Cosmic Voyage (1996)

Excellent but underrated film

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"Cosmic Voyage" is an American documentary film from 20 years ago that was written and directed by Bayley Silleck and also brought him his first and (so far) only Oscar nomination. It is basically about the perspective between Earth and space and all we have accomplished in terms of astronomy in the last centuries. Yes, even 20 years ago, actor Morgan Freeman was already telling space-related stuff to audiences all over the planet, who were listening closely. The strength if this short documentary here is probably that it is informative without ever becoming too specific or difficult. I enjoyed the watch, especially in the first half. All in all, I am okay with this one getting an Oscar nomination, even if I must say that it was not really good enough for the win and I cannot say it stands out truly compared to other documentaries about the subject. Then again, most of these that I have seen were made considerably later than 1996, so it's all good I guess. A pretty decent watch and I recommend it.

Cosmic Voyage (IMAX), 1996.The movie was inspired by Kees Boeke's lovely 1957 book, Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps. The book shows the scale of everything, from the large scale of the universe, down to atomic nuclei, in 40 pictures, each a factor of 10 scale difference from the last. The movie does the same thing, showing galaxies colliding. In 1996 it took unique supercomputing to render the computer graphic images and videos as they might actually look and happen. Of course, an IMAX movie loses a lot of its impact on a small screen. Definitely look at the book too, it's online. vendian.org/mncharity/cosmicview/

This is one of the best IMAX films. It is truly a Cosmic Voyage, it gives an idea about the truth size of our macro and micro universe.It manages to maintain the interest by avoiding any difficult data, the ones told are clear and suitable even for younger audience. And I believe it contains information even for the educated people.It is needless to talk about the visuals. The IMAX films always had great footage and effects, this is true also for this one. But unlike to some IMAX films where only the visuals stand out, here the narration and contents are also very good. Morgan Freeman's calm narrative voice makes you to really wonder about the contents.

The IMAX "Cosmic Voyage" film was made as a public service with sponsorship by the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. On DVD, borrowed from my local public library, it plays at just over 30 minutes with Morgan Freeman supplying a pleasing narrative. As one would expect from an IMAX film, the image quality is superb and the Dolby 5.1 sound track is very well done. Simulated cosmic explosions shake your walls! That is, if you have a good powered subwoofer in your system.The film takes a very useful approach to examining the size of the universe, from tiny sub-atomic particles to the vastness of the whole universe. (Fortunately, when God created the Universe he had dispatched a few angels with video cameras at different vantage points so we get to see actual footage from several billion years ago.) The film starts in Venice, where the discovery of the telescope originated, and uses a one-meter hoop as a reference point, then gradually goes larger by powers of 10, e.g. 10 meters, 100, 1000, etc until we can see the whole universe. Then it takes the opposite journey, going smaller by powers of 10 until be see inside sub-atomic particles.The story is well-woven with beautiful effects created especially for this film. It is entertaining and educational at the same time. All of "oldsters" can enjoy it for the scientific history we are already familiar with, and all the "youngsters" can enjoy it for the educational supplement it provides. Overall a masterful film.Any numerical "rating" of "Cosmic Voyage" is meaningless. If one is looking for a superb film about our universe and modern theories of its formation, this one is hard to beat. Kudos to IMAX and to the Air and Space Museum.