About this product: Originally broadcast in April and May of 1998, the epic miniseries From the Earth to the Moon was HBO's most expensive production to date, with a budget of $68 million. Hosted by executive producer Tom Hanks, the miniseries tackles the daunting challenge of chronicling the entire history of NASA's Apollo space program from 1961 to 1972. For the most part, it's a rousing success. Some passages are flatly chronological, awkwardly wedging an abundance of factual detail into a routine dramatic structure. But each episode is devoted to a crucial aspect of the Apollo program. The cumulative effect is a deep and thorough appreciation of NASA's monumental achievement. With the help of a superlative cast, consistent writing, and a stable of talented directors, Hanks has shared his infectious enthusiasm for space exploration and the inspiring power of conquering the final frontier.
NASA's complete participation in the production lends to its total authenticity, right down to the use of NASA equipment, launch locations, and even spacecraft. The re-creation of the lunar landscape is almost as impressive as the real thing and is further enhanced by the use of helium balloons to lighten the actors playing moon-walking astronauts. (These and other backstage details are revealed in the "making of" featurette, along with a wealth of supplemental materials, on a bonus disc in the miniseries' DVD package.) With a fictional, Walter Cronkite-like TV reporter (Lane Smith) serving as the dramatic link for all 12 episodes, this ambitious production may not be a great work of art. But as a generous and definitive example of nonfiction drama, it's full of the same kind of awe, inspiration, and humanity that led to "one giant leap" in the all-too-short history of 20th-century space exploration. --Jeff Shannon
About this product: Since the dawn of mankind, we have stared up at the lights in the sky and wondered... Now join the heroic men and women who have dared the impossible on some of the greatest adventures ever undertaken - the quest to reach out beyond Earth and into the great unknown of space! To celebrate 50 years of incredible achievements, the Discovery Channel has partnered with NASA to reveal the epic struggles, tragedies and triumphs in a bold chapter of human history. Along with the candid interviews of the people who made it happen, hundreds of hours of never-before-seen film footage from the NASA archives - including sequences on board the actual spacecraft in flight - have been carefully restored, edited and compiled for this landmark collection.
*Packaged in spectacular, limited-edition tin. *Original NASA footage digitally remastered in high-definition featuring exclusive ''never before seen'' footage *4 hours of bonus footage not seen in TV broadcast.
About this product: National Geographic presents the first accurate non-stop voyage from Earth to the edge of the Universe using a single, unbroken shot through the use of spectacular CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) technology. Building on images taken from the Hubble telescope, Journey to the Edge of the Universe explores the science and history behind the distant celestial bodies in the solar system. This spectacular, epic voyage across the cosmos, takes us from the Earth, past the Moon and our neighboring planets, out of our Solar System, to the nearest stars, nebulae and galaxies and beyond - right to the edge of the Universe itself.
About this product: Since the dawn of mankind, we have stared up at the lights in the sky and wondered... Now join the heroic men and women who have dared the impossible on some of the greatest adventures ever undertaken - the quest to reach out beyond Earth and into the great unknown of space! To celebrate 50 years of incredible achievements, the Discovery Channel has partnered with NASA to reveal the epic struggles, tragedies and triumphs in a bold chapter of human history. Along with the candid interviews of the people who made it happen, hundreds of hours of never-before-seen film footage from the NASA archives - including sequences on board the actual spacecraft in flight - have been carefully restored, edited and compiled for this landmark collection.
*Original NASA footage digitally remastered in high-definition featuring exclusive;''never before seen''; footage *4 hours of bonus footage not seen in TV broadcast.
About this product: IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON is an intimate epic, which vividly communicates the daring and the danger, the pride and the passion, of this extraordinary era in American history. Between 1968 and 1972, the world watched in awe each time an American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon. Only 12 American men walked upon its surface and they remain the only human beings to have stood on another world. Now for the first, and very possibly the last, time, IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON combines archival material from the original NASA film footage, much of it never before seen, with interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 and 13), Dave Scott (Apollo 9 and 15), John Young (Apollo 10 and 16), Gene Cernan (Apollo 10 and 17), Mike Collins (Apollo 11), Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Alan Bean (Apollo 12), Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14), Charlie Duke (Apollo 16) and Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17). The astronauts emerge as eloquent, witty, emotional and very human.
About this product: When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon
About this product: When the NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity touched down on Mars in 2004, they weren’t expected to last long—perhaps 90 days, or six months at most. But 90 days have stretched into almost five years, and a short-term science mission searching for evidence of water has turned into one of the greatest adventures of the Space Age. The rovers have trekked miles across hostile plains, climbed mountains, ventured in and out of deep craters, gotten stuck in sand dunes, survived dust storms and mechanical failures, and cheated death so often that no one will venture a guess as to how much longer they might last. Five Years on Mars follows this amazing story of two rovers that may be among some of the greatest explorers in history.
About this product: SpaceCamp shares a striking similarity to Ron Howard's Apollo 13--it's about NASA trying to bring some people down from outer space, except in this case 13 represents the median age of those in danger. Kate Capshaw plays Andie, who throws off the curve by being on the high end of that age scale. She's always a bridesmaid, but never a bride in the shuttle program, an astronaut doomed to play wet nurse to a gaggle of kids enrolled in NASA's summer program. Of course, out of all these teeming hordes of children (there don't appear to be any particular qualifying standards to attend the camp), the film focuses on five. Kathryn (Lea Thompson) is a hopeful pilot who wants to be at the controls of the shuttle one day. Tate Donovan plays Kevin, a daft young carouser who is supposed to be so incorrigible he's winning (he's not). Kelly Preston is Tish, a valley girl with a photographic memory, and Larry B. Scott is Rudy. Rudy's there to meet the Hollywood quota for capsule diversification, but neither he nor Trish does much. Most oddly, Joaquin Phoenix is Max, the young Star Wars nut whose brain and fast friendship with a NASA robot get them all sent into orbit. It's unfortunate that a lot of topical swear words are peppered throughout SpaceCamp, as it could operate as a diverting night's watch for the young astro-nut in your house. Director Harry Winer, who rose from television and sank back to television after this film stiffed over the summer of 1986, directs in 20-minute blocks like he's pacing himself for a commercial break. Once the embarrassing, extremely '80s, opening 40 minutes are dispensed with, however, and the crew accidentally gets blasted into space, the effort to return home is involving, even if it is pretty silly. SpaceCamp won't win any merit badges for script writing, acting, or direction but it's got the right li'l Camp NASA spirit. --Keith Simanton
Relive the excitement and awe of the first moon landing
Unearthing rare archival footage from the BBC, this two-hour documentary compiles the sights, sounds, and electrifying drama of humanity’s first footsteps on the moon. Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore and veteran newsmen cover events as they happened from the launchpad in Cape Kennedy, mission control in Houston, and the BBC desk in London.
Follow Apollo 11 astronauts from their preflight breakfast on July 16, 1969, to their splashdown in the Pacific eight days later. Share the suspense of countdown, the thunder of blastoff, the epic 218,096-mile flight--and, of course, Neil Armstrong’s "one giant leap for mankind." Interspersed with this live coverage, BBC reporter James Burke provides helpful--and sometimes hilarious--demonstrations of spaceflight technology, including donning a space suit, touring the Apollo capsule, and experiencing zero gravity.
Now, relive what has been called "the greatest media event of all time," delivered in the BBC’s inimitable style.
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