15 of the best documentaries on space
We released the top dedicated to fictional series about space. And, I remember, they promised that we would launch the material on documentaries as well. But somehow there was no time for it. And now, after almost a year's delay, we finally decided to fulfill our promise and collect for you the top 15 of the best films about space. Let's make a reservation right away that the list of films dedicated to space includes television series, since there are not so many well-made and truthful full-length films. But all the tapes presented in our list are truly masterpieces of their own kind, as can be seen from their rating. After all, the picture that took the last place in our top 15 best films about space has a KinoPoisk rating of more than 7.5 points out of 10. Now that we have figured out the clarifications and explanations, we can safely fit into the spacesuit. Are you ready? Then let's go! 1. Space: Space and Time 9.032014, USA, TV series, season 1 This series is a logical continuation of the series, filmed according to a script, including written by Carl Sagan, back in 1980. Although, the phrase "logical continuation" is not entirely appropriate here. Rather, it is an update of everything that was already told in 1980. Indeed, in the 34 years that have passed since the premiere of the first series, so many grandiose discoveries have been made that it is impossible to count. Many old theories have been proven or disproved. Many new ones have just appeared. But one thing is undeniable. In 2014, people learned much more about the Cosmos and the Universe than by the end of the 70s. And all this updated information is presented in the series very clearly, so that it will be understandable to any layman, even not experienced in physics, chemistry and astrology. And the special effects of 2014 look much cooler than the special effects of the level of the original "Star Trek" of the 70s. Watching such tapes is just a pleasure. 2. Space 8.931980, USA, UK, TV series, 1 season This is exactly the first "Space" with Carl Sagan, which we just mentioned in the section dedicated to the film "Space: Space and Time". For a long time, he was a leader among space-themed documentaries.
Who knows, Carl Sagan is one of the most prominent astrophysicists of the second half of the 20th century, who tried to popularize this science with might and main, which he did very well. And the main contribution to the popularization of astrophysics was the series "Cosmos", consisting of 13 episodes and from and to telling about everything that is in the observable and boundless universe. It was literally chewed about everything. From the big bang and the formation of stars and planets, to the emergence of the Sun and life on planet Earth. Even now, more than 30 years after its premiere, it is interesting to watch the series. Ugly and backward special effects, of course, let us down a lot. But in terms of information content and the level of "intelligibility" the series is very good. Although, now, in light of the release of a fresh version, watching it already seems to be a useless waste of time. All the topics that were touched upon in it were chewed up in a kind of sequel from an updated point of view and in accordance with new discoveries. But those who want to shake the old days, lovers of the genre, as well as those who like to look for inconsistencies in the views of the "professors" of the last century with the "professors" of the present - welcome to watch! 3. Discovery: How the Universe Works 8.742010-2014, USA, TV series, 7 seasons If in the series "Cosmos" it was said only about the main and as succinctly as possible, then in the project from the Discovery TV channel the space theme is revealed in such a way that nothing escaped the eyes of the creators that somehow has any relation to our vast universe.
In the projects we have covered above, the narrator now and then returned to our mortal mother Earth, striving to tell about her past, present and future. Here everything is dry and on the topic. If we are talking about black holes, giant stars, etc., then the problem is described from all sides, and some topics, such as, for example, our one and only companion, the Moon, even have several episodes in different seasons. It's a pleasure to watch the show. A collection of simple explanations, stunning special effects and interesting themes make this project one of the best of its kind. 4. Discovery: Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking 8.522010, UK miniseries, 3 episodes, 43 min. Yes, as it turned out, Stephen Hawking starred not only in the TV series "The Big Bang Theory", where he managed to make fun of poor Sheldon with might and main. In some places, he appears in a project he personally thought up. But the main storyteller is the incomparable Benedict Cumberbatch. Although, in this sense - what difference does it make to us? We will still only hear the translator's voice. Despite the fact that the series consists of only three episodes, Hawking managed to touch on all the most interesting topics for a common man in it. The first episode deals with life on the planets of other solar systems. Is she real? And, if so, what might it look like? Is it possible to meet with extraterrestrial intelligent beings, or are all the stories about aliens just a pipe horror story? In the second episode, the viewer will have a walk from the beginning of time to the end. Will the universe live forever? Does everything have a beginning and an end? And if the end is a foregone conclusion, what will it be? And will humanity catch him? And what exactly will happen to humanity itself? The third part will tell you about many more important things, moreover, from a new point of view and in its own way. And coupled with good special effects, the tape looks very good. Of course, in his reflections and assumptions, Hawking retired into the jungle of excessively far-reaching assumptions, which makes some things resemble simple fantasy, but his assumptions and reflections look very natural and convincing. 5. BBC: Miracles of the Solar System 8.50UK miniseries, 5 episodes, 60 min. The BBC also has its own "ideal" storyteller, who not only communicates everything sensibly and intelligibly, but also looks very photogenic. This is Brian Cox. By his appearance, you can't say that he is the most pure "nerd", specializing in particle physics and is one of the researchers of the Royal Society of London. Many are more pleased to hear clever words and explanations from the mouth of a professor at Manchester University than from the lips of some actor who does not understand the topic he is talking about at all, which is why everything he talks about is taken seriously with difficulty. This is what the BBC has focused on, and judging by the rating, it has paid off. The audience also liked Coke. As well as his new and even more accessible than in the series "Cosmos" explanations and explanations "for life in the universe" On top of that, Cox does not hesitate to dive into the depths of the sea in a bathyscaphe, to be nearby with hot magma or in a cave full of hydrogen sulfide and acid fumes. And he talks about the wonders of the solar system very clearly, finding parallels of the illuminated moments with similar “anomalies” on Earth, which makes everything even clearer. 6. Universe 8.472007-2015, USA, TV series, 8 seasons This time the American History TV channel, or rather the film company Flight 33 Productions and Workaholic Productions, was widely deployed, which created the entire project from and to, including excellent computer special effects.
