The Show
It’s really hard for me to imagine not being completely amazed by our universe. It’s not a subject I spend a great deal of time thinking about, and I’m certainly not a student of astronomy — but even as a casual fan of the cosmos, this series is addictive and entertaining.
Each episode focuses on some aspect of the universe. The first episode, for example, is all about our sun. Another episode later in the season is about the life and death of a star. Later in the series, topics include the speed of light and gravity. Just about every episode is interesting and nicely done, but I do have a couple of neutral or negative thoughts on The Universe, too.
First, as you work your way through the series, you can’t help but notice the number of ‘doomsday’ episodes. Even within just the first season, two or three of the fourteen episodes talk about the many ways Earth and our galaxy can be destroyed. I certainly don’t mind looking at the possibility of these events, but I thought the series focused a bit too much on such topics.
Second, and I’m not sure if this is really such a big deal ultimately, but I thought some episodes could have either been combined or organized differently. There’s an overlap on some topics and others are revisited on more than one occasion. Again, this is more something I noticed than a complaint, and it’s pretty understandable that the producers would expand a smaller topic to a full episode as the series progressed. I guess what I am trying to say is, if you are especially interested in a certain topic like black holes, you may be concerned as I was when the show first mentions them. Not a lot of time is spent on the subject and then they move on — but, later in the series, they spend much more time on black holes and revisit them on several occasions.
All that said, this is a great series and there’s a whole lot to like about it. I find the subject material very interesting, which is a big reason why I like the show, but I also really like how its presented. The series really makes the most of each episode by diving right into the subject and not losing any time with an intro, outro, or summaries off of commercial breaks. You are constantly fed information by the excellent narration of Erik Thompson, through a variety of visual aids (computer generated models as well as “real” videos and images, animations, and tables) and through the speech of numerous experts in the field, including Michio Kaku. I think the producers did a great job of packing each episode with a lot of expert interviews. While several of the experts return throughout the series, certain experts only appear once to discuss their particular topic. The seamless blend of these presentation techniques is potent and, in addition to the subject material, makes this an addictive, educational, and entertaining series.
The Megaset On Blu-ray
If you still haven’t made the jump to HD, this series is a very good reason to do so. While also offered on DVD, I strongly recommend the Blu-ray set — it’s well worth the extra $25 or so. Visually, The Universe is a treat; it’s not perfect, but it’s not far from it. A lot of the images you see are computer generated graphics or animations, and as you know, those tend to look pristine in HD. The interviews and file footage and images are also in HD though, and for the most part look excellent. Some of the older NASA film has some grain, but you expect that. The audio is primarily PCM 2.0 although season five utilizes DTS-HD 5.1. In either case, I thought the audio sounded just fine. I was, however, disappointed in how the subtitles were handled. Season 1, although proclaiming to have subtitles, actually does not, while the other seasons do. For most viewers, that probably doesn’t matter, but I would have appreciated the consistency there. Fortunately, in all other respects, including the disc labels and menus, are consistent, and they are both pretty and functional.
There are several extra features, too. These include:
-Beyond the Big Bang (1h22m, HD) – The final episode of the first season takes a raw historical look at the big bang theory and of early astronomers, from Copernicus through Einstein.
-Backyard Astronomers (56m, HD) – Quickly covers a variety of topics from the life of a star to constellations.
-Universe Facts & Photo Gallery – Twenty-four brief facts about the universe are listed. About as many still images from the show are also included for your viewing pleasure. The images are part of a slideshow, too.
-Meteors: Fire in the Sky (9.5m, SD) – Surprisingly short and in SD.
-Comets: Prophets of Doom (3m15s, SD) – A really brief discussion of comets; everything covered here is included in at least one episode in the series, so it seems unnecessary.
-7 Wonders of the Solar System (47m, HD, 3D) – Wow, I really wish I had a 3DTV. Even without it, this is a cool show. Topics include Olympus Mons, the surface of the sun, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, and four others.
Overall, this isn’t a bad collection of extra features at all. The two (Meteors and Comets) from season four are underwhelming but otherwise these extras are pretty stellar.
To the summary…
