From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition

From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition

Rating: - A Stunning Documentary I'm a big fan of history documentaries, having seen Ken Burns' "The War" series and The History Channel's "Battle 360". Produced by Tom Hanks, "From the Earth to the Moon" does a superb job of depicting every aspect of America's space program. Starting with President Kennedy's bold declaration 1n 1961 to land a man on the moon and bring him back safely, this set covers the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. Having been born in 1965, I was too young to remember very much of this time in our history, but this collection expertly covers the early space race against the Russians to the heroic landing on the moon in July, 1969. I can remember gathering around the television with my family to watch Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. What makes this set so special is that EVERY aspect of the space program is covered. From the heroic efforts of the original 7 Mercury astronauts to the first manned spacewalks of the Gemini program and finally to the triumphs and tragedies of Apollo, including the tragedy of Apollo 1 to the triumphant rescue of the men of Apollo 13, this disc is loaded with the highs and lows of the space program. I especially liked the format of the series. It was designed more like a mini series than a traditional documentary. Actors portrayed the key players in the space program, and boy, did they do a fine job! I easily began identifying with each character in subsequent episodes. Despite the mini series format, the history of the program was not neglected. The outer space scenes are truly fantastic to view, and every historical aspect is correct, since NASA participated fully in the making of the series. The viewer gets a true sense of what it was like to be an astronaut in the 1960s; from the highs of successfully completing a mission, to the lows of families who lost husbands and fathers. I give this great series my absolute highest recommendation. Its easy to see why this series garnered so much critical acclaim. The story is razor-sharp, and the portrayals of personnel is first-rate. This series is a must-view for people interested in America's early space program. Rating: - Aspect Ratio Misconception Explained Many have written about this latest 16x9 being the incorrect aspect ratio because the material was shot for TV (4x3) and then the top and button chopped off to make a fake 16x9 widescreen version. While technically part of this is true, conceptually this is still a true 16x9 version based on how it was filmed. From the research I gathered from various reviews that actually communicated with the production of this series, the original filming was done using an open-matte concept with the intent of eventually creating a 16x9 presentation. My understanding of this approach is that a 4x3 ratio camera/film is used, but that basically the camera viewscreen has markings for a 16x9 aspect ratio. Thus, allowing the director to control what is captured and ensure all crtical content is within the 16x9 (widescreen frame). This is a very common practice these days and used by many populat director's (e.g., James Cameron, Terminator 3). One major reason for this approach is that it eliminates the hack-job method of making pan-scan full screen versions of films where important content is lost on the sides. Using this method the widescreen version contains all the content that the director intended by what is captured within the 16x9 framed viewscreen, while including the extra material above and below for fullscreen presentations with no loss on the sides and no need to pan around the image. So you see the production was geared to support both aspect ratio's as best as possible. While some may prefer the extra content above and below when watched in it's 4x3 format, it was considered superflous from the director's perspective. I'll bet many have actually seen widescreen movies filmed in an open-matte format and never realized or missed that there may have actually been more content in the fullscreen version. In the end, the original 4x3 release was intended to maximize the benefits of all the 4x3 TV's still out there. But as time has moved on and more 16x9 sets are in people's home the newer 16x9 version should be the preferred version. Especially, if one considers that while some extra content is lost, what the director truely intended to be seen in the image is maximized on your widescreen set. Hopefully, this has cleared up some of the reasoning behind the change for potential future purchasers. Rating: - From the Earth to the Moon This is an awesome series. There is so much actual dialogue they incorporated from the actual missions. Rating: - Cheaper than renting it. I am always astounded that out of the 100+ channels of TV I get, there is frequently absolutely nothing that is worthy of the relatively few hours I devote to entertainment TV. Programs such as this provide a happy respite. Rating: - amazinf documentary this collectors dvd-box is outstanding. the mix of narrative and documentary film-style is very entertaining. the production is without a doubt state of the art. if you are interested in "human history in space" this item is a must for your dvd-library. page 2 of  62  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11