BY ABGRABER

In print | Published September 30, 2004

Friday has come at last, and you, the perennial Swattie, have once again emerged from your cocoon of English papers, math sets and discarded coffee cups for a weekend full of fun, sloth, and denial about the physics test on Monday for which you still haven’t done the reading. Blinking into the harsh glare of natural light (oh, how it burns!), you ponder your next move — dinner in Chinatown? A movie at the Ritz? Seventy-two hours of uninterrupted sleep?

How about watching a tornado blaze through Kansas? And I don’t mean “The Wizard of Oz.”

Why is The Weather Channel suddenly an option for providig your weekend kicks? Because when a tornado towers above you 16 meters high or a tidal wave 22-meters wide rushes past with a velocity that puts the “force” in “Forces of Nature,” it gives a whole new meaning to “cloudy with a chance of showers.”

For “Extreme Weather” and other forms of extreme video, look no farther than the IMAX theater at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, a breathtaking experience that, for a mere eight bucks, submerges the audience in film and fury.

IMAX has the gift of making the audience feel as though it is part of the film. The screen curves around the seats, allowing you to be utterly enveloped by the beautiful cinematography as you scale volcanoes and dive into oceans. For movies, size does matter, and IMAX is nature up close and personal, bigger and better and cut into nicely manageable, affordable chunks.

IMAX documentaries tend to concentrate on the natural world — Mother Nature is ready for her close-up. And though her sweeping vistas are displayed to their best advantage on a larger screen, the beautiful presentation probably won’t teach you anything new. The flashlight of enlightenment that is IMAX is a bit low on batteries. The scripts, such as that for the recent “Forces of Nature,” tend to focus on common knowledge: for example, “Volcanoes are bad” or “Earthquakes are bad” (I’ll leave you to imagine their shining illumination on the subject of tornados).

Anyone disappointed that they haven’t had a fulfilling learning experience has missed the point. IMAX films don’t overwhelm with facts; they dazzle with images. Who cares why volcanoes erupt? We just want to see the things explode. And in the excellent Tuttleman IMAX facilities, explode they do, in crisp, high-definition images and pounding surround-sound.

The Tuttleman IMAX is an excellent screening venue. The theater was nearly empty for “Forces of Nature,” allowing me and my roommate to snag the best seats in the center, though on a crowded day you may be out of luck (IMAX doesn’t really work from the front row). It’s impossible for anyone sitting in front of you to block your view of the film, no matter how impressive her afro.

However, be forewarned that there is an inverse relationship between how easy the IMAX is on your eyes and how good it is for your stomach. The Franklin Institute doesn’t serve popcorn before the show for a reason. Though there is a small café in the theater lobby, I urge any movie-goers, for the sake of their health and the man sitting in front of them, to resist its allure. There’s nothing quite like a plunging, spinning drop through the center of the Earth to make your turkey sandwich return from whence it came.

But for the strong of stomach and the unorthodox of cinematic taste, the Tuttleman IMAX at the Franklin Institute is perfect. Its spacious seating and easy-to-reach location, a short walk from Suburban Station, make it a comfortable and convenient getaway at anytime. Sit back, relax, and appreciate theater at tornado velocity, because Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore.

“Titanica” and “Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West” are currently playing on the IMAX screen at the Franklin Institute. For more information on the museum and showtimes, visit http://sln.fi.edu/tfi/info/omninow.html.

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