Product Details

• Actors: Erik Thompson
• Directors: Laura Verklan
• Format: Blu-ray, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: May 15, 2012
• Run Time: 658 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B006QVRVYA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,526 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This cosmically entertaining History Channel series recalls the classic Monty Python sketch in which a door-to-door documentarian cannot interest his audience in mollusks until he steers the subject to the creature's sex life. The Universe isn't peddling sex, but catastrophe and apocalypse, all excitingly rendered in state-of-the-art CGI. Season six continues to explore the "mysterious, mind-blowing secrets of the universe" with thrilling countdown episodes such as "Catastrophes That Changed the Planets" (insert your own Kardashian joke here) and "Worst Days on Planet Earth." Other action-packed episodes explore the birth of the solar system, the sun's "evil twin," UFOs, and surviving a crash landing on Mars. But this season also boldly goes where the series has not gone before. One episode takes a fantastic voyage into "The Microscopic Universe." Perhaps the most provocative is "God and the Universe," which asks if science is finding "elusive evidence of God." Beyond most of the episodes' preoccupation with "carnage on a colossal scale" (an episode about comets cautions viewers to "brace yourself for these frozen intruders from the great beyond"), The Universe makes advanced concepts accessible for a general audience and boasts an admirably diverse roster of male and female scientists, who present some impractical (but fun) experiments to clarify their theories. But more, between all the collisions, eruptions, extinctions, and "orbital maelstrom," season six may spark profound and thoughtful discussions about why we are here and our place in the universe. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

Product Description

SEASON 6 of the pioneering series THE UNIVERSE takes viewers further than ever, to the extreme edges of our solar system where chaos and catastrophe bring epic drama to the planets - including some of the most horrifying days on Earth. Through stunning CGI, witness the birth pangs of the solar system, shocked into existence by a nearby supernova, and enduring over 700 million years of brutal bombardment by deadly asteroids; colossal cataclysms that shaped the planets and transformed their climates forever; and startling new scientific discoveries revealing a hellish history of continuous devastation on Earth. And travel to the system's very fringes to explore the possibility that the Sun has an evil twin, a monstrous star known as Nemesis suspected of causing every mass extinction in Earth's history. In signature cutting-edge style, THE UNIVERSE features astounding NASA footage and the opinions of leading astrophysicists to probe even more deeply into the billion-years-old story of the world beyond Earth presented in stunning high-definition on this Blu-ray set.

DISC 1: Catastrophes that Changed the Planets / Nemesis: The Sun's Evil Twin / How the Solar System Was Made / Crash Landing on Mars / Worst Days on Planet Earth

DISC 2: God and the Universe / UFO The Real Deal / How Big, How Far, How Fast / Our Place in the Milky Way / Alien Sounds

DISC 3: Deep Freeze / Microscopic Universe / Ride the Comet / When Space Changed History

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A History Channel Original Returns For 14 New Episodes: Fun Speculation That Doesn't Seem Quite As Fresh As It Once Did April 20, 2012

By K. Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWER

Format:Blu-ray

History Channel's popular "The Universe" series has always been a bit of a take-it or leave-it proposition. Detractors have long maintained that the science elements of the show were too dumbed down or that the presentations themselves tended toward speculative fiction as opposed to real information. I don't know that, in theory, I necessarily disagree with those criticisms but (in many ways) it didn't matter for me as the show succeeded in the world of entertainment. It's a program that looks terrific, has proposed fascinating topics, and utilized CGI to great visual affect. Let's face it, though, if you're looking for the Season Six DVD--you're already likely a fan and you don't need me to explain the concept of the show to you! So I won't.

After a short Season Five, a lot of fans criticized that the DVD set contained only eight episodes. Season Six is back with a customary 14 episodes. The standard DVD set has 4 discs while the Blu-ray has 3 discs (and I might add, the Blu-ray quality looks great) for over 10 hours of programming. I'd heard that this was the first season also shot for 3-D (like the "7 Wonders of the Solar System" episode from Season Five) but as there doesn't seem to be a 3-D DVD release on the books, perhaps I'm wrong.

Here are the episodes included with this set:
(1) Catastrophes That Changed The Planets, (2) Nemesis: The Sun's Evil Twin, (3) How the Solar System Was Made, (4) Crash Landing on Mars, (5) Worst Days on Planet Earth, (6) UFO: The Real Deal, (7) God And The Universe, (8) How Big, How Far, How Fast, (9) Alien Sounds, (10) Our Place in The Milky Way, (11) Deep Freeze, (12) Microscopic Universe, (13) Ride The Comet, and (14) When Space Changed History.

As I'm a stated fan of "The Universe," let me explain my three star rating (it might just as easily been 4 stars). The longer the series has progressed, the more the topics seem to overlap. The novelty and newness factor that made the earlier seasons so compelling has worn off a bit. I'm still a fan, but I feel like there is a bit too much repetition in later seasons. With the entire universe at their disposal, I think the show's creators tend to dip into very similar subject matter under different headings. So, yes--I did enjoy these 14 episodes of Season Six but they lack some of the dynamic originality of the many of the earlier episodes. But if you like "The Universe," this is still an easy choice. KGHarris, 4/12.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it December 1, 2012

By Fernando Velásquez

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Great work by the History Channel! Lots more to see about the universe! Stunning job with the incredibly awesome effects

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this series September 19, 2012

By Angela Magnano

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love The Universe series....It is awesome....I hope they have another one next year. I have all 6 seasons and it never gets boring.