all around us,
 * but much of it is never seen.


 * Although not everything in our homes is flown in,
 * we may not realize how many things
 * we own from far away places.


 * [Aviation] even impact[s] those who've never flown.


 * When we work together and combine our discoveries.
 * we achieve much than we ever could on our own.
 * And the faster the ideas can connect with each other,
 * the faster the progress of the modern world.


 * We're truly living in a time of science fiction.


 * If we couldn't fly, we probably wouldn't go.
 * And if we didn't go,
 * imagine how different our lives would be.




 * We tend to romanticize the past
 * and feel nostalgic for the way things used to be.
 * At the same time, we're eager for what the future holds:
 * "the promise of something better."
 * But as we go about our fast-paced lives,
 * sometimes the hardest thing to do is to slow down
 * and appreciate the time we're living in.
 * In its own way,
 * every era is a golden age.
 * It's just a matter of perspective.


 * In the world we've made, everything is connected,
 * and nothing seems impossible.
 * No virtual technology can ever do what the airplane does.
 * It allows us to stay physically close
 * to the people and places we love.
 * And of all the places an airplane can take us,
 * perhaps the most meaningful...
 * ...is home.