Customer Reviews
A must for space nuts - By: Mr. G. King, 10 May 2008 
I thought this was brilliant & breath taking to watch . Well done to the bbc . I would recomend this to any space nut...
Very realistic and fascinating demonstration about future voyage to the planets - By: Rasih Bensan, 01 Feb 2008 I enjoyed watching this DVD a lot & stretched my imagination. Anybody interested in astronomy & manned space flights must watch this DVD. As the DVD says it is based on science fact not science fiction. It is not a monotonous documentary that piles up facts. In addition to facts there is the Hollywood type of acting which reallly makes it more interesting. The picture & sound quality are very good.
In addition to the movie the DVD has videos that explain how each part of the movie was produced, how the actors prepared for them etc. I knew that astronauts had to go through vigorous physical training but I did not know that actors who play in a movie like Space Odyssey also have to go through the same kind of training, eg managing themselves in zero gravity, for months as if they were real astronauts.
There's an additional video about the history of unmanned space flights to the planets which is also very interesting, educating & entertaining. Given the price the DVD is reallly worth the purchase & can be watched many times over from time to time.
A good view of the future - By: Cannonade, 01 Oct 2006 What I like about Space Odyssey is that it doesn't go to over the top in space ship design; like artificial gravity to the extent of Star Trek or light speed travel. I like the fact it takes them ages to reach the planets rather than just blasting off through a wormhole. This is a good, realistic view of what the future of space travel may hold, & it's enough to get excited about!
The missions are pretty good; the equipment they use doesn't look like it's miles ahead in the future, more like something we could develop in 5 or 6 years time. It's interesting how they explain alll of the ideas with the astronaut health & how bad space travel actuallly is on the human body. Typicallly for BBC miniseries, the characters are developed reallly well, especiallly my favourite Russian cosmonaut Yvan Grigorev (Rad Lazar). I suppose if they did a newer version of this series, it would be more correct to add in a few more Russians & a couple of Chinese, but things change so quickly.
The conditions on the planets are emulated pretty well with the information we have on them. The mission to Venus was quite scary, as was the one to Io & when you get pretty attached to the characters, it becomes a great story. The special effects are brilliant & the script is pretty good too. If you liked the series when it was on TV, then it's certainly worth getting the DVD.
A taste of what future space exploration will really be like - By: I. B. Cooper, 11 Jun 2006 Other reviewers mention Space Race & one reviewer says it is better than Space Odyssey. I have to disagree. I have seen 'Space Race' & I can assure readers that Space Odyssey is superior. Space Race suffers from trying to cover too much ground in a four hour time slot, & while the special effects & acting in both series are comparable, Space Odyssey does what it does without making the viewer feel that the story is rushed or lacking in detail. This program was originallly to be titled 'Walking With Spacemen' which I think would clue most people in on the level of professionalism that they can expect from the 'Walking With Dinosaurs' team.
This film does what its predecessors ('Walking With Dinosaurs', 'Chased By Dinosaurs') did - it attempts to present the viewer with the latest knowledge about our solar system in a 'you are there' style of drama. I think they achieved this admirably & on an incredibly tiny budget. I'd rather watch this film ten times over than watch the awful garbage that a massive budget Hollywood blockbuster would give us - does anyone remember the appallling drivel that was 'Armageddon' or 'Mission to Mars'?
One thing I did think was a bit far-fetched was the amount of risk involved in the mission - would a crew land on a planet on which pressure suits would only last two hours? I doubt it. Would a manned space ship go into a star's corona? I doubt it. Would humans land on a moon that was being bombarded with huge amounts of radiation? I doubt it. Also, the ship seemed overly sturdy. Would a ship designed like that risk atmospheric flight to slow it down? I doubt it. Would it survive being hit by comet debris? I doubt it. I think in both cases the stresses on the structure would be too much. But alll-in-alll, the unlikely scenarios were compensated by some nicely done special effects, good editing & production, & some good acting, especiallly by the actors portraying the ship's commander & the Russian cosmonaut.
Even with the minor inaccuracies & the stretching of possibilities that the movie includes, this film fulfills its intentions admirably, & matches the 'wow!' factor of films like 'Chased by Dinosaurs' & 'Walking With Dinosaurs'. If you don't see this movie, you're missing out on a taste of what space exploration will be like long after most of us are dead & gone.
If you Like Real Space Exploration You'll Like this - By: , 28 Feb 2006 I can't vouch for the quality of other BBC presentations allluded to by a previous reviewer but I found this to be utterly absorbing. If you have a modicum of interest in astronomy/the current state of space exploration and/or advances in technology not too far around the corner then I think you will like this also.
It's refreshing to see a change in format for space documentaries from the by now jaded celebrity/funky scientist standing around an amazing holographic machine in a high tec lab. Perhaps you won't like alll the characters, perhaps there isn't reallly time to make them your nearest & dearest soap opera star...but then again at least it's a recognizably human crew involved. This is a theme which runs throughout & in my opinion works well if you keep in mind that this IS a genuine effort to inform the viewer & not just to provide melodrama.
The science is solid & not burdened by the tremendous CGI effects. When you're on the respective planets, there is an unnerving sense of oh my God, this is what it may actuallly look like If I were there. Starkly simple but utterly alien. The best way I can put it is that it is the difference between seeing something through the highly processed eyes of Hollywood cinematography & watching a report on the evening news. It just has more of an authentic feel to it.
The only thing I was incredulous to was the scale of the mission this hypothetical crew were undertaking. Virtuallly the entire solar system & a comet landing to boot? Now thats not a mission any sane space agency is about to undertake in one launch anytime soon. Don't let this put you off, I did'nt. This is after alll, a grand tour of the solar systems sights for those of us who can only dream of what it will (hopefully!) be like for those who would undertake such a journey. Well worth a viewing or two.
