Wonders of the Universe (2011)

Sadly Over-hyped

Memorable, crazy movie

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This brilliant documentary made me understand the concept of universe further more from the previous documentaries i have already about the universe. Brian Cox, as most people already said is involved more in this subject, but i quite frankly like it, because he explains concepts, principles and other factors which occurs in the universe with simple details and in ways which are totally understandable easily if you tried to listen well. I totally loved this series. The visuals are so good too. If you have downloaded in the best quality, you would definitely feel amazed in the first episode itself, when Brian cox explains things with grains of sand, in which the sand grains are so detailed and lovely to watch too. I definitely recommend this series to everyone who wants to learn about the universe and it's concepts.

I was shocked to find this "documentary" has almost 9 points on IMDb. This show is watchable if you have never seen any documentary about our universe before. In that case I can understand how this show got 9 points, its strong points are; beautiful scenery and space CGI mixed together with some jaw dropping numbers.If however you have seen ANY previous documentaries about space, you will be greatly disappointed. 70 percent of the screen time is taken up by our presenter Brian Cox, who for some reason thinks its a good idea to grin and walk around in slow motion in front of the sunlight. All the while talking about some of the most obvious scenarios in space.So if you have never seen a documentary about space before, this could be worth a watch. If however you are even MILDLY educated in physics/cosmology all this show has to offer is beautifully shot scenery (space and nature) with a very annoying commentator. The information was so stretched out, that I think they could have done a single episode instead of 4.

Within the first twenty minutes we learn that the universe is very old, that you can't go back in time, that a year is when the earth revolves around the sun once, that the universe appears eternal and never changing(even though, spoilers, it isn't) and that time is irreversible and changes things. Brian Cox manages to repeat this last fact about ten times, seemingly challenging our notion of time and trying to make us believe we have been caught in some broken record of an alternate universe. For any person, whether you are physics graduate or you have simply completed one year of primary school, this is not news.The BBC seem satisfied with squandering an obviously large budget on admittedly impressive but ultimately useless shots of far away landscapes. This series simply looks for the money shots, whilst giving the writing job to a nine year old boy with adhd. Time is irreversible, now heres a turtle, time is irreversible, now heres a glacier, time is irreversible, now heres a cool simulation of an explosion! Though clearly trying to emulate the same wonder and respect for the universe that Carl Sagan had, Brian Cox's exhilaration seems completely artificial. This shows that today, documentaries are willing to sacrifice learning and wonder for special effects and plane tickets to anywhere that takes their fancy, no matter how relevant to the message it is.

Fascinating subject. But instead of having a bright Astronomer do the presentation we get a particle physicist instead? :( Going off to some of the most exotic places on Earth - generally to do some seriously poor metaphor and generally loose the plot.There are some excellent bits in the middle but there really is some serious doggy pooh to wade through to get there.Professor Brina Cox has serious problems in presenting. From misunderstanding gravity (and calling it a force) to failing to comprehend that time is a man made construct and the universe doesn't care what time it is. And to try and claim during free fall he's experiencing zero gravity when he is still in the gravity field of the Earth - just free falling - well that's was just very poorly done and explained.But the worse, the absolute worse moment for me has to be when he talks about Einstein's equations of relativity and he Cox wants to make a contribution that would result in a change in those formulations - an improvement in the equations First thing to do Bri is pack up your Projector and Holiday slides and for good sake stop looking down at the camera and the audience - and actually learn to make a clear concise non confusing presentation.Poor effort BBC - poor Effort