AllMovie

Greg MacGillivray's documentary Greece: Secrets of the Past marks the latest addition to the tidal wave of IMAX features now available on widescreen DVD (including The Rolling Stones: Live at the Max, Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure, IMAX Space Station, and many others). This forty-minute travelogue unlocks the complexity and majesty of Ancient Greece, via a breathtaking visual exploration of the Greek isles, replete with gorgeous aerial cinematography. The program then tours the relics of antiquity that still linger on the Grecian landscape, including the ruins of the Parthenon and other architectural remnants, while narration on the soundtrack (by My Big Fat Greek Wedding's Nia Vardalos) expostulates on the land's contributions to democratic ideals, science, sculpture, and western politics. As an added bonus, broadly-scaled CGI visuals recreate the Santorini eruption.