For the first time on DVD, take a provocative look at world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and his theories on life and the universe in this thoughtful program based on the best-selling book of the same name. Interspersed with anecdotes about his climb to the top of the world's scientific ladder, the man many consider the world's leading analytical mind explains his ideas about the origins and destiny of the universe, fate, time and the existence of God. A professor at the University of Cambridge - where he holds the same chair that Sir Isaac Newton held 300 years ago - Hawking has become one of the few serious scientists with mainstream appeal and enjoys a popular reputation for illustrating complex problems and supreme questions in a clear, entertaining manner.
Documentarian Errol Morris has a knack for finding the fascinating quirks of his subjects, and this brings Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time to sparkling life. Through interviews with family and colleagues of the brilliant theoretical physicist, as well as Hawking's own synthesized readings and reminiscences, we learn of his early life, his struggle with the degenerative disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and his wide-ranging contributions to our knowledge of time, black holes, and the origin of the universe. The science is never downplayed; between Hawking's prose and Morris's visual wizardry, important concepts such as entropy and singularities jump from the screen in memorable vignettes. (Hawking believes a truly universal theory of physics will be understood by "scientists, philosophers, and just ordinary people.") Philip Glass's music, subdued and minimal, balances the alternately somber and hilarious moods of the film. The viewer is left with a sense of awe at the joyous spirit of a man trapped in the world of the mind, occasionally letting the rest of us in on his discoveries. --Rob Lightner
