Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets

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.

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!

An excellent series, part drama, part documentary. Just a point of information about the communication lag mentioned by a previous poster. They did refer to a communication delay, but of course they edited things out to make the story flow faster. At one point on Mars, mission control detect a huge dust storm the landing crew can't detect yet and warn them with a message "dust storm on its way 6 minutes behind this message" which illustrates the time lag and just to clear up another point made, the lander on the comet isn't automatically controlled from Earth, but by the crew on the Pegasus. As for the Pegasus, it surely must be one of the best spaceships ever designed for a sci-fi show. A cross between the Discovery and the Leonov from the 2001/2010 saga.

The subject of this film has always been of interest to me so I viewed it both for its scientific, visionary and entertainment value. Every time a film about space exploration is made, expectations rise as new image technology enables productions to be more realistic and precise. The production team succeeded in doing this to the point where, for someone less aware, the event could have actually been taking place. The landscapes on the planets, from the hot surfaces of Mercury to the frozen rocks on Pluto were just as I imagined them. Until recently we had to use our imaginations based often on artistic impressions gathered from visual astronomical data. But now that probes like the Pioneer and Explorer series have actually been close enough to take real pictures, then what we saw in this film I assume, is close to reality.

I also was glad that Pegasis, the space vehicle, looked realistic and had a crew, it added some drama and again realism. They did not use silly-looking people dressed up in combat uniforms or looking like ex- army drop outs in the crew but members who could have easily been trained astronauts, carefully making sure that both gender and race were included. That is what a international crew would be.

The space walk in Saturn's Rings and the release of the dead astronaut into them was extremely poignant and established the dangers of long term space travel. The hazardous landing on the Comet and the subsequent expelling of black ice from it as turned into the sun, nearly destroying the space vehicle, further demonstrated the dangers. One problem that the film did not deal with was the time delay in signal propagation from Earth control to the space vehicle, although being stated as being many hours it seemed that there was a direct link which is not possible over such vast distances. Earth took control over the space vehicle to move it so its shield blocked the bombardment from the Comet's tail when some members of the crew were injured during the bombardment, thus saving it from destruction but they could not have done that so quickly. This technical issue of transmission time always gives producers of space films a problem and although it did not spoil the film for me, it needs to be addressed if films are to be realistic.

Finally and most importantly, films like this give us a vision of the future - one that is not so far away. It stimulates our imagination and invokes our quest for discovery. Most of the technology and knowledge to make such a journey is available. Reducing the costs and risks to an acceptable level is the challenge that confronts us. Earth is a home but not our prison, a point this film makes very well. Space exploration is there for everybody irrespective of nationality, religion, or culture and ultimately, maybe sooner than we think, we shall make the journey so vividly portrayed in this BBC production.