Hyperspace (Final Frontier) (DVD)

After reading a lot of the negative reviews regarding this series...well, I simply had to write my own review. The main reason I felt obligated to do so is because many of the negative reviews failed to even touch on one of the best aspects to this series, that being the entertainment factor. Lets face it, documentaries are a unique form of entertainment in that they both educate and entertain. One of the things that all great documentaries share in common is that they find a balance between the entertaining and educating. With that being said, many documentaries fail horribly at achieving this balance. Take for instance Stephen Hawking's Universe. Universe has enough info in it to keep your mind busy for years to come but the presentation/entertainment side is severely lacking. If it weren't for Starbucks I would have never made it through the series in a conscious manner. For anyone who is not an avid astronomy freak, Stephen Hawking's documentary will without a doubt put them to sleep long before they learn anything interesting.Its this balance of educating and entertaining that really separates BBC's Space from other astronomy documentaries like Steven Hawking's Universe. Sam Neil does a fantastic job presenting the material and the computer generated graphics are outstanding. These two things combine into a one two punch that very few space documentaries can match. With that being said, this series does have some flaws. One of the more prominent flaws is that there is an overabundance of speculation and not enough fact. Of course, you cant really cover these topics without some level of speculation. We wouldn't be where we are today in the field of astronomy without speculation. This series just tends to go a bit far in this regards. All in all its a minor problem and its easily overlooked.The best way to describe this series is to say that it takes some of the more exciting and relevant astronomical subjects (such as life in space, meteorites, black holes, and what will eventually happen to the earth) and presents them in a fun and entertaining way. The visual effects play a significant role in this regard and they are nothing short of stunning. In fact, they are easily some of the best effects ever produced for an astronomy documentary and they are presented in an extremely unique way. Its kind of difficult to properly explain but what you ultimately wind up with is a large holographic type image that Sam Neil can interact with. Its really one of the more unique and creative aspects to this series and it really makes the subject matter that much easier to comprehend. I keep hoping that Carl Sagan's Cosmos will be given a hi-def facelift with visual effects of this magnitude.As a testament to this series, my 12 year old nephew sat through this entire series completely mesmerized by the content and he even commented how much he enjoyed it. Thats pretty impressive considering he isn't really into astronomy. He didn't make it past the first episodes of Steven Hawking's Universe. The entertainment factor is ultimately where this series excels above the others astronomy documentaries on them market. Its capable of educating and entertaining people of all ages, regardless of their level of knowledge on this subject matter. In regards to viewers like my nephew, this is easily one of the best astronomy documentaries on the market. It may not be the most informing documentary but its certainly one of the most entertaining and for people that only have a slight interest in such subjects....well, that is really one of the most important aspects as it keeps them watching. A documentary can have all the information in the world but that really doesn't do much good if the viewer is too bored to continue watching it. Again, its all about the balance between entertaining and informing and Hyperspace strikes that balance perfectly.Bottom line - This is certainly not the richest or the most educational astronomy series on the market and it does have its fair share of flaws. Fortunately its so well done and so entertaining that the flaws are quickly forgotten. Ultimately I think this series is exactly what the BBC wanted it to be, a fresh and entertaining look into some of the more common and relevant astronomical subjects facing us today. Sam Niel's presentation was absolutely spot on. He appears legitimately fascinated in the subject matter being presented. I highly recommend this for anyone who is even remotely interested in the Cosmos!!!5 Stars and then some!

This set of DVDs has wonderful graphics designed to bring to life and down to earth what goes on out in space.The DVD takes you through the birth and death of the stars and planets, then onto comets, asteroids and black holes, the relationship between all of the above, and constant dangers, which give these DVDs somewhat gloomy flavor.Due to impending dangers - for that matter everything that is created in the physical world has beginning and the end, and so will eventually planet earth - the later DVDs in this series project us into the future attempting to provide possible and most likely solutions for life on earth by colonizing Mars.That is an interesting possibility. Number of scientists were interviewed - yet all that they came up with was rooted in our current knowledge and understanding. That does make sense, but one may also consider the fact that science has made rapid progress even in the past 100 years, so it would only make sense that some more viable solutions that those which are presented as possibilities on these DVDs will emerge.In the span of 100,000 years one could expect not only undreamed of advances in technology, but also raise in consciousness and understanding. Perhaps one day quantum physics will get married to astrophysics and even the axiom that the "expectations of the Observer ifluence the outcome of the observed experiment" will bring yet other interesting solutions - the fact that we are not victims and at the mercy of the material world, but are creators of it. That, though, is beyond the scope of these DVDs.

