The Universe: The Complete Season Three – Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews

TheUniverse-S3_BD

My love of science started when I was very young, and like most boys it started with dinosaurs. I devoured every book I could find on the creatures and fancied myself at age five to be a dinosaur expert. Soon, however, I added books about animals that were currently living, and gradually moved on to reading about sea creatures and the sea. Eventually I stopped looking just at what was around and began looking up at the sky, and I’ve pretty much kept my gaze fixed there ever since.

I feel a bit like that boy every time I sit down to watch The History Channel series The Universe. And looking back, it seems like this program started out much in the same way I did, by looking at just what was around, and eventually began staring farther and farther off. For the most part the first season focused on our solar system: the planets, their moons, and so on. But starting with the second season, the show really started widening its focus, covering topics which were outside our celestial front yard in episodes like “Alien Planets” and “Nebulas,” and into topics which were more theoretical in nature, such as “Dark Matter” and “Gravity.”

Season Three has picked up that theoretical thread and pretty much ran with it. Of the twelve episodes in this set, seven are devoted to topics which are almost purely theoretical. Episodes like “Parallel Universes,” “Light Speed,” and “Alien Faces” deal with subjects which—for now—exist solely in the realm of science fiction. While I know some who dislike the more speculative emphasis on these episodes, I enjoy it and find them appropriate considering they are based on the best scientific information known at this point. I enjoy the hard science and the enthusiasm the scientists show when talking about the possibility of traveling faster than light, or revising the Sagan-Drake equation that postulates that there are possibly millions of other advanced civilizations in our solar system alone.

This attention to scientific detail along with the knowledgeable, enthusiastic—not to mention articulate and telegenic (I’m looking at you, Amy Mainzer)—group of scientists make this a highly educational and entertaining show, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the amazing production values which go into every episode. The Universe is a beautiful show to look at. The show-makers use high-end computer graphics to simulate the various stars, planets, and other cosmic phenomenon the scientists talk about, not to mention real photographs taken from earth and deep-space telescopes. And it’s gorgeous, especially in Blu-ray. I could watch an episode with the sound off and still have a great time looking at the amazing celestial landscapes.

It’s this attention to detail on every level of production that makes The Universe such a treat to watch, and Season Three is no exception. While the greater emphasis on speculative episodes may put off some viewers, I found them just as fascinating and informative as the more grounded (if you’ll pardon the pun) episodes.

Each episode is presented in widescreen with no aspect ratio given with the audio in PCM 2.0 (uncompressed), and they look and sound great. The show has always looked amazing, but it’s even better in Blu-ray.

Universe Facts – This is a set of twenty-six various facts about space, space travel, and astrophysics. It’s interesting, but quite frankly it feels a bit like filler.

Photo Gallery – Now this is what I’m talking about. The photos here are simply gorgeous and I could see me popping in the last disk of the season just to scroll through them again. Great stuff.

I’ve loved this show since it began, and Season Three lives up to the high standards I’ve come to expect from it. This show is a backyard astronomer’s dream, and one that I get great enjoyment from. And while I don’t need to watch it on Blu-ray to enjoy the series, the sharpness and clarity the technology brings to the show is a very nice bonus. Highly recommended.


A&E Home Video presents The Universe: The Complete Season Three. Directed by: Douglas J. Cohen. Running time: 9 hours 24 minutes. Rating: NR. Released on DVD: September 29, 2009. Available at Amazon.com