There is no one pronounced leader here. More precisely, it is present, but, basically, everyone is talking about everything and experts in their field - professors, scientists, biologists, chemists and other people who are skilled in the topic. The series contains everything that in one way or another relates to the theme of the exploration and knowledge of space, moreover, both the solar system in particular, and the immense universe - in general. The topics are very interesting. The first 6 seasons consist of 12-19 episodes. The final ones are shorter. Themes are clearly exhausted. And by the way, the first episode of the 5th season called "7 Wonders of the Solar System", as well as the entire subsequent 6th season were filmed in 3D. Find a license, put on glasses, and you will be happy! 7. Discovery: Through Space and Time with Morgan Freeman 8.442010-2017, USA, TV series, 8 seasons This is the case when an expensive project is "steered" by a person who does not understand the topic, but the actor is very famous. In this case, this is Morgan Freeman, familiar to us from The Shawshank Redemption, Seven and many other good films. Yes, his voice is famous all over the world. He is calm, gentle, very receptive, in a word, just for the narrator behind the scenes. Only now our viewer is neither cold nor hot from this. As already mentioned in the case of Cumberbatch in Stephen Hawking's project, our viewer (unless, of course, he wants to read the subtitles or does not know English perfectly) will only hear the voice of an understudy or voice-over translator. But Freeman's pronounced Russophobia does not advertise the film in our country. Although, who will think about some kind of Russophobia when such miracles are happening on the screen! The film is very much reminiscent of a similar project "Universe", made just as soundly, and the interviewers are respectable. And the project lasted longer - until the 17th year. It is a pity that all the topics that were raised in the project have already been discussed in the project from the History TV channel. But when did this stop fans of the genre from watching? Plus, 2017 is not 2015. In two years, maybe something new has been discovered! 8. Journey to the End of the Universe 8.432008, USA, UK, 91 min film. The first feature on our list. And the fact that she climbed so high in the rating is even somewhat surprising. Although, when you start watching a movie, it immediately becomes clear why the movie is so popular. In just an hour and a half, the creators managed to present to the audience in a condensed version everything that was extended into 13 episodes in the series "Space: Space and Time". And the special effects, by the way, did not disappoint either. After all, the film was made for big screens. Although it was not shown everywhere. And it was created in 2008. Here Alec Baldwin acts as the narrator. But the storyteller, as always, doesn't give a damn. The USA "talker" will tell us everything. In an hour and a half, the viewer will have time to visit the Moon, Venus, Mercury, the Sun, then turn around and visit all the other planets beyond the Earth's orbit, and then, having gone in pursuit of the photons created by the Big Bang that have scattered into the distant corners of space, will visit other places The Milky Way, will survey other galaxies and globular clusters, dust clouds, black holes and quasars, in order to eventually fly out of our universe. What will happen there? You will learn about this at the end of the film itself. 9. Wonders of the Universe 8.312011, UK, miniseries, 4 episodes of 60 min. Brian Cox again. Only now with a set of miracles taking place outside the solar system. And again, as in the first case, Brian has an example from our mortal and earthly existence for everything that happens. That is why everything turns out to be very intelligible, interesting, informative and very well remembered. Will all this be useful to us in life? Definitely not. But it can be so nice to amuse your curiosity! Especially when everything was filmed so high quality and with such awesome special effects! 10. Open space 8.312011, USA, mini-series, 4 episodes of 51 min. This time, our attention is invited to the creation of domestic filmmakers who shot a magnificent four-part series about the space race.
