Rating: 
Summary: An incredible achievement!
Review: I had always wanted to see this program but never wanted to spend the money to get it. Finally one day I decided to. I wish I had done so sooner. Dr. Sagan's Cosmos is by far the best program ever produced for television. Anyone who has ever asked themselves "How did we get here?" or "Why are we here?" needs to see this. Dr. Sagan covers all the grounds of human knowledge from evolution to the present and it is all covered in an easy to understand manor. When you are finished watching all of it you will have a much better understanding of who and where you are. Cosmos holds up very well even though it is more then 20 years old. The ideas and facts expressed need very few updates and when they are needed they are given through sub-titles and by updated footage with Dr. Sagan himself. I can't recommend this enough.
Rating:
Summary: A life-changing experience
Review: Rarely does a television series simultaneously move your heart while stretching your mind. Rarer still is the science documentary that is cross-disciplinary, covering not just astronomy or just biology or just physics and chemistry but demonstrating how they all fit together. In the opening scene of the first episode, Sagan says, "The cosmos is all that is, all that ever was and all that ever will be." Indeed, and "Cosmos" covers it all, with grace and intelligence.
The series is not merely the best non-fiction television series of all time. For me it was literally a life-changing experience, and profoundly influential. While my tendency would already have been toward looking at the universe from a scientific, and non-mythological perspective, "Cosmos" cemented that direction. It was the first source I saw to bravely assert, "Evolution is not a theory; it is a fact," and then demonstrate why that assertion is not just hubris.
That's just one example. The series was downright ground-breaking; and made even more moving and wondrous with its use of music (ranging from Vangelis to Vivaldi) and special effects.
Sometimes people ask what six or ten people from all of history you would like to have dinner with. For me, Carl Sagan is at the top of that list. And I can heartily recommend not only the DVD box set but also the companion book and even the soundtrack.
Rating:
Summary: Making up for lost time.
Review: As a late bloomer of PBS viewing, I did not see the 1980 broadcast of Dr. Sagan's Cosmos. However, it wasn't long after I became a fan of scientific programming that I was informed of the series. Of course I kept an eye on the listings, and told myself I would buy the video if I ever came across it, but like many other things in life, this fell to the wayside of everyday business. Then, I purchased a DVD player. I wanted my first DVD purchase to be a special one so I checked the offerings from PBS and, as soon as I found this set, my search ended. The product description and customer reviews, combined with all I had heard over the years, were enough for me to place the order. I suppose there isn't much more I can add to what the previous 120 plus reviewers have said about the content, but I do feel a need to add my words of praise for such a fantastic piece of work. The heart Dr. Sagan puts into the series, the quality of writing, the video features and, impressively, the updates to include new discoveries, make this a program that has not only stood the test of time, but has adapted to it as well. If you ever wondered about "the cosmos," you must view this material! "Tight Lines!"
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Rating:
Summary: Still VERY relevant - show your kids!
Review: The series although now 24 years old is one of the most relevant documentaries on this topic. Its well structured and contains information which is complex, yet it is presented in an easy to understand manner. It asks all the big questions - and provides some insights into the answers. Highly recommended - especially to kick start teenagers into wondering about space and time. Truly, it is a great documentary.
Rating:
Summary: Even you are a way for the Cosmos to know itself...
Review: The series.
One could not review this DVD-release of 'Cosmos' without contemplating it's content. It sounds boring after all those other reviews but my life also changed after viewing this series back in the 80's. If you have a narrow view of the world around you, and your are raised in the conviction that religion has the monopoly on morality, this series will be a shocking eye-opener. After 'Cosmos' my view on the world and the 'wisdom' of the people in it was radicaly changed! I can't tell you what will happen to you if you watch this because everyone has a different frame of reference. You have to experience it for yourself. I DO think there's something in here for everyone! Picture and Sound.
The images of the 80's are well preserved through this digital release. The quality is naturally limited to that of the source material but the remastering process and enhancements (well integrated new imagery) give it a more contemporary 'feel'. In some parts the limits of the special effects from back then become clear through, for example, the visability of the 'edges' between Carl Sagan and his background but on the other hand can this be seen as a compliment on the video transfer. The sound is in one word wonderfull! The music has been polished and the front mix is well balanced with rear speakers: meaning that now and then some special effects give a fly-by on your rear-left or rear-right. Because this is not distracting from the content this is a good thing with a series like this. The center reproduces the dialog and voice-over in a clear way, although it's obvious that the limitations of the 80's are present here as well. Extra's.
There is a track with music and sound effects only and some subtitles with science updates, of wich there are not many (clearly a tribute to the foreseeing eye of Carl Sagan). Although i love the series and i'm glad it's on DVD, i am somehow disappointed that even one singe 'making of' was not included. I can remember that a week before it was aired in The Netherlands i saw somekind of documentairy about making 'Cosmos'. Surely someone could have delved deep in some 'TV studio dungeon' to include this in the package. Final thoughts.
I should rate this release of 'Cosmos' four stars because of the omission of a 'making of'. But the importance of this series convinces me to give the ultimate recommendation. The ultimate way to stop war, hunger and petty thoughts is to let everyone on our world see our fragile planet from space and realise it's ONE PLACE. In our age that is not possible. I think this series is the next best thing to that. More people on our world should see this. I am convinced it would make our planet a better place...
