rdagto I was fortunate to see Windjammer: the voyage of the Christian Radich in 1959 at the round Cooper Cinerama Theatre in Denver, while I was a high school student. I still have the stereo vinyl recording of the music, and the program book. The film was beautifully photographed and the Cinemiracle process and stereo sound provided a cinematic experience that has never been matched since. There seems to be some question as to whether the original negatives are still intact, who has or controls them, and what condition they might be in as far as a possible restoration and re-release of the film, perhaps in IMAX or 70 mm Panavision to maintain the 3-film aspect ratio, and perhaps in HD/DVD for home viewing. If one of the major film restoration organizations such as TCM were to adopt this project, they would be contributing to the preservation of one of the finest film classics ever produced. I certainly hope that someone will take on this challenge before the negatives deteriorate beyond use, if they have not already. It is difficult to understand why something has not been done already, although it is probable that cost-benefit analysis is involved. Anyone who has not seen Windjammer would be absolutely captivated by the beauty, majesty and adventurous challenge depicted in this exceptional production.

John Steven Lasher Of all the documentary, so-called 'travelogue', films shot during that halcyon decade -- the 1950s -- when Cinerama, Cinemirace and the Soviet Kinopanorama took centre-stage at the world's cinemas, this beautifully wrought film stands alone! Simply put, it is heads-and-soldiers above the rest.Sadly, Cinemiracle, was a "one-off" release. Plans by Jack Warner to shoot their controversial film, "The Miracle", starring Carol Baker, were shelved due to the enormous cost of shooting in the three-film format. No other films were shot in the format. Cinerama, Inc., which purchased the Cinemiracle format and patents from National Theatres in 1960, promptly relegated the format -- superior in most respects to Cinerama -- to the dust-bin of cinema history.Attempts in recent years to restore the film with new colour prints and the original 7-channel soundtrack have come to naught, due to the high costs involved.The Kinopanorama producer-director, John Steven Lasher, stated in March, 2004, that he would gladly restore "Windjammer" before committing any funds, had they been available, to any of the Kinopanorama travelogues to which he has access.

Greg Couture This was released in southern California at Grauman's Chinese Theater where its three-projector and massive screen requirements were provided at an expense that would probably never be reproduced today. I doubt that the IMAX system is anywhere near as complicated and the specially built theaters for its presentation are possibly less expensive to construct, adjusting for inflation, than what was done at the Chinese.The opening scenes on an ordinary size screen were a suspenseful buildup to what was eventually revealed: a seemingly infinite opening of the drapes to a dizzying crow's nest view of the storm-tossed Christian Radich Windjammer as it left Oslo's harbor for its voyage. The Cinemiracle three-camera system (which involved a complex setup with mirrors and other technical details too numerous for an amateur to recount here) and the three-projector theater presentation, with full stereophonic sound, was an amazement in its time and I have not been as impressed with my recent visits to IMAX theaters to see the usually less interesting subjects designed to wow us today. The kinetic feeling imparted to the late-Fifties audiences who saw this film was easily more realistic than anything that IMAX has attempted.Some years later, after the initial release, at the Cinerama Dome Theater on Sunset Blvd. (which was never set up to show three-projector films, since "Cinerama" was by then a single camera process, generally shot with 70mm Panavision cameras) a return engagement of "Windjammer" was advertised. I told a film-loving friend of mine, who had not seen its original release, that we ought to attend a showing. Imagine my disappointment when all that was shown was the middle panel, leading to some really strange sequences when seascapes were blank for an extended period of time as the Christian Radich proceeded from the unseen left panel, across the middle one, and off onto the unseen third panel on the right! I really didn't understand why they didn't edit this version so that only the action in the middle panel was shown, but that would probably have required some tinkering with the soundtrack, something that the people who had gotten their hands on this curiosity were seemingly much too cheap to do. Anyway, I convinced my friend that we were wasting our time and, after complaining in the lobby to a representative of the Cinerama Dome's management about what was undeniably a rip-off, we went up to Hollywood Blvd. and saw a first-run film, probably shot in CinemaScope or one of its equivalents. Less than a week later the ads for "Windjammer" in the LOS ANGELES TIMES movie listings carried a tiny disclaimer that the film was not being presented in its original format. IMDb.com information on this film seems to indicate that the 1962 re-release, under the Cinerama Corporation's aegis, was an anamorphic presentation, but what we saw at the Cinerama Dome was nothing more than a reproduction of the original negative's center panel and there wasn't anything wide about it.Obviously the original negatives were not preserved, since a major studio was not involved in the production, and so its eventual transfer to video (which was, for example, accomplished with M-G-M's three-camera/projector Cinerama extravaganza, "How The West Was Won" with clearly visible demarcations to the left and right of the center panel, which were much less obvious in the Cinemiracle process, by the way) is now something that is lost in the mists of movie-going memory.

ZoneIII it was spectacular. It may look dated today, but it was wonderful then. It opened up with scenes in Norway as the crew prepared for the voyage. Then the ship left port and once it unfurled its sails, the curtains pulled to the side for an incredible cinematic experience. The movie followed the actual voyage of a group of young Norwegian cadets as they sailed the world. The soundtrack for this move is beautiful. I would love to see this movie again and, in fact, that's why I searched for this title in the first place. I have never forgotten this movie.