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DVD Description
Journey back to the beginning of history on a mind-blowing adventure through space and time.
Using stunning HD graphics, The Universe returns in Season Four to transport viewers past the wonders of our own solar system and out to the bizarre far-flung reaches of the cosmos. From death stars to ringed planets, star clusters to space wars, The Universe uses new discoveries and more advanced CGI to help explain the mysteries of outer space. From wormholes to transporters, examine which elements from popular sci-fi movies could really exist; and discover how the universe is awash in all sorts of strange liquids, from oceans of methane to blobs of alcohol floating in space, and even iron rain. Watch and marvel as experts cook up ten ways to destroy the Earth, including blowing it up with anti-matter, hurling it into the Sun, and colliding with another galaxy.
• This top-rated series is the number 1 bestselling HISTORY™ series on DVD.
• Shot in hi-definition and packed with state-of-the-art CGI technology and authentic NASA footage, HISTORY™ takes viewers on a stunning journey through the deepest reaches of space – including stars and galaxies just discovered last year!
• This 3-disc set features all 12 episodes from Season Four plus additional never-aired segments.
• Blu-ray’s hi definition displays the programme to its best effect.
Episodes:
Death Stars - Explore the threats to Earth from supernovas, gamma ray bursts, and stars that collide.
The Day the Moon Was Gone - Everyone knows that the Moon controls our tides, but did you know that if the moon disappeared, Earth would spin much faster, giving us a shorter day, winds would blow stronger and longer, and life on our planet would be doomed?
It Fell from Space - Every year, dozens of objects, both natural and manmade, plummet through our atmosphere and crash into the Earth. These messengers from the sky provide scientists with amazing insights into the natural phenomena of the cosmos. Explore the mystery of these objects, some of which have turned out to be pieces of Mars.
Biggest Blasts - The universe is full of explosions that both create and destroy. This is a countdown of the biggest, most powerful blasts to rock the cosmos.
The Hunt for Ringed Planets - What are the physics that form the amazing phenomenon of planetary rings? From Saturn to Neptune (a little known fact: it has rings that were only recently discovered) and out into the realm of extrasolar planets, we explore the science behind the most beautiful planets in the sky.
10 Ways to Destroy The Earth - Our experts cook up ten ways you could destroy the Earth including: swallowing it with a microscopic black hole, blowing it up with anti-matter, hurling it into the Sun, and colliding with another galaxy.
The Search for Cosmic Clusters - They are some of the largest structures in the universe, huge gatherings of millions, or even billions, of stars in either globular or open clusters. But how are these clusters born? What keeps them together? And, what could tear them apart?
Space Wars - The first shots of World War III will likely be fired in outer space. How will the physics beyond our atmosphere govern the future of warfare? Will lasers and phasers replace machine guns and missiles? And are rival nations already waging battles in space, targeting each other’s satellites, and using low earth orbit as a way to deliver warheads?
Liquid Universe - On alien planets, they rain from the sky as scalding iron. On distant moons, even at hundreds of degrees below zero, they slosh around in pristine lakes of methane. They can cover entire planets in miles-deep oceans of electrified hydrogen metal. Or erupt on alien worlds through miles-high geysers. They churn in the interiors of dead stars and even our own planet. They're so rare in the universe, they almost don't exist, but these are the magical liquids of our Liquid Universe.
Pulsars & Quasars - They sort of sound like the same phenomenon, but Pulsars and Quasars are very different. Pulsars are tiny--only a few miles across--but they spin as fast as a kitchen blender and sweep the sky with beacons of radiation that make them appear to flash on and off. They have unbelievably strong magnetic fields, are more accurate than atomic clocks...and they can even tell aliens just where to find the Earth! Quasars are at the other end of the spectrum. Quasars are huge cores of galaxies with black holes that are called "monsters" and which spit lobes of radiating gas called "DRAGNs."