Rating:
Summary: Beware - If you lose or damage a disk
Review: I agree with all of the positive reviews of the Cosmos DVD set, but ... If you lose or damage one of the disks in the set, CarlSagan.com will NOT replace it, even though I was perfectly willing to pay for the replacement. I wasn't looking for a freebie. I wrote two e-mails to their "support" address, neither of which resulted in the courtesy of ANY reply, so I called the toll-free order number. An indifferent CSR told me "we don't replace single disks, you'll have to call Amazon." Well, it's not Amazon's problem! The respect and admiriation that I had for Professor Sagan has been seriously tarnished by the "blow off the customer" attitude. Somehow, I don't think Dr. Sagan would approve of this policy. The only alternative I have is to spend another $130 for another complete set.
Rating:
Summary: Still a Very Interesting Series. Only PBS could do it.
Review: Well Cosmos was and still is a very interesting series. Depending on how you look at it. It's either a long documentry, or it's an indirect sequal to the same ideas about the universe seen in the movie 2001; A Space Odyssey (And a lot of Star Trek and Lucas and Spielberg films also). It was very a large series done to show us what man's place in the universe really is, and I'm glad PBS did this series. If the commercial TV networks had done it, it would have been a very shallow and superfisal series.
Rating:
Summary: Life Changing
Review: Like so many reviewers, this series changed my life when I first saw it as an intellectually curious teenager back in 1980. I went out and bought the book with paper route and tobbaco picking money. I also bought a cassette tape of the soundtrack a few years later. I still have it, although I recently bought the two CD soundtrack that was released along with these DVD's. This is still one of the most ambitious and exciting projects American public television has ever undertaken. And it still holds up. I, for one, like the "personal voyage" aspect of what Carl Sagan was attempting to do with this. His talent for communicating cutting edge science is on full display throughout, especially when he goes back to his old school in New York and teaches a group of kids (like me, back then) that they too are made of "star stuff." Another reviewer commented on the unique cinematography of this series; I agree. Sagan actually GOES to the places he talks about (the pyramids, the American west coast, Greece, etc.), including places that no longer exist and places far away, in his "ship of the imagination." The amount of intellectual ground covered here is excellent; it goes far beyond astronomy to cover evolutionary biology, archaeology, geography, history, religion, and other topics. The special effects and music are a bit dated by 21st century standards, but that, in my view, only adds to the charm. Watching this thing all over again brought me back to a special time and place. And Sagan's message rings as loudly as ever. It asks the big questions, isn't afraid to speculate, is very informative, and in the end is remarkably inspiring. Sagan's humanistic vision is just as necessary (perhaps even more so) now as it was back then, at the height of the cold war. I think our descendants will be able to look at what was done here with pride.
Rating:
Summary: Lush, Inspiring and Disturbing
Review: A feast for the eyes, ears and mind, Cosmos is still the best TV series I've ever seen. Ostensibly a documentary about astronomy, Cosmos rapidly reveals itself as a meditation on science, life, and metaphysics. Subtitled, "A Personal Voyage", Cosmos breaks with the documentary tradition of an objective narrator. Carl Sagan is passionate, imperfect, somewhat eccentric and somewhat arrogant; a prostelytizer for skepticism and reason as he faces a Cold War world seemingly bent on self-destruction. Sagan's vision of history as a conflict between science and "the gods", is a conceit that thinly veils an ambivalance toward religion in general. At the same time, Sagan speaks of "the Cosmos" with a kind of mystical reverence. This attitude caused some people to hate Cosmos when it first came out and, as I watch the series once more, I can testify that the show still has the potential to alienate. For me, Sagan's tactlessness was softened (paradoxically) by the astonishing degree to which his personality inhabits the show. This is evident in the way that Sagan actively inhabits the locations from which he lectures us. As many times as he is shown speaking, he is just as often shown moving about the landscape while his narration continues in voiceover. The epitome of this tendency is his casting of himself as a space traveler in a kind of science fiction "travelouge" that runs through most episodes in the series. At moments, Cosmos is even autobiographical, with Sagan drawing on distinct memories from his childhood. At such moments, we are almost his confidants. His inflammatory ideas given such a context are almost an ecstatic confession. The cinematography capturing Sagan's presentation is, perhaps of necessity, quite different. The cameras dart about at odd angles, occasionally lingering on some detail of a scene as if they were Sagan's own eyes. The "film art" of Cosmos is something not often mentioned in reviews but it contributes significantly to the series' singular charm.
Rating:
Summary: AT LAST - COSMOS ON DVD - & WHAT A MAKEOVER
Review: I have loved this series since I was 21, when it first aired, bought the book, the record, and years later the VHS tapes, which eventually all but wore out. I am from the UK, and I regularly searched for this series world-wide hoping it would be released on DVD - and here it is. This is undoubtedly the best series ever to be released for television, as the popularity of it, even after 22 years will testify, you will not be disappointed with this purchase, especially if you are from the UK, as this version has a lot of extra footage in it making each episode one hour long, leading me to the conclusion that the version aired and released on VHS in the UK was edited down. The music has been re-mixed, the whole lot is digitally re-mastered and it is a great pleasure to own such a landmark series on DVD - at last.
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