"DINOSAURS Alive!" roared into Discovery Place in a BIG way as the Museum's newest IMAX film premiered on the Carolinas' largest movie screen in The Charlotte Observer IMAX Dome Theatre Saturday, March 29. The film continues through Monday, Sept. 1.

The film features spectacular animation and a live-action story that joins renowned paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and their graduate students in the field as they uncover new fossils -- including the remarkable discovery of what may be the oldest dinosaur ever found in North America.

Narrated by Academy Award-winner, Michael Douglas, the film brings dinosaurs, their behaviors and their ancient environments to life on screen as never before seen -- juxtaposing stunningly realistic and scientifically accurate computer generated imagery (CGI) with intriguing 1920s documentary footage.

Interwoven throughout the film's storyline is a real-life, scientific adventure that reveals how paleontologists search for, discover and study fossils to determine different dinosaur species -- how big they grew, how fast they moved, how they were related to other species, how they interacted with others, what they may have eaten, how they may have raised their young, what their surroundings looked like and how they may have died.

Audiences will be immersed into the world of giant lizards, witnessing dinosaurs locked in mortal combat, nesting in colonies, protecting their young and facing catastrophic forces of nature. Guests also will learn which dinosaurs traveled in herds, which made nests, which were the predators, which were the hunted and other surprising behaviors.

"DINOSAURS Alive!" takes audiences to Mongolia with 1920s archival footage of paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews -- a larger-than-life adventurer believed to be the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character. Andrews led five AMNH expeditions to the Gobi Desert and discovered one of the greatest repositories of dinosaur remains ever found.

The film then returns to that same site today with leading AMNH paleontologists, Mike Novacek and Mark Norell, who have been making annual expeditions to the desert every summer since 1990. IMAX cameras follow Mike and Mark and an inspiring team of dedicated young graduate students eager to hone their dinosaur hunting skills in the field, as they set out on a hot and dusty Mad Max-like journey across the Gobi's stark desert terrain.

The film then heads to New Mexico, one of the few places in the world where rock layers preserve the whole age of dinosaurs -- from the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic Periods -- and where breakthrough discoveries continue to be made in the high desert badlands.

The film shows the rich history of life stretching back 220 million years and brings audiences to the fabled Ghost Ranch, where the number of fossils uncovered during the dig is staggering -- revealing layers of dinosaurs and reptiles in concentrated deposits in a mass burial place.

"DINOSAURS Alive!" estimates that less than two percent of all the dinosaur species that once lived has been discovered. For young paleontologists, the adventure is just beginning and this spellbinding new film is sure to spark imaginings of what mysteries still lie buried beneath our feet.

The film runs from through Monday, Sept. 1. Tickets are $8 for ages 14-59, $7 for ages 2-13 and 60+ and are free for children younger than 2. Group and member discounts also are available. Visit discoveryplace.org or call 800-935-0553 for showtimes. Concessions, including popcorn, beverages and candy are available during movie showings.

Discovery Place is located in uptown Charlotte at 301 N. Tryon Street. Convenient parking is available in the science center's parking garage, the Carol Grotnes Belk Complex, at the corner of Sixth and Church streets. For more information about Discovery Place, guests should call (704) 372-6261 or visit discoveryplace.org.