Science Fiction / Science Fact - Warp speed, transporters, wormholes and lasers--they are all staples of science fiction books, movies, and TV shows. While scientists have long mocked Hollywood's visions of warp speed and faster-than-light travel as prohibited by Einstein's laws, a new generation of physicists continues to rewrite the fundamental rules of the universe. Is there a way around the cosmic speed limit?
Extreme Energy - Ours is a universe of energy, from powerful jets ejected from black holes to the raw nuclear fury of our Sun. But, the total amount of energy in the universe maintains perfect equilibrium--no more can be added or taken away. Because of this, there are enormous amounts of energy being transferred...electric, thermal, kinetic and magnetic energy are just a few that keep our universe balanced--and create awesome cosmic events and stellar displays.
Stills from The Universe: Season 4 (Click for larger image)
Using stunning HD graphics, The Universe returns in Season Four to transport viewers past the wonders of our own solar system and out to the bizarre far-flung reaches of the cosmos. From death stars to ringed planets, star clusters to space wars, The Universe uses new discoveries and more advanced CGI to help explain the mysteries of outer space. From wormholes to transporters, examine which elements from popular sci-fi movies could really exist; and discover how the universe is awash in all sorts of strange liquids, from oceans of methane to blobs of alcohol floating in space, and even iron rain. Watch and marvel as experts cook up ten ways to destroy the Earth, including blowing it up with anti-matter, hurling it into the Sun, and colliding with another galaxy.
• This top-rated series is the number 1 bestselling HISTORY™ series on DVD.
• Shot in hi-definition and packed with state-of-the-art CGI technology and authentic NASA footage, HISTORY™ takes viewers on a stunning journey through the deepest reaches of space – including stars and galaxies just discovered last year!
• This 3-disc set features all 12 episodes from Season Four plus additional never-aired segments.
• Blu-ray’s hi definition displays the programme to its best effect.
Episodes:
Death Stars - Explore the threats to Earth from supernovas, gamma ray bursts, and stars that collide.
The Day the Moon Was Gone - Everyone knows that the Moon controls our tides, but did you know that if the moon disappeared, Earth would spin much faster, giving us a shorter day, winds would blow stronger and longer, and life on our planet would be doomed?
It Fell from Space - Every year, dozens of objects, both natural and manmade, plummet through our atmosphere and crash into the Earth. These messengers from the sky provide scientists with amazing insights into the natural phenomena of the cosmos. Explore the mystery of these objects, some of which have turned out to be pieces of Mars.
Biggest Blasts - The universe is full of explosions that both create and destroy. This is a countdown of the biggest, most powerful blasts to rock the cosmos.
The Hunt for Ringed Planets - What are the physics that form the amazing phenomenon of planetary rings? From Saturn to Neptune (a little known fact: it has rings that were only recently discovered) and out into the realm of extrasolar planets, we explore the science behind the most beautiful planets in the sky.
10 Ways to Destroy The Earth - Our experts cook up ten ways you could destroy the Earth including: swallowing it with a microscopic black hole, blowing it up with anti-matter, hurling it into the Sun, and colliding with another galaxy.
The Search for Cosmic Clusters - They are some of the largest structures in the universe, huge gatherings of millions, or even billions, of stars in either globular or open clusters. But how are these clusters born? What keeps them together? And, what could tear them apart?
Space Wars - The first shots of World War III will likely be fired in outer space. How will the physics beyond our atmosphere govern the future of warfare? Will lasers and phasers replace machine guns and missiles? And are rival nations already waging battles in space, targeting each other’s satellites, and using low earth orbit as a way to deliver warheads?
Liquid Universe - On alien planets, they rain from the sky as scalding iron. On distant moons, even at hundreds of degrees below zero, they slosh around in pristine lakes of methane. They can cover entire planets in miles-deep oceans of electrified hydrogen metal. Or erupt on alien worlds through miles-high geysers. They churn in the interiors of dead stars and even our own planet. They're so rare in the universe, they almost don't exist, but these are the magical liquids of our Liquid Universe.
