Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

sherylchilders82 This documentary will probably be more appreciated by a well-educated audience, especially if you've already seen more detailed documentaries on cosmology. It references larger scientific concepts in fields like anthropology, biology, chemistry and physics. But, what is best about it is the narrator himself, Brian Cox, who has such a unique way of communicating his perspective. For example, when describing space-time in relation to the theory of the "Big Freeze", he says that when the last energy has dissipated from the Universe, time will cease to exist. I had never thought of it that way before, and I even found myself talking about it to someone later. I studied Einstein's theory of relativity in college, and I've seen other detailed documentaries on theories of the end of the Universe, but never presented in this way. While this series is not particularly detailed or specific to one area of cosmology, I found that it was comprehensive if you already had some background knowledge to fill in the blanks. Good teachers, after all, don't simply recite facts that they assume you've read in your textbook. They review and expand on this knowledge by giving a fresh perspective, which is exactly what is done here.

rgcustomer I'm not sure what some people were looking for here. It's not meant to be a university lecture. But it is meant to be a way to communicate to the average person (who may reside in Jesusland instead of an ivory tower) our current knowledge about the universe.Yes, Brian Cox is beautiful. Who do you want to learn from? He's enthusiastic, friendly, nice to look at, and knowledgeable. That's exactly who should be presenting science. Look at who you are competing against, for viewers.While I was expecting something like a visit to various celestial objects, similar to a tour of our solar system (and we do get a bit of stuff like that), this takes a much wider view.We see the sheer size of the universe, in both space and time. We see how a universe like ours is necessary to support life, but that life can only exist for a relative instant. And then we explore two other big concepts on the scale of the universe: gravity and light (although frankly, the first two episodes are sufficient by themselves).This is, without a doubt, the clearest documentary description of humanity's place in the universe that I have seen. And it is presented in a way that properly dramatizes it, and simultaneously shows off the beauty of Earth as well.The two minor drawbacks I see are: the episode order is in roughly decreasing emotional impact and should be adjusted/edited, and there are too many repetitive shots of Brian in the same place (for example, standing on the peak of a mountain).

Eddie Burdak Fascinating subject. But instead of having a bright Astronomer do the presentation we get a particle physicist instead? :( Going off to some of the most exotic places on Earth - generally to do some seriously poor metaphor and generally loose the plot.There are some excellent bits in the middle but there really is some serious doggy pooh to wade through to get there.Professor Brina Cox has serious problems in presenting. From misunderstanding gravity (and calling it a force) to failing to comprehend that time is a man made construct and the universe doesn't care what time it is. And to try and claim during free fall he's experiencing zero gravity when he is still in the gravity field of the Earth - just free falling - well that's was just very poorly done and explained.But the worse, the absolute worse moment for me has to be when he talks about Einstein's equations of relativity and he Cox wants to make a contribution that would result in a change in those formulations - an improvement in the equations First thing to do Bri is pack up your Projector and Holiday slides and for good sake stop looking down at the camera and the audience - and actually learn to make a clear concise non confusing presentation.Poor effort BBC - poor Effort

screenman This is a classic example of modern TV and documentaries in general. It is dumbed-down supreme. For the first episode, enough information that could be communicated by Patrick Moore in 15 minutes was strung-out and sometimes repeated for what seemed like 2 hours. Whilst - endorsing the current obsession with yoof - new-found favourite of the moment, Professor Brian Cox, brought his boyish enthusiasms and his bucket-and-spade to bear upon the cosmos and all things within. I don't mean to appear unkind or - heaven forbid - counter-ageist, but Coxy doesn't look old enough to be an undergraduate let alone a fully-fledged Emeritus. To hear this cherub-cheeked academic reiterate the mechanisms of the universe was as jarring as political comment from a pram. The only time he seemed to fit the picture was when he was making sand-castles. Prodigy he may be, but plausible he ain't. This job needs a Time-Lord, or at least somebody who'd pass for one.Sadly, the only really informative content of the program was provided by his narration. And this often fronted a backdrop of largely computer-generated 'wonder'-ful imagery that bore little or no cogent association with what our boy-genius was actually saying.Worse still, those production chuckle-heads at the dear old BBC had incorporated a music track that practically drowned out his piping little voice with crashing cords of heavenly bombast. In order to avoid an evening of tinnitus it became necessary to turn the volume down to a level that rendered his narration almost inaudible. I gather The Firm received so many complaints about this particular issue that they actually intend to pump down the jam for future episodes. That in itself is a 'universal wonder', because if there's one thing the Wizards of Wood Lane are usually deaf to, it's the tastes of their viewers.The BBC can make absolutely top-drawer documentaries. They recently produced to little popular acclaim, a short series called 'Indian Hill Railways' which was an absolute corker. There wasn't a single wasted second. I've bought the DVD. 'Wonders Of The Universe' was as near to being the opposite as could be. It was ill-conceived, cheap, and as vacuous as deep space itself. It was a video coffee-table-book, with lots of startling, artistic imagery abutted by short captions of general information. It's the universe for kids. Meantime, grown-ups should stick with 'The Sky At Night'. It'll easily outlive this pap.