Search - Rocket Science on DVD

The best documentary ever...really.

Spider Robinson | British Columbia, Canada | 09/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I won't see the DVD until my order arrives--but I saw every episode of the series more than once, so I feel qualified to comment. This is simply the best documentary ever made on man in space, from Goddard to today. I was there when most of this stuff happened, studying it with great interest and close attention--there was a time when I could have shown you a hand-drawn chart of the first 50 satellites to leave earth, listing payload, weight, thrust, orbital characteristics and purpose. I've been a science fiction reader all my life. I've been a science fiction writer for over thirty years, professionally concerned with space and men in space. And I learned at least two AMAZING things I hadn't known in every single episode of this remarkable documentary. (Full disclosure: I appear briefly in one or two of them.) Beyond that, the story I already knew is told visually with impeccable skill and dramatic flair by producers Michael Lennick and Michel Plaxton, using a combination of existing footage and live interviews. They should show this DVD in all high schools. It's a disgrace that Discovery USA did not pick this up from its sister Discover Canada network. It should be shown on PBS, and CBC, and BBC. It is thrilling, informative, exhaustive, intelligent and absorbing. It left me both fiercely proud to be human, and frustrated by the inexplicable disinterest of most of the electorate. Men dreamed mighty dreams, once, not that long ago. If enough people see this DVD, those days might (please!) come again."

Best history of rockets on DVD

Patrice Scattolin | 02/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I think this is the most comprensive history of the evolution of rockets from Melies to the landing on the moon you will find anywhere on video. Contains both historical footage and new interviews with participants to the moon program and the X-planes. It's sometimes a little long but I beleive you get the most accurate picture of what it was and what drove the race to the moon . To me that's worth far more than pretty pictures of actors pretending to be rocket scientists or astronauts. Well worth the money."

WOW!

Tony | Australia | 02/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you see this dvd...BUY IT...'BRILLIANT'
Covers A to Z of the space race in amazing detail.
3 dvd box set for this price is AWESOME value for money."

Without any doubt the best documentary of the space age yet

P. Lemmens | Netherlands | 11/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 3-DVD set is a must-have for space enthousiasts. It is packed with great footage, and covers not only the American manned missions but also - and fairly extensively so - the Soviet program (Soviet rocketry, R16, Vostok, Gagarin, Leonov, Salyut, Zond, N1 Soviet moonrocket). There's a lot of unique footage on Wernher von Braun and nazi-Germany (including the V2) and on things like the Cuban missile crisis. It's really a history course all by its own. The space age comes alive again in all its cold war glory (it's nice to see, for instance, a triumphant Khruschev (with white hat) discussing plans with Korolov outside his summer mansion, embracing hero-cosmonaut Gagarin on the red square, and cheering with Castro, or president Kennedy's speech before congress). It is impossible to describe the incredible amount of content on these three discs (mostly high quality). The program also features a lot of interviews with astronauts, technicians, scientists, historians and managers. Especially interesting in my opinion were the interview-fragments - spreaded throughout the discs - with Andrew Chaikin (A man on the moon) and Robert Godwin (Apogee books). But you'll see and hear many, many more interesting people. It's a great historical document, recommended also for history teaching. You can watch it, or parts of it, over and over again. I found the title of this Canadian TV-program somewhat misleading, because it is not focusing on rocket technology at all, but on the space program in all its dimensions. This set will please you, space enthusiasts."