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When We Left Earth
The NASA Missions
Studio: Discovery Channel/Imagine Entertainment
Year: 2008
US Rating: Not Rated
Film Length: 258 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (Disc four films are 1.33:1)
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital (Special Features = Dolby Digital Stereo)
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
US Release Date: September 30, 2008
*Note: This is a review of the Blu-Ray edition
The Show - :star::star::star::star:
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard"
It was the great adventure. A quest to explore beyond the upper stratosphere; to venture into a true unknown and conquer the vast realm of possibility that had existed beyond the reach of man since the dawn of time. The ‘race into space’ fueled the passions of a nation and cultivated an era of ingenious engineering, incredible invention and unparalleled heroism. The race to be the first into space, the first to walk in space and the first to land on the moon was against two formidable opponents. The first, a tangible rival, was the former Soviet Union. The secretive and iron-clad nation was hard at work on a space program that was ahead of the Americans. The Soviets, less careful and more aggressive in their goals were the first to put a satellite into orbit with Sputnik. They were the first to put a man into space and seemed to be a step ahead at every turn. The second formidable opponent for the American Space Program was time. On May 25, 1961, just 20 days after Alan Shepard’s 15 minute flight into space, making him the first American to accomplish such a feat (but the second human), John F. Kennedy stirred a nation with a bold and captivating goal, to land Americans on the moon and return them safely before the decade was done. The National Aeronautic and Space Administration had just accomplished the risky and complex mission of getting a man in space and would have less than nine years to overcome the overwhelming engineering and safety challenges of getting man on the moon and bringing them home.
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions chronicles this great adventure from the initial steps, fraught with a mountain of unknowns, through the beginning of the Shuttle program and the Space Station mission – detailing the triumphs, tragedies, brave feats and exceptional innovation that mark mans historic expedition into space. With astonishing images, access to unprecedented footage throughout nearly 50 years of space exploration, this 6 part documentary will draw you in with its inspiring drama.
Even as you watch missions from the early 1960’s, missions whose outcome is already known, the work is so tense and captivating that your heart will race in excitement and apprehension. Narrated by Gary Sinise, who played Ken Mattingly in Ron Howard’s wonderful Apollo 13, a mission explored in episode 4, this multi-part documentary unfolds with a constant sense of urgency, capturing the sense of remarkable fortitude and bravery that the men and women of NASA displayed as they raced to become the leaders in space exploration. The courage and arrogance of the competitive astronauts, who provide reflections on that era through recently recorded interviews shown amongst the historical archival footage, is absorbing.
The story is told through these six episodes in such a way that the pressure of that time is clear. The many Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle missions are covered; piecing together the network of exploration and the cumulative knowledge obtained, piece by piece, that has brought our understanding of the earth, moon and the universe to where it is today. This Discovery Channel project succeeds in almost every way, as both a contextual examination and as an inspiring, almost majestic peer back into a remarkable time. It rolls along at a brisk pace, aided by Richard Blair-Oliphant’s superb score, even though it is heavily influenced by Steve Jablonsky’s score for Transformers. While not every detail from each mission is covered, as many who have seen documentary pieces on specific missions will attest, the most pertinent and important areas for understanding the grandeur of the audacity and extraordinary ingenuity are discussed here.
So many moments over these 6 episodes stand out, whether they are single shots, such as the first ever seen ‘earth-rise’ captured by the Apollo 10 mission, the heartbreaking and chilling explosion of the Challenger Shuttle in 1986 or the incredibly exciting Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, each are remarkable. The Challenger disaster in particular is a deeply dramatic and moving moment in the series. I think everyone can remember where they were and how they heard about the tragic accident. NASA’s negligence and mistakes are on display here, and again during the fall out of the Columbia tragedy just a few years ago when a rogue piece of foam smashed a large hole in the heat shield but NASA did not perceive the threat. This documentary covers the heights and depths of the NASA missions - when we were inches away from failure or disaster but made them some of the greatest successes of Mankind. This documentary rightfully heralds the players in these missions as heroes. Flawed but fantastic heroes. The men of the early missions, who, for the benefit of Mankind, strapped themselves to the tip of a gargantuan modified nuclear missile and bravely said “let’s light this candle” – these are true heroes and their work; their missions and their accomplishments are documented here in a terrific, inspiring and awesome account.
The Episodes
Disc One
1: Ordinary Supermen
2: Friends And Rivals
Disc Two
3: Landing The Eagle
4: The Explorers
Disc Three
5: The Shuttle
6: A Home In Space
Disc Four
Original NASA Films:
Freedom 7 – (28:44)
Friendship 7: John Glenn – (58:07)
Proud Conquest: Gemini VII & VI – (29:12)
Apollo 8 Debrief – (27:21)
The Flight of Apollo 11 – (28:25)
These original archival films show their age, but present a unique look at how NASA engaged the public interest and shared the striking challenges and triumphs of the administration.
