Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets

I came across this movie on DVD purely by chance through a Blockbuster rental. Voyage to the Planets is an excellent BBC 2hour documentary/drama about a future "grand tour" of the solar system. Taking pains to adhere to current knowledge about the planets and space flight, and plausible extropolations from existing technology, this movie tells the story of astronauts on a journey to Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto.

The special effects are excellent for a TV show. I found the actors believable as astronauts. The situations presented are for the most part plausible, and you learn a lot about the science of the planets and spaceflight! Only two minor complaints: I found some of the situations and dialogue somewhat maudlin at times. Furthermore I am unsure that a single crew and ship would be sent on a single mission to see all those destinations at once time. More than likely, visits to Venus, Mars, Jupiter, etc. would/will be separate missions.

They didn't try to skimp on this show with production values. The scenes of Venus and Mars were actually filmed in the northern deserts of Chile--the driest area on earth and a dead-ringer for the Martian landscape. Weightlessness sequences were filmed in a diving Russian transport jet. The producers could have fudged on either of these using studios and CGI, but chose the real thing instead.

I would like to especially mention the marvelous music that was composed for this movie. Don Davis's thrilling theme is the first thing that grabs you when the movie starts, as the magnificent shot of the Pegasus passes the screen and David Suchet intones "it is the destiny of man to explore the stars...".

Watching this on a small television screen is one regret I have. What a thrill to see this in a movie theatre, or even better an IMAX presentation!

Space Odyssey is, unfortunately, largely forgotten from the variety of documentaries whose were shown during the early 2000' and they try to use CGI to make the show more attractive to the public. The majority were nevertheless quite ugly to watch ,due to the technology of the time. To put it in simple words that CGI back then were quit expensive for a TV documentary budget. There is where this lost gem makes the difference, it doesn't try to show the space travel as epic as it is possible, rather realistic enough so the watcher to fill that the crew truly travels in our solar system. Although the effects here and there are a bit dated,they have aged well and the acting is pretty good to. So go and give it a watch ,it really deserves more love than it usually gets.

Despite missing the first episode and having to frantically find out when the repeat was on, I was not disappointed having to wait a little longer to see this mini-series on viable space exploration today or in the near future.

As with the BBC's other "Walking With...", "Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World" series and Space ("Hyperspace" to US viewers), this is a well scripted, CGI and fact filled venture played out to the tune of a fictional mission to visit the major planets of our solar system: Sol.

From visiting Mars to a slingshot manoeuvre around the Sun and a tricky landing on a passing comet, this highlights what information we could well be finding if an international effort to make such a mission comes about.

I hope this comes out on DVD (and not limited to, say, Australian DVD as with the equally amazing "Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World") as the accompanying book cannot do full justice to what a great insight this two-parter is to our corner of the universe. I'm certain beginners in astronomy and experts in the field will find this an enjoyable feature. The music by Don Davis (as with the previous mentioned series) is ideally epic and moving and the screenplay by Joe Ahearne makes the characters believable and adds suspense. This is far from a simple lesson on the planets you'd get at school.

...programs I have seen on TV in many years.

As far as I can tell, they really did get everything right. I have been interested in astronomy and the Solar system for some years and the scientific information in the program, such as surface conditions on Venus and Mars, the volcanic activity of Io, and magnetic fields of Jupiter, all seems very convincing. There's a lot of education in this show and it gives the layman the best possible feel as to what the solar system is really like.

The factual element combined with the excellent drama makes for a great show. The acting is first rate. So much so they don't really appear to be acting at all. It could easily be a fly-on-the-wall documentary. You get to care about the characters.

I can't rate this highly enough. Truly wonderful. Worth the price of a big TV even if this is the only show you ever watch!

i strongly recommend it to anybody who likes good plots, good actors (even if not well known)(often, it's just better that way), science and/or science fiction presented in an intelligent way on the (small) screen, good special effects even if they did not have billions of dollars to produce it...

much better than any war in the stars...

there was only one comment which was not necessary: talking about the comet, the commentator says that LIFE was maybe brought on earth through a comet... that's fun, there must be always a chance for a magic way, huh?! That's what's great about LIFE, can come anywhere, no need of extern force