NOVA: HUNTING THE EDGE OF
SPACE:
IT’S LIKE GRAVITY AND
INTERSTELLAR, EXCEPT IT’S REALLY HAPPENING AND LACKS THE IMAX EXPERIENCE!
By Nico Beland
Documentary
review: B+ (3 stars)
PBS
So far, 2014 has been my year of
experimenting with media reviews, I reviewed documentaries, posted recaps of
the Emerald City and Rose City Comic Con, and I reviewed a couple TV shows, and
now my first and probably only review of a PBS documentary, a NOVA episode
titled, Hunting the Edge of Space. Now don’t get me wrong, I like space
documentaries, especially IMAX ones like Space Station 3D and more recently,
Hubble 3D, but I usually don’t tackle them with a review, but today I am going
to make a special exception.
The documentary has some
breathtaking shots of how a galaxy is formed, an interesting story about the
invention of the telescope, and lots of interviews. The best part of the
documentary is watching the galaxies form because I have never seen anything
like that before and it really caught my intention and almost looked like
something out of a science-fiction movie, I actually almost forgot I was
watching a PBS space documentary, it almost felt like I was watching
Interstellar again, except more realistic.
The special explained in great
detail how a simple instrument like the telescope has changed our understanding
of our place in the universe, now we have the massive Hubble space telescope
and satellites orbiting through space and providing us a glimpse of what is
going on beyond our planet. I felt this documentary doesn’t belong as a NOVA
episode on PBS, but rather a documentary on an IMAX screen, but that’s just me.
I haven’t watched a whole lot of
NOVA, but perhaps after watching this 2-part documentary about space and the
telescope, it might encourage me to check more of it out. Plus, this is my time
to experiment with my reviews and don’t rely completely on traditional movies
but all kinds of things in the media, whether it’s a TV show, independent film,
or a documentary like this one.
It certainly was quite a journey to
the edge of space that any fans of NOVA or space documentaries should enjoy,
but for me, I’ll probably just give Gravity and Interstellar more viewings.