Pulsars & Quasars - They sort of sound like the same phenomenon, but Pulsars and Quasars are very different. Pulsars are tiny--only a few miles across--but they spin as fast as a kitchen blender and sweep the sky with beacons of radiation that make them appear to flash on and off. They have unbelievably strong magnetic fields, are more accurate than atomic clocks...and they can even tell aliens just where to find the Earth! Quasars are at the other end of the spectrum. Quasars are huge cores of galaxies with black holes that are called "monsters" and which spit lobes of radiating gas called "DRAGNs."
Science Fiction / Science Fact - Warp speed, transporters, wormholes and lasers--they are all staples of science fiction books, movies, and TV shows. While scientists have long mocked Hollywood's visions of warp speed and faster-than-light travel as prohibited by Einstein's laws, a new generation of physicists continues to rewrite the fundamental rules of the universe. Is there a way around the cosmic speed limit?
Extreme Energy - Ours is a universe of energy, from powerful jets ejected from black holes to the raw nuclear fury of our Sun. But, the total amount of energy in the universe maintains perfect equilibrium--no more can be added or taken away. Because of this, there are enormous amounts of energy being transferred...electric, thermal, kinetic and magnetic energy are just a few that keep our universe balanced--and create awesome cosmic events and stellar displays.
Stills from The Universe: Season 4 (Click for larger image)
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Special Features
Meteors: Fire in the Sky
Comets: Prophets of Doom
Comets: Prophets of Doom
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I find some of the reviews here a bit puzzling and wonder if we were actually watching the same series. For any space-science buff, this is just how a space-science series should NOT be made.
It's main problem is that it was written exclusively for a fickle American audience, and even more specifically, a fickle American audience who are not really all that interested in the subject matter. The main idea it seems is simply to stop people switching channels so that they can show advertisements every 8 minutes or so. You will also need to have some "units of measure" conversion tables to hand, as all comparative sizes are given in "americanese". For example, we are told countless times in one program, that an object is as big as Manhatten! And there's others such as "on this scale the sun would be 10 blocks away". Well, how big is a flippin' block (or Manhatten)? This shows a staggering lack of foresight for a so-called international series.
The entire series is littered with over-the-top graphics, explosions and flowery language designed to sensationialise a potentially dry subject. They use words like "disaster" quite a lot and quite often refer to some phenomenon or other as "deadly" or "shocking". A star never just explodes - it always "explodes violently". (I've yet to see a "gentle" explosion). I know I'm being picky but the series dialogue is littered with this nonsense (and worse) and it is designed purely to sensationalise.
There is an apparent need to make everything that happens in the universe as potentially hazardous to Earth. This is carried through in entire episodes such as "10 Ways To Destroy The Earth" and worse still "Space Wars". Both episodes serve no other purpose than to shock and titillate and "keep 'em watching" (at least until the next ad break). But "Space Wars" is even worse because it is basically science-fiction rather than science-fact and seems to be part of America's fixation of weapons of any kind (even speculative ones!)
But perhaps the worst aspect of the entire series is the endless barrage of analogies that purport to explain the "complex science" of the subject matter. I can only summise that Americans are extremely stupid or at least they are perceived as such by the series makers. The analogies would insult the intelligence of a 10 year-old! For example, when trying to explain what Saturn's shepherd moons do, the analogy of herding cattle was used along with mounted "cowboys". Or when trying to explain how an exploding star recycles materials, a visit to a recycling centre was apparently needed. [I shake my head in disbelief]
But by far the worst analogies are those that make use of firearms. Only in America would they consider it "okay" to use guns as a suitable analogy for a so-called space-science series. High-calibre rifles? Shotguns? I believe that using weapons of any kind to describe natural phenomenon is wholly inappropriate and shameful. It defiles the truly wondrous universe in which we live. But like I said, the emphasis is on keeping people watching rather than on the science itself.
The subject matter (apart from those off-the-wall episodes I have already mentioned) isn't too bad. It's mainly accurate but very, very simplistic. They don't want to scare-off the punters, after all.
