Rating: 
Summary: Great show, lousy production quality on DVD remake
Review: I have loved this show since it was first aired and have waited patiently for its eventual release on DVD (or VHS for that matter). Although I haven't seen the show in fifteen years or more, it was still as great as I remembered as I viewed the DVD version. The problem is the master tapes they must have used are a little worn out, with the DVD looking in places like an overplayed VHS tape. Chapter 7 would not play at all! Buyer beware.
Rating: 
Summary: Reminds me why I like science
Review: I watched this a long time ago (I was nine) and was captivated. It sparked my interest in science that evenutally led me to major in physics.That was a mistake. After so many years, I had forgotten why I loved the field so much, and in college, everything was boiled down to hard equations and dry lectures. I evenutally got discouraged and transferred to computer science. (Which I enjoyed and which has led to a good career...) But recently--I'm 30 now--I saw this released and, remembering how much I loved it, bought it. I've watched it, and now that I can understand a lot more of it, I'm once again captivated. Carl Sagan makes you realize what an insignificant speck we are in the universe, but at the same time conveys such a sense of wonder and appreciation of our little speck. He elevates us by showing us a glimpse of the grandeur that we are all a part of. Since re-watching the series, I have been scouring the Web for more information and my mind has been spinning with new possibilities of who we are and what the Cosmos is all about. This is much more than just a show about "space stuff"; it is filled with history, philosophy, excitement, good old fashioned story-telling, and I have yet to watch a segment that I didn't come away from really thinking and dreaming about. If I had been taught by Carl Sagan in college, I'd probably be a physicist today. Maybe it's time to dust off some of those old college books...
Rating:
Summary: WELL WORTH THE WAIT!
Review: It has been a long wait for a lot of people. The everlasting memorable quality of Cosmos was well attested by the many dozens of unanimous five-star reviews stretching back over a year (for some reason amazon.com has truncated the number of customer reviews that were posted for the long out-of-print "Cosmos: Complete Collection" video set; there used to be many, many more than there are now) taking the time to wistfully sing the highest praises for this then-unavailable show and clamoring for it to be re-released. Although I never posted one of those reviews myself, I avidly read them as I checked amazon.com (and carlsagan.com) almost daily to see whether there was any news on when, if ever, Cosmos would be released. Cosmos is a fantastic 13-part science miniseries about not simply astronomy but about humanity's place in the universe including evolution, history, the brain, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, concluding with a plea to cherish and preserve the humanity that, even if there are billions of other intelligent species in the universe, remains unique and precious. Now, at last, I have the show again in this wonderful 7-DVD edition. The picture and the music quality are quite superb. As for the picture/content, all the original Cosmos footage appears to have been restored, from the 1980 La Perouse sequence to the 1990 Comet sequence, and some new mostly still pictures have been added as well (such as new artwork of galaxies during the "Shores of the Cosmic Ocean" flight of the spaceship and a screenshot of the new seti@home computer program). All the 1990 Sagan updates remain, a 2000 Ann Druyan introdution comes before the first episode, and there are also a few occasional "Science Update Subtitles" that give short updates in the science of what is being discussed (one of which I found particularly interesting: much of "Edge of Forever" wonders whether our expanding universe is "open" or "closed," and in the 1990 Update Sagan states that this has still not been determined, but then a Science Update Subtitle states that recent observations suggest that the universe is not only "open" but that its expansion appears to be increasing). As for the music, the DVDs contain some new original Vangelis music that is truly wonderful, and most of the great music in the episodes themselves is unchanged but not all, with some musical differences both minor and major (such as the total replacement of all the Jean-Michel Jarre music that used to fill "Lives of the Stars" with the new Vangelis music), but on the whole all the new musical choices still work beautifully. Incidentally, contrary to what a below reviewer stated, the final episode of Cosmos, "Who Speaks For Earth?", has not been proven wrong by 20/20 hindsight. As briefly pointed out in a Science Update Subtitle at the end of that episode, as Sagan stated at greater length in his last book "Billions and Billions", and as was detailed in the recent documentary on CNN "Preparing for Armageddon", even today after the "winning" of the Cold War, the nuclear armaments of both sides have been only slightly reduced and both sides remain able and ready to senselessly destroy the world many times over at the drop of a hat. It is therefore more necessary to remind everyone of Sagan's worries in this episode than it was 20 years ago, as these days most people now dismiss the problem as solved.
Rating:
Summary: TOO MANY DISCS
Review: I *loved* the Cosmos series when I was a kid. I still have the book and have read it numerous times, and Cosmos got me very interested in the music of Vangelis - I own almost all his music on CD now. HOWEVER - I refuse to buy any large set of programming like this. (I would love to own "I, Claudius" too.) But I won't allow this much shelf space to be taken up!! If they would *use* the technology they have available to them, and make the discs dual-layer and double-sided, I would be all over this. They could fit all 13 episodes onto *two* discs! Three if they had a lot of supplementary material. But any more than that is *ridiculous* for 13 hours of programming, and this has SEVEN discs! Stupid! I rate the show five stars but this presentation 1 star.
Rating:
Summary: A fitting Tribute to Carl Sagan.
