Search - When We Left Earth - The NASA Missions (4-Disc Set) [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

So near but so far ...

P. White | Cambridge, United Kingdom | 10/15/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Here's why I like this set:

The image quality is (mostly - see below) very good. Even with the 16mm film source the extra resolution of Blu-Ray is apparent and some of the film is staggeringly effective. As has been stated in another review, the modern interviews are pristine.
The variety and scope of the clips is excellent. The makers have sourced every possible movie from private hands (cine films) and NASA and there's a great deal I've not seen despite 40 years of interest in the subject.
The narration is well written and appropriate. This feels like a story with narrative rather than a straightforward documentary.

Here's why I dislike this set and think it's a wasted opportunity:

Despite the quality of the film clips there are some that have clear and very obvious visible and not just minor anomalies but persistent great big black blobs in the same place on the screen. This 'dirt' persists across clips taken at varied times, even months apart and in very different locations, so it wasn't on the original film. That means, logically, that it's a projection fault and that it wasn't spotted during the HD transfer to Blu-Ray. that's VERY disappointing.
More importantly there's the issue of the music. I'm British and (until recently) our TV documentaries used the original audio soundtrack alone rather than additional music. If music was used then it was sparingly and appropriate and it certainly didn't get in the way of the original audio. During this presentation the music is near permanent. It never stops except for a few seconds here and there. It drowns out narration and more importantly it all but removes the original audio. Subtitles are provided for capcom recordings (voices to and from the spacecraft) but they wouldn't be needed if the infernal music would just shut up! Not only that but the music isn't of good quality and is stupidly over-blown, false drama in every moment. The scenes are dramatic enough, leave them alone please. In the extras there are standalone clips of the astronauts training (etc) and I though at least with these there'd be the original audio but no, the music is even worse and there's NO original audio at all. Shameful. I realize that this is the norm for American TV documentaries (Nothing personal, you make the best TV in the world on the whole) but it ruins the experience and should be resisted.

So, a very very good set partially spoiled by the music and some transfer anomalies. If you can cope with the music then don't let the anomalies put you off. It's probably the best NASA footage on Blu-Ray so far but it could have been the best full stop.

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"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Albatross | USA | 09/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Excellent documentary on the Space Program.
The older footage has been remastered and looks good.
The HD sequences of the launches look amazing.
The musical score is great.

The Space Race with the Mercury program. Project Gemini.
The Apollo missions with the massive Saturn V rockets.
The Challenger mission segment has candid admissions (Story Musgrave).
Footage of the first untethered EVA by Bruce McCandless is great.
The Hubble Telescope repair mission puts you in the EVAs.
Construction of the International Space Station.
Disc 4 is a Bonus Disc of original NASA films.

My only complaint with this package is the Blu-ray case. They could have used a better center hub for holding the discs. The one they used makes it difficult to remove the discs for viewing."

Out of this world!!

Kropotkin | UK | 11/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Please forgive the tacky title - but I couldn't resist it. The 4 disc set is pretty bloomin' brilliant - cleaned up pictures and sound mean that this (along with "in the shadow of the moon")has the best images you are going to see this side of Spacecraft films exhaustive (and relatively expensive)collections.
It doesn't just focus on one aspect but covers all of NASA's manned programs.
Extra interviews with various astronauts (including Neil Armstrong and John Young) and a fair range of extras mean that this is a top notch set and is ideal for a newbie or someone with an active interest in the space program."

According to the Discovery Channel website

Ursus Somnolicus | Bearizona, USA | 09/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The six hour-long episodes include:

ORDINARY SUPERMAN
NASA selects seven men to become the first astronauts. They're all test pilots, prepared to risk their lives. No one has ever survived a vertical launch on top of a rocket, but it's the only way they know to put an astronaut into earth orbit. The Mercury astronauts and engineers need to figure out how to launch a man into space on top of a converted intercontinental ballistic missile.

FRIENDS AND RIVALS
For Project Gemini, a new generation of astronauts arrive at NASA -- their mission, to test all the procedures required to land men on the moon and bring them safely back to earth. Each Gemini mission launches two men into space, leading to some of NASA's greatest moments -- Ed White's spacewalk, the first orbital rendezvous of Gemini 6 and 7.

LANDING THE EAGLE
The Apollo program is set to achieve the ultimate prize of the Space Race, landing men on the moon. But a fire breaks out in the pressurized capsule of Apollo 1, resulting in the deaths of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. But NASA's astronauts and engineers turn tragedy into triumph with the first manned launch of the formidable Saturn V rocket, lifting three astronauts into deep space for the first time. Two missions later and NASA is ready to land men on the moon in the ultimate test of America's spacefaring vision.

THE EXPLORERS
Now that NASA has mastered the lunar round trip, they want to explore more of the moon's mysteries. With Apollo 13, they face their biggest crisis in space -- returning a damaged spacecraft back safely to earth. Undaunted, NASA launches more moon missions and a new lunar rover that allows wide-ranging lunar surface expiditions. Apollo 17 is the longest moon mission and the last time man would set foot on the moon for generations. In a new phase of the space program, NASA converts an unused Saturn V rocket into Skylab, America's first space-station. But by the time it reaches orbit it's badly damaged. For the first time, astronauts will have to work outside the spaceship to save the space-station.

THE SHUTTLE
For its first 20 years, NASA launches capsules carrying a maximum of three people. But new requirements for a bigger cargo bay prompt a breakthrough in spacecraft design. The development of the reusable shuttle leads to a revolutionary approach to space travel, but somebody has to test fly it in space for the first time. That requires a true test pilot, John Young, the man who sat alongside Gus Grissom on the first Gemini flight. NASA's manned programs are again leading the way, but space travel remains as dangerous as ever and tragedy again strikes NASA when the Challenger explodes.

HOME IN SPACE
One of the most complex instruments ever built, the Hubble Space Telescope is expected to transform our understanding of the Universe. But once it is in orbit, NASA discovers a serious problem, a defective main mirror that leaves Hubble short-sighted. NASA sends a team of astronauts to fix the problem, but it won't be easy. It is NASA's greatest and highest profile mission since the Apollo era. It gives NASA the confidence to begin construction on the International Space Station. More astronauts are in space simultaneously than ever before. And despite the tragedy of Columbia, NASA's astronauts are pioneering the way back to the moon, Mars and beyond.
"