This DVD initially caught my eye because I had previously read a book by Michio Kaku called "Hyperspace". Since this had a similar title I thought it would be on a similar subject. This isn't true at all; apparently this was originally released by the BBC under the title of just "Space"... which is probably a far more apt title. Considering Kaku's book dealt a lot with quantum physics and multi-dimensional properties, I think a lot of people will think this product falls into that category. This is more of an introductory DVD on general cosmology.After reading reviews here, I learned what it was actually about, but what ended up motivating me to purchase it were the reports of excellent graphics and the fact that it's narrated by Sam Niell. I really like Sam Niell as an actor, he was great in Jurassic Park and even better in Event Horizon (in my opinion), and so narrating a documentary should seem interesting. It also makes me assume that Sam Niell is also into this subject, rather than just some paid actor (although he is probably that as well, but I hope to think that he agreed to do this because he finds the subject interesting).This documentary really is very introductory. So if you're looking to delve into some of the heavier material of astrophysics or properties of gravitation, or anything of a more in depth nature, then this is not a documentary you're looking for. It really is excellent to introduce students or anyone with a passing interest into these subjects though. It has very high quality eye catching graphics and very accurate content. This is only one disc and its split into six episodes, about 30 to 45 minutes each in length. It takes you through a veritable tour of the sequence of life in the universe, starting off with how stars are created all the way until they can die. It even goes into how Earth can be affected by the galaxy around it and what major dangers we could possibly face. "Hyperspace" spends a fair amount of time on that subject in particular and goes into a decent amount of detail. It also goes into speculation of how we may be able to avoid such dangers and how we may one day eventually be able to leave this planet.I just finished watching it, and even though I knew most of the things that were discussed on the DVD I still found it an interesting and entertaining show to watch. I realize that Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" is probably superior, but it's far more daunting. I think the BBC's aim may have been to target newer audiences and get them engaged in this kind of research. Having it in 30 to 45 minute segments really makes this accessible for teachers in high school or earlier. It's like having an abridged version of the more in depth material found in "Cosmos", which I think is a smart move. When I went looking for documentaries of this particular nature, I couldn't find too many on DVD that seemed adequate and covered a broad base of research. "Hyperspace" fit my criteria after viewing it.As some people have mentioned the tone of the show is pretty doom and gloom. But seriously... Sam Niell is narrating this, think about the movies he's acted in! I mean come on; he played the Antichrist in the third Omen movie. I personally liked this factor because I really don't think the average person really understands a lot of the factors that our planet could possibly interact with on a daily basis. I mean, it's no secret this planet will eventually die and be completely destroyed. "Hyperspace" just makes the viewer aware of that situation and to motivate people to start thinking far outside the box. As humans go, we live a pretty short amount of time, so a lot of scientist's dream of being able to do certain things and a lot of times without public backing their dreams won't be realized. I think this helps to raise the public awareness of where science is. This is basically telling people what they're working on. Scientific research is often funded corporately and publicly (via taxes), so it's products like this that help us see where all this research is leading us... oh, and most people pay for that corporate involvement too, since we buy products from corporations. I mean, people don't really think that General Electric doesn't spend all their money on producing stuff; they have a huge R&D budget too.To comment further on what others have mentioned here already, I didn't see it mentioned anywhere that this DVD implies our sun will eventually explode into a supernova. I think it's pretty well documented that our sun lacks the mass to fully go nova. Rather the language used to describe our sun in this DVD is that it will eventually die. Now they are at fault for not going into detail as to how exactly that will happen, but it didn't really imply it would go nova.Overall, Niell is an incredibly engaging host who really makes you get involved with the show. It's spelled out fairly simplistically (almost without enough detail in some sections), but overall it is an excellent introduction. I would highly recommend this to people who have an interest in cosmology, or want to share with someone just getting interested in the subject. Even for veterans of the world who have read more than enough books, this DVD is still quite entertaining to watch given the graphic quality. Enjoy... and see what the future holds for our galaxy.

I borrowed this title from a friend a few years ago, and I was so taken by some of the imagery, that I've been trying to find a copy of my own ever since.I really got this DVD for just one segment (How to recreate the big Bang in a lab), but the whole series is put together in such an interesting way that all the information is easily absorbed, and people of ALL ages will find it absorbING.

Self Education

Good presentation of the space science