While there are lots of reasons for owning a DVD player -- image and sound quality, random access, no rewind required, widescreen and the frequent special features included -- I think I've found the most compelling reason for buying a DVD player: From the Earth to the Moon. This 12 part mini-series produced for HBO has to be one of the best pieces of television I've seen in a long time. And if you want to buy it now you almost have to buy it on DVD: the VHS version is currently only being sold through a video club. I must confess to being something of a space nut, but I think just about anyone will find these programs compelling because they tell not just the adventures of the astronauts but the very human stories behind these expeditions. The style of each episode varies; the episode 1968 is mostly a montage of the events of that year in documentary style, juxtaposed with the journey of Apollo 8 to the Moon. The tragedy of the Apollo 1 fire is told principally as a drama about the impact of the event on the builders of the craft. Two episodes which stand out are We Have Cleared the Tower about Apollo 7, and Mare Tranquilitatis about Apollo 11. The Apollo 7 story uses the premise of following a documentary crew making a film about the flight. While that's been done to death recently, I liked the interviews in the episode which seemed more "real" than actual interviews I've seen with astronauts and engineers. The Apollo 11 story is interesting because it partly revolves around the desire of Buzz Aldrin to be the first Man on the Moon. While it wasn't overplayed -- and let's face it, all of the astronauts probably believed they should have been first -- it added a personal conflict to the historic events taking place. Was the friction real? I think the best book about the space program is Michael Collin's book Carrying the Fire. Collins was the Command Module pilot for Apollo 11 and several of the incidents mentioned in that book are depicted in the episode. Maybe that's why I liked this series so much! Other episodes that stand out are The First Wives Club and That's All There Is, but really, they're all great. The twelve one-hour episodes are presented four to a disc. That's three discs, plus a fourth extras disc. For those who didn't see the series on HBO, the series was originally aired two segments per week. This explains the presentation of the opening and credit sequences on the discs. The extras on the fourth disc can be played on a regular DVD player, but also includes computer based content for those with a computer DVD-ROM drive. I could only watch this on my DVD player, but the disc was still interesting. It includes a couple of "making of" documentaries, as well as some 3D models of spacecraft, Kennedy's speech about going to the Moon, and several other background pieces about the solar system and the Moon. It's worth seeing how some of these interactive pieces -- such as the 3D models -- are presented within the constraints of the DVD system. While DVD-Video provides some interactivity, it's very limited. Sound and picture quality is tremendous; and though it's presented in TV format, I couldn't help but wonder if the series was actually shot in a widescreen format; surely a program that was produced to the standards that this one is had to have been shot in widescreen? Th effects, models and recreations are amazing. They even used some real hardware including old Nasa flight simulators and the original tranportation bus! The documentary about the maiing of the series also shows how the low-gravity moon sequences were done (hint: helium.) If you liked the movie Apollo 13 then you'll like this series; they expand upon that movie, not just copy it. And while I knew that Tom Hanks was the executive producer, it was only when the fist episode started that I noted that Ron Howard was a producer of the series. Clint Howard (who appeared in Apollo 13) returns in a couple of episodes of the series. While From the Earth to the Moon isn't cheap (mine cost $84.99 at Costco) I think it's worth every penny. And if you don't think so, then buy a DVD player and rent it! <The following links go to Amazon.com> <From the Earth to the Moon> is $83.99 at Amazon.com, and <Apollo 13> is a great movie too (the extras are definitely worth watching; and listening!) The book <Carrying the Fire> by Michael Collins is out of print, but definitely worth getting a copy if you can (Amazon will try and locate a copy for you; but try your local library too.) Much of the series was based on the book <A Man on the Moon : The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts> by Andrew Chaikin which is in print.
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