The "scientists" they use seem genuine enough but this is American and I'm sure that somewhere in the credits at the end of each episode it will say something like "No ugly scientists were used in the making of The Universe". Seriously though, they must have scoured NASA, the JPL and most of the planet's universities looking for scientists pretty enough to appear in the series. That only applies to lady-scientists of course. Male scientists can suffer from any degree of ugliness, or so it would seem.
What a shocking and truly dreadful series. If I could have given this no stars at all I would have done so. It really has no place in the space-science documentary genre.
It's main problem is that it was written exclusively for a fickle American audience, and even more specifically, a fickle American audience who are not really all that interested in the subject matter. The main idea it seems is simply to stop people switching channels so that they can show advertisements every 8 minutes or so. You will also need to have some "units of measure" conversion tables to hand, as all comparative sizes are given in "americanese". For example, we are told countless times in one program, that an object is as big as Manhatten! And there's others such as "on this scale the sun would be 10 blocks away". Well, how big is a flippin' block (or Manhatten)? This shows a staggering lack of foresight for a so-called international series.
The entire series is littered with over-the-top graphics, explosions and flowery language designed to sensationialise a potentially dry subject. They use words like "disaster" quite a lot and quite often refer to some phenomenon or other as "deadly" or "shocking". A star never just explodes - it always "explodes violently". (I've yet to see a "gentle" explosion). I know I'm being picky but the series dialogue is littered with this nonsense (and worse) and it is designed purely to sensationalise.
There is an apparent need to make everything that happens in the universe as potentially hazardous to Earth. This is carried through in entire episodes such as "10 Ways To Destroy The Earth" and worse still "Space Wars". Both episodes serve no other purpose than to shock and titillate and "keep 'em watching" (at least until the next ad break). But "Space Wars" is even worse because it is basically science-fiction rather than science-fact and seems to be part of America's fixation of weapons of any kind (even speculative ones!)
But perhaps the worst aspect of the entire series is the endless barrage of analogies that purport to explain the "complex science" of the subject matter. I can only summise that Americans are extremely stupid or at least they are perceived as such by the series makers. The analogies would insult the intelligence of a 10 year-old! For example, when trying to explain what Saturn's shepherd moons do, the analogy of herding cattle was used along with mounted "cowboys". Or when trying to explain how an exploding star recycles materials, a visit to a recycling centre was apparently needed. [I shake my head in disbelief]
But by far the worst analogies are those that make use of firearms. Only in America would they consider it "okay" to use guns as a suitable analogy for a so-called space-science series. High-calibre rifles? Shotguns? I believe that using weapons of any kind to describe natural phenomenon is wholly inappropriate and shameful. It defiles the truly wondrous universe in which we live. But like I said, the emphasis is on keeping people watching rather than on the science itself.
The subject matter (apart from those off-the-wall episodes I have already mentioned) isn't too bad. It's mainly accurate but very, very simplistic. They don't want to scare-off the punters, after all.
The "scientists" they use seem genuine enough but this is American and I'm sure that somewhere in the credits at the end of each episode it will say something like "No ugly scientists were used in the making of The Universe". Seriously though, they must have scoured NASA, the JPL and most of the planet's universities looking for scientists pretty enough to appear in the series. That only applies to lady-scientists of course. Male scientists can suffer from any degree of ugliness, or so it would seem.
What a shocking and truly dreadful series. If I could have given this no stars at all I would have done so. It really has no place in the space-science documentary genre.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
It is far from being as good quality documentaries as the previous one. This ones are based on disasters and what if's. It reminded me the discovery channel documentaries.
the documentary itself is not bad, but how they present everything is like for impressings... far for the didactical methology used in previous ones.
I bought it just for having the whole collection.
the documentary itself is not bad, but how they present everything is like for impressings... far for the didactical methology used in previous ones.
I bought it just for having the whole collection.
6 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
i will keep this simple and applies to all of this series absolutely brilliant picture quality excellent contains things you didnt know and more if youre interested in the universe youve got to get this the complete series all 4 of them
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