Review: Carl Sagan was one of those rare individuals who could entrall as well as educate. He quite simply broke science out of the cloister of self righteous 'learned' people to involve all. As much a genius he himself was, this did not stop him from imparting to us the fundamental truths of the cosmos, and science in general. I was 14 when the 'Cosmos' series was first shown in Ireland, and I was quite simply mesmerised. This very welcome DVD release has the episodes in full, most lasting 1 hour with the updates. Flawless picture, with 5.1 surround sound, and a very useful subtitle feature for science updates during each episode. Thoroughly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: MASTERPIECE
Review: Carl Seagan's decision in making this series was taken after the disappointment caused on general public as the first pictures from Viking Lander showed nothing else than rocks on Mars. However, he believed that interest in science could be excited through the most powerful communication medium, television. And he got it. Cosmos was watched for over 500 million people in 60 different countries. In U.S.A. it became the most widely watched series in the history of American public television winning the Emmy and Peabody Award. In Brazil the success was so great that it was cast three times through the main TV network. Cosmos deals with a wide range of matters such as ancient civilisations, biological evolution, history of philosophy, brain's working, origin and fate of universe and much more.... This magisterial masterpiece is not only a travel from the microscopic DNA chain to the vastness of sideral space but also a self questioning about human beings. If you ever wondered about who are we, where are we from or where are we going to, you will find some answers in this fascinating series. Cosmos is an exciting voyage through the world of knowledge. One could suppose that after almost twenty years the visual effects as well as the series itself would be out-of-date. That is not true. The power of Cosmos lays mainly on Carl Seagan's ingeniousness to instigate our imagination and foment the perception of our universe. All of that is underlined by beautiful excerpts of erudite music and exquisite Vangelis' music which fit so perfectly into the series that it seems to have been composed specifically to it. It will surely remain as the most magnificent program ever produced for TV for many years to come. It deserves a sixth star.
Rating:
Summary: Why So Few Great Science Series?
Review: Cosmos first aired in Australia on our non-commercial network, the ABC, (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), back in 1982. It was "buried" away late at night, 10:30pm, mid-week. I videotaped every episode on my old Betamax. I re-watched the complete series again only last year. The tapes were watchable, but tracking was a major hassle. I was delighted to discover the series had been released on DVD and purchased it at once. I was totally surprised and delighted by what I received. The DVDs all looked wonderful, and hearing the series for the first time in stereo added a new depth to it. I was more delighted to discover each episode now ran for about 55-58 minutes. (All episodes are 58 minutes. Some have a 4-5 minute Update, with 55 minutes of original footage, and some 58 minutes of original footage). When first shown in Australia, and my old video tapes prove this, the average runtime was just 50 minutes. I have rewatched the entire series again, on DVD, and was delighted with the "new footage", (filmed with the original series but missing from my tape copies), and "Cosmos Updates", filmed "10 Years later" at the end of many episodes. Much of the series has be "tweaked". New photos and video footage added and sequences updated. It is the original series, but with a little more gloss. COSMOS is a brillant series. I really can't say more about it than has already been said by all the other reviewers, except perhaps; "Why are great science series like this so few and far between?". Now if someone will kindly put "The Ascent Of Man" on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Still good science, with few revisions needed
Review: It is amazing that this series, first aired on PBS in 1980, requires few revisions or updates. This set incorporates "Cosmos Updates" with Dr. Sagan, dated 10 years later. They add to the continuing timeliness of the series. I have watched the tapes three times through since I purchased the set in December, and you just don't tire of it. One does wonder, however, if his newfound optimism was a bit premature, given recent world events, such as Kosovo, escalating tensions in the Middle East, and the resurrection of "Star Wars" in the U.S. Let's hope not. It would be a shame if we still managed to terminate ourselves and everything else out of sheer stupidity. Dr. Sagan's eloquent plea for common sense and reason to triumph over agression and our tendency for violence is still one of the highlights for this series. This is one of the best introductions to almost any scientific discipline for any young person you know who is interested in any science career. Dr. Sagan was an excellent teacher who could reduce complicated principles to understandable levels for laypeople. The price is well worth it - you get the original 13 hours, in their entirety, plus the updates, totaling another 45 minutes or so. Some of the montage images have been updated slightly (there are scenes which were not available in 1980, or even 1990, such as Mars Pathfinder footage), but this just adds to the experience. One of my favorite segments is the one on Hypatia, the last head of the Library at Alexandria. Just try entering her name into any search engine - you will be astounded at what you find, and several of the sites are wonderful for young women who aspire to the sciences. Even after his untimely death, Dr. Sagan is still able to teach and make us consider our actions, both as individuals and as nations, and how they may affect the world around us. I would highly recommend this video for anyone interested in science, in history, in graphics (the original series utilized no computer graphics - everything was gorgeous astronomical paintings by some of the best in the business, including Adolf Schaller), and in learning in general. The music is superb and compliments the images, with Vangelis' "Alpha" during the evolution drawings sequence being one of the best pairings I have seen. Every segment will give you several things to think about, whether or not science is your "thing."
Rating:
Summary: A great series
Review: To begin with: this IS a landmark in quality television. In the mid-70's I watched Dr. Bronowski's "The Ascent of Man", which I personally found to be both an intelligent and coherent production. When I watched the broadcast of the first episodes of "Cosmos", I got the same impression again. This feeling of consistence both in quality and content has not been abated by the years. The DVD set discs are of high quality (no faults with the set I got). The sound is surprisingly clear, with an appropriate 5.1 mix. This DVD set is a gem!
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Collection
Review: This serie is great, it's very perfect colection, VIVA CARL SAGAN!
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