The Universe

Rating:
Summary: beautiful video, great info
Review: A must for any astronomy buff. This dvd takes you through the whole universe, tells you what everything is and puts it all in perspective.

The final result is an almost spiritual understanding of our place in the universe. You see galaxies collide and starclusters come to life; new stars form out of molecualar gas and old stars explode into beautiful patterns of light.

A great DVD!

Rating:
Summary: The Universe
Review: Beautifully done, excellent narration. Should be in every public library and in every school library.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Engaging...A Must Have
Review: I bought this DVD after hearing about it on an internet talk show (Mac Show Live). I haven't seen it since it first arrived; my 7-year-old son grabbed it and has not let it go. A beautifully narrated and produced DVD with engaging dialog that kept me and my kids interested from the beginning. I highly recommend this for kids and adults alike.

Rating:
Summary: What? No picture? No synopsis? Well, here ya go, then...
Review: I received this DVD for Christmas. From the back of the box: "The Universe is a brilliant video tour of over 200 amazing astronomical objects, featuring images from Hubble, SOHO, TRACE, and NASA's other orbiting space telescopes. The Universe sweeps you past distant galaxies and through magnificent nebulae, zooms up close to the inferno of the sun, and flies deep within dense clusters of dazzling stars. each of eleven chapters showcases a different type of object, featuring a concise narration explaining every image. An original orchestral score beautifully complements the mystery and magnificence of these dazzling cosmic phenomena. There's never been a better way to see and study the mysteries of deep space. Special features include live interviews with Alex Filippenko, Professor of Astronomy, UC Berkeley, and Karel Schrijver, Astronomer, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center."

In Alex Filippenko's interview, he spends about 15 minutes discussing the very recent discovery of evidence which shows that the expansion of the universe is not slowing down as we theorized, but rather is accelerating. He postulates the existence of "black energy", which is something entirely different than "black matter", as the cause of this acceleration. Karel Schrijver spends several minutes discussing the evolution of TRACE and sun imaging.

The still and moving images on this film are wonderful, colorful and clear. The narration is pleasantly intelligent, yet not too technical. You can choose to listen to the narration with the musical score in the background, or you can choose to listen to just the musical score in DD "5.1". In actuality, when you choose the music-only option, you are listening in 4.0 or 4.1, with no information in the center channel. The narrative audio track is just the 4.0 musical score with the center dialogue added, for a total of 5.0 or 5.1. In any case, the music score sounds fantastic, and utilizes the discreet rear channels better than most Hollywood films. My only complaint of the DVD is in navigating the "chapters", which are really each a separate title. It is hard to explain, but navigating is just plain cumbersome, but it is mastered soon enough to get you through the entire film. Other than that, this is a recommended DVD for cosmos buffs.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing DVD: educational, inspirational, and beautiful!
Review: I'm not an astronomy buff, but I found this DVD to be simply fascinating nonetheless. There is a ton of information packed into the narrative that accompanies the most beautiful space images you'll ever see. It's mind-bending when you stop to appreciate that every image and video on this DVD is of our real world, not some sci-fi special effect. "The Universe" is awe inspiring! Buy a copy today to see for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Really out of this world!
Review: If you think you've seen the Hubble telescope's images, you ain't seen nothing yet. This is a really cool and effective way of presenting them, with well-written, well-produced narration (which you can turn off, and just get spacey with the music!) The user interface is easy to move around, and you can spend hours soaking up all of the information on this disk, or just let it flow over you.
The range of images is extraordinary, and the music fits them to a "T". The 5.1 mixing is subtle, but very well done, and suits the music and pictures well--and it doesn't hit you over the head like some titles.
A terrific gift for a kid who's into space, or for an adult who wants to look at beautiful and utterly fascinating images. Unique, educational, and highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A much clearer universe
Review: This DVD is without a doubt the best of it's kind on the market, in fact this DVD should be required in every science class, grade school, high school and college that is studying this "little old" universe of ours, the care with which the facts are laid to us makes the comprehension of the incredible size of "out there" the best I have come accross, the music fits perfectly, the naration talks TO us, not down to us and the photography is mind blowing! I'm not going to try to explain the contents of the presentation because it is too much for the untrained human mind to do, my advice to those who's interest is peaked by my review is, buy it! you can't go wrong! universedvd.com

Rating:
Summary: Great Astronomy DVD!!!
Review: This is a beautiful DVD! It takes you through basically the whole universe, starting with the sun and going through the solar system, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies all the way out to the edges of the universe.

Even though a lot of the images obviously come from stills from the Hubble Space Telescope, they're made to move in this DVD so it almost feels like you're flying out in space, and sometimes flying right up close to these things so you can see them in amazing detail.

I've seen a lot of DVDs about astronomy, but this one is absolutely the best in terms of making sense out of all the different things out there. By showing everything in order, as if you were travelling through space, it's really clear where everything is. And the narrator tells you the name of everything you see, how far it is and what part of the sky it's in. This is a great source of astronomical information.

But the BEST part of it is the video of the sun from the SOHO and TRACE telescopes. I've NEVER seen anything like these videos of the sun's corona, anywhere. Every astronomy fan should see this.

The music's great, too.

Rating:
Summary: Universally Superb
Review: This new DVD, "The Universe" is more mind-bending than the best science fiction, and--amazingly enough--it's all science-fact.
This DVD should be required viewing for every citizen of the planet earth; it will make them realize that they're actually citizens of a much greater community: the infinite and fantastic Universe itself. This DVD will give you a whole new perspective on your own existence.
Featuring NASA images from the Hubble Space Telescope and other probes, "The Universe" takes you on a tour of the cosmos, staring with incredible time-lapse imagery of our own sun. NASA has been creating these images for years, but--amazingly--you hardly ever see them on TV, in newspapers, or anywhere! "The Universe" video puts them all together on one disc, beautifully and logically organized, with concise narration and music that perfectly suits the subject matter. There's also interviews with two astronomers who describe scientific facts that suggest that our own physical reality is more fantastic than any "Star Trek" episode.
Every home should have one of these DVDs, and everyone should watch this program annually to remind themselves not to get too caught up in the small details of life. We are all part of a profound existence. This may sound really "out there," but that's the reaction I had to it. "The Universe" is a must not only for amateur astronomers, but also for students, science fans, science-fiction aficionados, history buffs, and everyone else who's curious about what lies beyond their everyday life. In fact, once you see this disc, you'll have a new and better perspective on your everyday life. Seeing "The Universe" is almost a religious experience--and yet it's all science fact.
I don't usually write Amazon reviews--let alone one this long--but I am THAT impressed by "The Universe" that I think everyone should get a copy. It's about time someone took all these fantastic images--which constantly move in this video--and organized them for everyone to see. This DVD is indeed "universally superb" because it succeeds on so many levels: as entertainment, education, metaphysical mind-opener, and a show that confirms that infinite validity of our own lives. "The Universe" is a winner.

Rating:
Summary: The Universe DVD: Far more than I Imagined
Review: Very impressive visually, sounds wonderful on Bose system. I liked it, my kids loved it! I'll be looking for more offerings from this talented director.