OK. On the whole, this three part documentary will bring most interested people up to date with going's on in the world of physics, and the last 300 years of discovery of our universe. If you have read Stephen Hawkings brilliant book "A Brief History of Time" and understood it then you might benefit from the visual description of certain concepts..which i did to a certain extent. Greene is bearable, but obviously for the sake of the masses, tends to explain things in a slighty patronising way. This is of course deliberate and will be perfect for almost everyone who watches this series.
The guest scientists were good. (no Hawking, but i suppose he has his own DVD(s) ) I kept waiting for him to appear but they rotate through the same ones for almost 3 parts... (very American weighted here, with a few Brits and one antipodean) I bought the Nova 2 Disc edition (NTSC) and there were a few inclusions that really detracted from the overall experience.
1. The "this is brought to you by.." at the start of EACH part was a necessary evil for the first part, but seeing it 2 more times before It was over was very ordinary.
2. Can't be helped I suppose but there is quite a bit of overlap at the start of 2 and 3 which had me reaching for the FFW button a few times.
3. This disc set was straight from TV..(ie ads, what happen last show for those that missed it, and frequent "goto pbs.org for more ...." )appearing throughout the presentation. (quite unlike BBC material which is unmatched for presentation..Planets, The Blue Planet, etc) My 7/10 is based on content alone. The niggles were there but I got over them. If this had have been done with that classic British accented presenter( you know the one) it would be a perfect Disc set in my opinion.
If you have seen this and want more...then I highly recommend Hawkings book " a Brief History of Time"... I wish it was a movie too.
Happy viewing.
The guest scientists were good. (no Hawking, but i suppose he has his own DVD(s) ) I kept waiting for him to appear but they rotate through the same ones for almost 3 parts... (very American weighted here, with a few Brits and one antipodean) I bought the Nova 2 Disc edition (NTSC) and there were a few inclusions that really detracted from the overall experience.
1. The "this is brought to you by.." at the start of EACH part was a necessary evil for the first part, but seeing it 2 more times before It was over was very ordinary.
2. Can't be helped I suppose but there is quite a bit of overlap at the start of 2 and 3 which had me reaching for the FFW button a few times.
3. This disc set was straight from TV..(ie ads, what happen last show for those that missed it, and frequent "goto pbs.org for more ...." )appearing throughout the presentation. (quite unlike BBC material which is unmatched for presentation..Planets, The Blue Planet, etc) My 7/10 is based on content alone. The niggles were there but I got over them. If this had have been done with that classic British accented presenter( you know the one) it would be a perfect Disc set in my opinion.
If you have seen this and want more...then I highly recommend Hawkings book " a Brief History of Time"... I wish it was a movie too.
Happy viewing.