The Video - :star::star::star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:
Each episode is presented in 1080i High Definition widescreen with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The restored NASA archive footage is of varying quality due to age and original condition. Grain, dust and lines are present in much of the footage from the 60’s and even 70’s and some from the 80’s. But this is unparalleled access to this footage and it has been nicely restored for us to witness. The footage becomes cleaner as the years, and missions, progress and the more recent footage of later Shuttle missions is particularly crisp. The quality is appropriate to the time and method of capture. Some early footage, however, stands out as being remarkable given its age. The Apollo 10 mission that flew around the moon capturing images of its grey, dust cratered surface is delightful. The images of the first un-tethered space walk, with the ‘Buck Rogers-esque’ jet backpack, while not the clearest, is rich with the contrast of the blue earth and blackness of space with the white spacesuit tilted in the frame. Other shots of the moon over the earth are sharp and close-up shots of Discoveries launch are great. The interview footage is sharp and crisp having been recorded much more recently. Some early footage, particularly those in lower light are dark and very noisy, but that is to be expected. All in all, this is commendable.
The accompanying special features are also presented in 1080i High Definition.
The Sound - :star::star::star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:
Discovery Channel and Image Entertainment bring When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions to our homes on Blu-Ray with a lively Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound audio track. The narration by Gary Sinise in the center channel, along with the voices of those being interviewed is spotless. There is a little distortion, the occasional speckle in the sound during the archival interviews, but it fits perfectly with what we see. The boom in the subwoofer and the rumble in the bass during lift off sequences is impressive and throughout, the heroic sounds of composer Richard Blair-Oliphant’s score rhythmically pulse and sway. Even the surround speakers come alive during mission launch and the subsequent navy rescues during the 60’s.
The special features are provided with a Dolby Digital Stereo audio track.
The Extra’s - :star::star::star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:
The impressive set of extra features that you find on each disc are filled with original interviews of significant figures, closer looks at key moments in NASA’s history and original footage from NASA missions, set to some interesting musical selections, but this raw footage gives you an unfiltered look. Many are short, but together they provide an even deeper look into the history of NASA and her unrivalled missions.
Disc One
NASA Film Highlights: 4 Days of Gemini 4 – (6:27)
Interviews From NASA Archives
Michael Collins – Astronaut - (3:33)
Joe Kosmo – Space Suit Designer – (2:28)
Mission Clips
Mercury Training – (2:41)
Gemini 6 & 7 Rendezvous – (1:31)
Ed Whites EVA – (3:26)
Gemini 8 Docking with Agena – (1:27)
Gemini 9 Docking Attempt – (1:04)
Disc Two
NASA Film Highlights – (9:09)
Interviews From NASA Archives
Al Bean – (3:09)
Gene Kranz – (4:34)
Mission Clips
Apollo 8: Launching & Stage Separation Sequence – (1:58)
Apollo 8: Lunar & Earth Orbit – (1:54)
Apollo 9: Lunar Module In Earth Orbit – (1:00)
Apollo 11: Astronauts Return & Parade – (1:30)
Apollo 16: Rover Test Drive – (1:47)
Apollo 17: Night Launch – (1:13)
Disc Three
NASA Film Highlights: Skylab – The First 40 Days – (7:37)
Interviews From NASA Archives
Shannon Lucid – Astronaut – (2:48)
James Croker – Aerospace Engineer – (1:32)
Mission Clips
Skylab Tour – (1:58)
Skylab Zero Gravity – (1:38)
Shuttle STS-1 Launch – (1:39)
Shuttle STS-1 Landing – (1:26)
Shuttle STS-31 Hubble Deployment – (1:14)
Shuttle STS-61 Hubble Repair – (1:19)
Final Thoughts
The candid interviews with Astronauts, flight controllers, mission controllers, flight directors and others are, in and of themselves, a fascinating experience. Hearing from Gene Kranz in particular, the flight director for the moon landing and Apollo 13 mission is great. But coupled with access to NASA footage never before seen, restored faithfully and pieced together carefully creates one of the very best documentaries on Space Exploration that I have ever seen. Companion documentaries that you can find regularly replaying on the Discovery Channel, The History Channel and others will flesh out greater details of specific episodes, like the great documentary on how close the Apollo 11 mission came to failure as it was attempting the actual moon landing. But in When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions, you will find a completely absorbing and riveting experience. I absolutely recommend this!
Overall Score - :star::star::star::star:
Neil Middlemiss
Kernersville, NC
