The
universe is 13.7 billion years old. It spans 93 billion light years
across and is filled with over 100 billion galaxies, each filled with
hundreds of billions of stars. A place so unimaginably vast and complex,
it is almost inconceivable that it could ever be understood. But for
2,500 years, humanity has tried to unlock its secrets. Taking science
away from telescopes and labs, this series travels into the natural
world and across the planet, from the scorched plains of Africa to the
snow capped Canadian Rockies. These journeys, across the planet are
combined with spectacular images of space. Inspired by the latest data
and imagery captured from telescopes and using stunning high definition
CGI, Wonders of the Universe offers views of giant supernova,
gamma ray bursts and recently discovered galaxies, and sheds light on
the furthest reaches of the universe, just moments after its creation.
This groundbreaking four-part series explores some of the most profound
questions we can ask about ourselves and the celestial world in which
we live.
Film (5 out of 5 stars)
When I see shows like Wonders of the Universe
I wish that it had been around when I was going to school because
Professor Brian Cox has found a way to make physics fun and accessible.
This show isn’t a dry boring lecture from an elderly man in front of a
chalkboard which drags on so long that it seems like you are actually
trapped in a space-time continuum of your own. Brian takes the opposite
approach and shares his knowledge in the outdoors usually at location
relevant to what he’s talking about or at the very least in a scenic
spot. Even if he wants us to see some video, he brings out a portable
screen and projects his info in these remote locations. There’s
something to be said about watching a video of galaxies spinning around
the Milky Way galaxy on a screen that is itself under a canopy of
stars.
Brian not only makes these difficult to
understand subjects accessible, but he also does it with a boyish
enthusiasm that is infectious. You can tell that he genuinely loves
what he’s talking about and that he’s just as fascinated by the concepts
as the viewer is. He’s never condescending and I really liked his
presentation style. A lot of shows like this may help you understand
the basic concepts behind something like gravity but he goes beyond that
and answers questions that never get answered by snooty academics.
During the gravity episode “Falling” Brian explains how gravity works
and provides examples of how it would affect humans by riding in the
zero-G ”Vomit Comet” and riding in a centrifuge. While discussing
black holes, I kept thinking “Yeah but what would happen if a human
would enter one,” which I believed would never be answered just like on
the other shows but Brian proved me wrong. That thought occurred to him
too and he said that your body would be stretched so much as you
entered it that it would “spaghetti-fi” your body into shreds. At that
point I knew that this was my kind of science show.
Not only do I like that Brian is a
straight shooter and knows his stuff, but he’s willing to use real world
locations and items to prove his point. To illustrate how a black hole
works, he traveled to Africa’s Victoria Falls to show how from a
distance, the water and pull of the black hole is gentle. The closer
you get to the either the Falls or the center of the black hole, it will
get more violent and there’s no way that you can save yourself because
the pull is too strong. Another example he used was blowing bubbles to
show how nuclear fusion works. It’s that kind of low tech example to
explain intricate concepts that makes this show work so well. That’s
not to say that it’s all low tech as there’s some breathtaking visual
effects as well. I’ve seen a bunch of these kind of shows that use
special effects to help the viewer understand what they are saying, but
none of them have looked as good as the ones on this show. Seeing stars
get born or turn into a red giant or a neutron star is just amazing
and it adds a lot to the show. Each of the episodes was very
interesting and not only are you learning a lot about physics, but you
are also seeing the world as Brian travels to all points of the world
including African deserts, Antarctica, the American southwest, Canadian
Rockies, the Himalayas, India, China, and more. Here are all of the
episodes on this disc as originally described:
- Destiny – Who are we?
Where do we come from? For thousands of years humanity has turned to
religion and myth for answers to these enduring questions. But in this
series, Brian presents a different set of answers – answers provided by
science. In this episode, Brian seeks to understand the nature of time
and its role in creating both the universe and ourselves. From an
extraordinary calendar built into the landscape of Peru to the beaches
of Costa Rica, Brian explores the cycles of time which define our
experience of life on Earth. But even the most epic cycles of life
can’t begin to compare to the vast expanse of cosmic time. For
instance, just as the Earth orbits the Sun, the solar system orbits the
entire Milky Way galaxy. This orbit takes a staggering 250 million
years to complete. Ultimately, Brian discovers that time is not
characterised by repetition but by irreversible change. From the
relentless march of a glacier, to the decay of an old mining town, the
ravaging effects of time are all around us. The vast universe is
subject to these same laws of change. As we look out to the cosmos, we
can see the story of its evolution unfold, from the death of the first
stars to the birth of the youngest. This journey from birth to death
will ultimately lead to the destruction not just of our planet, but also
the entire universe, and with it the end of time itself. Yet without
this inevitable destruction, the universe would be without what is
perhaps the greatest wonder of all; the brief moment in time in which
life can exist. - Stardust – In the
second stop in his exploration of the wonders of the universe, Professor
Brian Cox goes in search of humanity’s very essence to answer the
biggest questions of all: what are we? And where do we come from?