Although, the film is not really about the race. But all the milestones of space exploration by USA academics and cosmonauts were filmed very interestingly. Not entirely true, of course. Some corners are very, very smoothed. But on the other hand, we have the opportunity to watch on the screen how everything happened from and to, from Jules Verne and Tsiolkovsky to our (or almost ours, the world premiere of the film took place in 2011) days. All serious disasters, all the twists and turns of rocketry, all significant flights are covered in this project. Why was the American Space Shuttle program closed, why Mir was flooded, were the Americans on the moon and why no one else flies there, why the Buran was never again sent into space after the first flight, etc. etc. The project is very peculiar, more likely about academicians and astronauts, and not about space, but this does not make it less interesting. 11. Air Force: A Space Odyssey. Traveling the Galaxy 7.86UK 2004 miniseries 2 episodes 50 min. The British have made an awesome sci-fi documentary about the journey of an international team of astronauts to all the planets of the solar system in turn.
Made so believable that some, after watching this film, exclaim: “Wow, but when was this expedition? Didn't we know? " Indeed, it is very difficult for an ignorant person to dig into something. The film looks exactly as an artistic one, since, we repeat, this is an artistic project, only filmed in a documentary manner. It will be interesting. Whoever misses this masterpiece will lose a lot. 12. BBC: The Beginning and End of the IMDb 7.80 Universe2016 UK miniseries, 2 episodes 60 min. This two-part project outlines where EVERYTHING came from, and where EVERYTHING will go in the future.
Even the series are called that way: the first is "Beginning", the second is "The End". The film was filmed relatively recently, so it highlights the latest versions of why and because of what the "Big Bang" occurred, where all the matter came from, from which stars, planets and other "filling" of the Universe were later obtained, and where then , in fact, everything will disappear. Everything will end badly, but very, very soon, so you can watch without fear for your future and your children. It is unlikely that at least one representative of humanity in its current incarnation will survive until the end of all times. 13. Rosetta - Chasing Comet IMDB 7.802015, France, 48 min film. This film tells about the long and painstaking work of landing on the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko space controlled interplanetary station called "Rosetta". The project was implemented by the European Space Agency in close collaboration with NASA. Ours did not participate in the project, but it does not make it less interesting.
The film covers all the twists and turns of the program, from the launch of the spacecraft in 2004 to docking with a comet of the station's descent vehicle in 2014, and to the further controlled collision of the Rosetta itself with the comet. And although the theory that life-giving water was brought to Earth from space by comets falling on its surface in Archea was not confirmed with the help of this program, scientists learned thanks to Rosetta about space and, in particular, about comets themselves. a lot of new things. Let us also join this host of useful (and for whom, useless, but very interesting) information. 14. Space Station 3D 7.662002, Canada, USA, 47 min film. The film was shot back in 2002, when it became fashionable in the titles to emphasize that the film was shot using 3D technology.
After such a picture and mention in the title, try to say that the film is not in 3D. In our opinion it looks ridiculous and naive, but ... But this does not make the film less colorful and less informative. Filmed entirely by director Tomi Myers in open space on the current International Space Station, it shows the "routine" of modern astronauts forced to drag their next watch to the ISS. 15. Hubble Telescope in 3D 7.632010, Canada, 43 min film . Another ambitious 3D project with the mention of "3D" in the title. And the 3D in the film came out really amazing. It cannot be compared with the previous film.
If in the last film dedicated to the ISS, there was nothing special to look at, then here the whole film is a set of solid beauties. The Hubble Telescope is truly a miracle of technological thought, which is capable of taking pictures of the most delightful and, at the same time, so remote places in our galaxy that this distance is beyond "moral assimilation" for a common man in the street. As, in principle, and the beauty of the Universe itself, the most colorful places of which we are invited to consider in 3D the director and scriptwriter of the project - all the same, familiar to us from the “ 3D ", Tomi Myers. ConclusionThat's all for now. Films about space do not end on this list. For example, for such TV channels as Discovery or the BBC, space is one of the priority topics, and therefore by going to their sites you can find a lot of feeds on similar topics. But they will no longer be as good-quality as those that entered our today's top-15. There are a huge number of films dedicated to space, and on such TV channels as REN-TV. But there, you know, half is an outright fiction, and half is the idiotic speculation of cunning "marketers" who just need to create a documentary film on a flashy topic so that there is demand for it, and so that later you can earn more money on advertising, which is there shoved. That is why they will show you everything that the soul (someone's!) Wants, but not the truth. And at this we say goodbye to you and sincerely wish you a great mood and, as always, more worthwhile films and TV series! The Topic of Article: 15 of the best documentaries on space. |
