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Cosmic Voyage (IMAX)

Cosmic Voyage (IMAX)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: At the Speed of Light...
Review: This movie is a brief one, which hurls you from the earth into the universe at the speed of light, then in a millisecond, you are yanked back to the smallest particles on earth. This movie is too short, and certainly not spectacular enough to make you feel as if it was worth your money. It doesn't cover enough information about the universe, nor anything else. It barely spends any time with animations of the universe, and shows too many scenes of regular earth dwelling places and things, such as the scene in Venice, a supposed lead up to nothing, which takes up half of the movie. And the animations aren't that great, I've seen better on the Discovery channel. This movie gets you thirsty for science, and leaves you uneducated, and longing for more. If there is another movie out there, I suggest buying it over this one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: At the Speed of Light...
Review: This movie is a brief one, which hurls you from the earth into the universe at the speed of light, then in a millisecond, you are yanked back to the smallest particles on earth. This movie is too short, and certainly not spectacular enough to make you feel as if it was worth your money. It doesn't cover enough information about the universe, nor anything else. It barely spends any time with animations of the universe, and shows too many scenes of regular earth dwelling places and things, such as the scene in Venice, a supposed lead up to nothing, which takes up half of the movie. And the animations aren't that great, I've seen better on the Discovery channel. This movie gets you thirsty for science, and leaves you uneducated, and longing for more. If there is another movie out there, I suggest buying it over this one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Short but sweet introduction to the scale of the universe
Review: What does the universe look like at the scale of atoms, or that of galaxy superclusters? What did the early universe look like, and how did it evolve into the cosmos we know today? What other life may have evolved and be wondering about our universe as we do?

These are deep questions, and no short film can possibly do them all complete justice. Instead, in its 35 minutes, Cosmic Voyage flies through a summary of what we know--just enough to whet your appetite for more.

Starting in Galileo's Venice, with familiar everyday scales of time and space, the IMAX film employs a common technique: expanding our perspective by successive factors of 10, until the screen encompasses the largest structures scientists know of today, and our own Earth is utterly lost in the deep expanse. A similar voyage takes us from the waterways of the Netherlands down into the nucleus of the atom, where (somewhat paradoxically) our knowledge comes from some of the largest experiments in the world.

The simulation of the early universe and the numerous galactic collisions is especially awe-inspiring. Usually, documentaries of this sort employ artists to bring the words of astrophysics journals to life; Cosmic Voyage was the first movie to make use of scientific computing and cosmic simulations on such a large scale. The sequence was computed under the direction of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which also had an early hand in popularizing the World Wide Web. The result is an accurate and breathtaking depiction of how the oldest and largest parts of cosmic architecture took shape.

The temptation with any such documentary is to compare it to Cosmos, the PBS documentary hosted by Carl Sagan that ran in 1980. But the comparison is unfair. Sagan had 13 hour-long episodes, with a sweep at once broader and deeper than anything since. With only 5 percent of the length, Cosmis Voyage can't expect to duplicate that sweep, and to its credit, it doesn't try. It just stuns you with its imagery and inspires you to find out more, and it does so without straying from scientific accuracy. Provided you keep in mind the length and scope of the film, you won't be disappointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Short but sweet introduction to the scale of the universe
Review: What does the universe look like at the scale of atoms, or that of galaxy superclusters? What did the early universe look like, and how did it evolve into the cosmos we know today? What other life may have evolved and be wondering about our universe as we do?

These are deep questions, and no short film can possibly do them all complete justice. Instead, in its 35 minutes, Cosmic Voyage flies through a summary of what we know--just enough to whet your appetite for more.

Starting in Galileo's Venice, with familiar everyday scales of time and space, the IMAX film employs a common technique: expanding our perspective by successive factors of 10, until the screen encompasses the largest structures scientists know of today, and our own Earth is utterly lost in the deep expanse. A similar voyage takes us from the waterways of the Netherlands down into the nucleus of the atom, where (somewhat paradoxically) our knowledge comes from some of the largest experiments in the world.

The simulation of the early universe and the numerous galactic collisions is especially awe-inspiring. Usually, documentaries of this sort employ artists to bring the words of astrophysics journals to life; Cosmic Voyage was the first movie to make use of scientific computing and cosmic simulations on such a large scale. The sequence was computed under the direction of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which also had an early hand in popularizing the World Wide Web. The result is an accurate and breathtaking depiction of how the oldest and largest parts of cosmic architecture took shape.

The temptation with any such documentary is to compare it to Cosmos, the PBS documentary hosted by Carl Sagan that ran in 1980. But the comparison is unfair. Sagan had 13 hour-long episodes, with a sweep at once broader and deeper than anything since. With only 5 percent of the length, Cosmis Voyage can't expect to duplicate that sweep, and to its credit, it doesn't try. It just stuns you with its imagery and inspires you to find out more, and it does so without straying from scientific accuracy. Provided you keep in mind the length and scope of the film, you won't be disappointed.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Extremely short, disappointing, and intellectually insulting
Review: While I realize that this DVD is IMAX and therefore intended for broad audiences who may or may not be familiar with scientific terminology, I do feel this offering has been too dumbed down to be enjoyable for adults. I would recommend it for an elementary or junior high school class-- maybe even an introduction to astronomy class, but for someone who wants to see space, this is not the DVD to buy. "Cosmic Voyage" is a misleading title, as there is very little space to be seen and far too much on-the-ground footage. Equally appalling is the 36 minute duration of the video. This is far too short a time in which to adequately cover all the concepts the back of the DVD box promises. All in all, I was bored and frustrated at the amount of money paid for something so short and unimpressive.


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