This film is the story of matter – the stuff of which we are all made.
Brian reveals how our origins are entwined with the life cycle of the
stars. But he begins his journey here on Earth. In Nepal, he observes a
Hindu cremation. Hindu philosophy is based on an eternal cycle of
creation and destruction, where the physical elements of the body are
recycled on to the next stage. Brian draws a parallel with the life
cycle of the stars that led to our own creation. Next, he explains how
the Earth’s resources have been recycled through the ages. How every
atom that makes up everything we see, was at some time a part of
something else. Our world is made up of just 92 elements, and these
same 92 elements are found throughout the entire universe. We are part
of the universe because we are made of the same stuff as the universe. - Falling – In the third
episode, Professor Brian Cox takes on the story of the force that
sculpts the entire universe – gravity. Gravity seems so familiar, and
yet it is one of the strangest and most surprising forces in the
universe. Starting with a zero gravity flight, Brian experiences the
feeling of total weightlessness, and considers how much of an effect
gravity has had on the world around us. But gravity also acts over much
greater distances. It is the great orchestrator of the cosmos. It
dictates our orbit around the sun, our relationship with the other
planets in our solar system, and even the way in which our solar system
orbits our galaxy. Yet the paradox of gravity is that it is actually a
relatively weak force. Brian takes a face distorting trip in a
centrifuge to explain how it is that gravity achieves its great power,
before looking at the role it plays in one of the most extraordinary
phenomena in the universe – a neutron star. Although it is just a few
kilometres across, it is so dense that its gravity is 100, 000 million
times as strong as on Earth. Over the centuries our quest to
understand gravity has allowed us to understand some of the true wonders
of the universe, and Brian reveals that it is scientists’ continuing
search for answers that inspires his own sense of wonder. - Messengers – In the
last episode of Professor Brian Cox’s epic journey across the universe,
he travels from the fossils of the Burgess Shale to the sands of the
oldest desert in the world to show how light holds the key to our
understanding of the whole universe, including our own deepest origins.
To understand how light holds the key to the story of the universe, you
first have to understand its peculiar properties. Brian considers how
the properties of light that lend color to desert sands and the spectrum
of a rainbow can lead to profound insights into the history and
evolution of our universe. Finally, with some of the world’s most
fascinating fossils in hand, Brian considers how but for an apparently
obscure moment in the early evolutionary history of life, all the
secrets of light may have remained hidden. Because although the
universe is bathed in light that carries extraordinary amounts of
information about where we come from, it would have remained invisible
without a crucial evolutionary development that allowed us to see. Only
because of that development can we now observe, capture and contemplate
the incredible wonders of the universe that we inhabit.
Video (5 out of 5 stars)
This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks
amazing as the live action segments are filmed in high definition as are
the CGI sequences. Detail is very sharp and each location Brian visits
is captured in all of its beauty. Colors pop especially the CGI
portions which just look amazing and I can’t tell what is real space
footage and what’s been created for this show which is really
impressive. Black levels are contrast are perfect and the only issue I
did notice was one fleeting glimpse of noise but it was gone as soon as
it registered and that’s really the only issue I had with this disc’s
video quality.
Audio (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Wonders of the Universe comes
with a Dolby Digital Stereo track which I don’t understand since
everyone involved in this production put so much effort into making this
a cinematic experience, that it makes no sense that there isn’t at
least a DTS-HS Master Audio mix provided. The stereo track is
acceptable and works for the program but it seems like a lost
opportunity since the visuals were so strong. Dialogue was
understandable and the music and effects sounded good so it’s not like
this is a terrible track, but it should have been as good as the video
quality.
Special Features (0 out of 5 stars)
Sadly there are no special features which will drag the final score down lower than it should be.
Final Thoughts (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Brian’s willingness to go to any lengths
to explain a concept and his common man explanations that convey
difficult ideas in an accessible way make this a great show for people
that have an interest in it but might feel intimidated by the subject.
So far, this is by far my favorite science show and I hope he does
another series. I just learned that his previous series was called Wonders of the Solar System
so I will check that one out too while I wait for his next one. It’s
just a shame that the sound and the lack of special features hurth my
final score as this is highly recommended!
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