THE PLOT THUS FAR
We once thought ourselves to be at the center of the world, now we know that we are just a small spec in a giant universe.
Immerse yourself in an astonishing exploration of space with all five seasons of this epic series from HISTORY. Shot in HD with stunning footage from NASA and packed with state-of-the-art CGI graphics THE UNIVERSE takes viewers on a visually arresting journey across the galaxy to bring the beauty and mysteries of the cosmos a little closer to home. Delve into the cataclysmic events that set the stage for life, and visit sites where Earth s birthing process is still in evidence. Relive astronomical triumphs, from the first crude lenses that were able to magnify celestial bodies to probes that blaze to the most distant planets. See the hottest events in the sky, from colliding celestial bodies to collapsing suns. And venture into the uncharted territory of outer space through the visions, studies, and predictions of scientists and explorers on this journey of cosmic discovery, amazement, and adventure.
Now in glorious Blu-Ray, THE UNIVERSE MEGA COLLECTION includes all 63 original episodes of all five seasons of this epic series, plus the feature-length documentary Beyond the Big Bang on 16 discs.
BONUS FEATURES: 7 Wonders of the Solar System episode in 3D; Feature-length documentary: Beyond the Big Bang; Featurettes Meteors: Fire in the Sky , Comets: Prophets of Doom , Ask the Universe , Backyard Astronomers
WHAT WE THOUGHT
If you like astronomy this is a newer show highlighting astronomy’s latest digital coolness. I don’t particularly like how the director tries to jazz up astonomical explanations with repeated stock footage images of stuff happening in space. Yes it all looks very cool, mostly, but it seems to me that these shows always have to sensationalize everything to really sell it to the viewer. Why not just let the amazement and wonder of astronomy come to the surface without the lust for flashy images that in the end have little to do with the subject matter. Even though I’m on a rant, I actually love this show. Just bad use of stock footage, and sometimes they really gloss over some of the more interesting points they are trying to drive home.
The hook of the series is that you get to take a look at what Venus, Neptune or a nebula or a meteoroid strike on Earth would look like up- close, while the narrator explains the “science” behind it. I say “the science” because very little science is usually covered. Any complicated phenomena is usually explained through real-life analogies. A meteorite crashing the Earth is like shooting a ball with a rifle. The crater can be measured by drawing an analogy of throwing a weight plate on sand and measuring the width of the bump on the beach. Then again, this series is not aiming to educate the experts or even science enthusiasts. It’s written for the laymen, who just want to see what Venus looks like if you were standing on its ground. On high definition, those images are quite impressive and grab your attention.
The scientific community has made it a point on their agenda to make science, in particular astronomy, cosmology and theoretical science more accessible to the general public. An action I totally support. However, showing nice CGI, some enthusiastic scientists that seem to care more about their own popularity then real science, in this case, gives a wrong idea about what we actually do and do not know.
