Alien Planet

This documentary series shows conceptions of alien life that's actually quite alien. It draws on the expertise and imagination of the infamous Wayne Barlow with some modernisations. There is a lot of interesting speculation in this documentary that goes beyond usual science fiction. It also covers things like the operations of the robotic probes and the terrain which add to the detail.

I felt like a kid again watching this flight of fancy. I liked the interspersed animations and real world interviews of some top scientists, making it feel real though of course (and alas) it is pure invention.

How could someone watch this and not be enthralled, not wish for us to support pure science and space exploration? It makes me want to run right out and do something to further the possibility that such a mission might one day be undertaken.

I don't care if the biology is imperfect; I do care that it's a dozen times better than the typical Hollywood s-f flick that has all its creatures looking like they evolved on earth. Still too many pairs of eyes over mouths here, but a distinct improvement over big-eyed gray aliens.

An intriguing and engaging exploration of an alien world. The CGI was excellent all around with some breathtaking views of the flora and fauna of Darwin IV, a world about 6 light years from earth. It really was fun to watch. The achilles heal alluded to in the summary is the overly optimistic view of our ability to build the software necessary to carry out this venture. I'm a programmer with 12 years experience and I can tell you in no uncertain terms we are not even close to being able to program an AI like Leo. Every "breakthrough" in software development productivity since the move from assembly to C in the early 1970s has been a big gimmick. We need at least one and probably two massive breakthroughs on the same order to pull it off and I gotta tell you, I haven't seen any sign of it even on the distant horizon. Maybe someday this trip will be feasible, but not until software construction is as second nature as bridge building.

Still, all in all, definitely worth watching.

When I first watched this years ago, it definitely caught my attention. I know it was fake and meant to be strictly entertainment, but it still holds up after 20 years because it went hard on the so called "scientific realism."

I won't be alive when the day we explore other planets becomes a reality, but I at least have some fun media to look at and imagine what it might be like. In all honesty, this would still make a great movie, maybe with some better creature designs and more realistic backgrounds. Of course, no one would spend that kind of money on that type of project.

I will say this, it was a lot of fun. The speculative science of the film shows the reality of how difficult space exploration would be. The pitfalls and challenges prove it will take decades to really make this all possible.

This show ranks right up there with "The Future Is Wild" in that it presents some very intriguing ideas with very nice CGI. But unlike TFIW they are showing us a not to distant future, one that may be possible with my life time. I also thought the comments from various scientist was a nice touch since these are the best people to comment on a future mission to another planet. And on a final note, the planet depicted in the show, Darwin IV was a very alien place while yet being similar to earth but seeing what life is like on that planet makes me appreciate our own little blue marble even more. Also, speaking of the name Darwin IV, I would have preferred a name from popular science fiction, possible Hal IV.