Product Details

• Actors: When We Left Earth
• Directors: na
• Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Blu-ray, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Discovery Channel
• DVD Release Date: September 30, 2008
• Run Time: 258 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (178 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001BEK86A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,224 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "When We Left Earth - The NASA Missions [Blu-ray]" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Since the dawn of mankind, we have stared up at the lights in the sky and wondered... Now join the heroic men and women who have dared the impossible on some of the greatest adventures ever undertaken - the quest to reach out beyond Earth and into the great unknown of space! To celebrate 50 years of incredible achievements, the Discovery Channel has partnered with NASA to reveal the epic struggles, tragedies and triumphs in a bold chapter of human history. Along with the candid interviews of the people who made it happen, hundreds of hours of never-before-seen film footage from the NASA archives - including sequences on board the actual spacecraft in flight - have been carefully restored, edited and compiled for this landmark collection.

*Original NASA footage digitally remastered in high-definition featuring exclusive;''never before seen''; footage
*4 hours of bonus footage not seen in TV broadcast.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

252 of 283 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars So near but so far ... October 15, 2008

By P. White

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

Here's why I like this set:

The image quality is (mostly - see below) very good. Even with the 16mm film source the extra resolution of Blu-Ray is apparent and some of the film is staggeringly effective. As has been stated in another review, the modern interviews are pristine.
The variety and scope of the clips is excellent. The makers have sourced every possible movie from private hands (cine films) and NASA and there's a great deal I've not seen despite 40 years of interest in the subject.
The narration is well written and appropriate. This feels like a story with narrative rather than a straightforward documentary.

Here's why I dislike this set and think it's a wasted opportunity:

Despite the quality of the film clips there are some that have clear and very obvious visible and not just minor anomalies but persistent great big black blobs in the same place on the screen. This 'dirt' persists across clips taken at varied times, even months apart and in very different locations, so it wasn't on the original film. That means, logically, that it's a projection fault and that it wasn't spotted during the HD transfer to Blu-Ray. that's VERY disappointing.
More importantly there's the issue of the music. I'm British and (until recently) our TV documentaries used the original audio soundtrack alone rather than additional music. If music was used then it was sparingly and appropriate and it certainly didn't get in the way of the original audio. During this presentation the music is near permanent. It never stops except for a few seconds here and there. It drowns out narration and more importantly it all but removes the original audio. Subtitles are provided for capcom recordings (voices to and from the spacecraft) but they wouldn't be needed if the infernal music would just shut up! Not only that but the music isn't of good quality and is stupidly over-blown, false drama in every moment. The scenes are dramatic enough, leave them alone please. In the extras there are standalone clips of the astronauts training (etc) and I though at least with these there'd be the original audio but no, the music is even worse and there's NO original audio at all. Shameful. I realize that this is the norm for American TV documentaries (Nothing personal, you make the best TV in the world on the whole) but it ruins the experience and should be resisted.

So, a very very good set partially spoiled by the music and some transfer anomalies. If you can cope with the music then don't let the anomalies put you off. It's probably the best NASA footage on Blu-Ray so far but it could have been the best full stop.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of this world!! November 3, 2008

By Kropotkin

Format:DVD

Please forgive the tacky title - but I couldn't resist it. The 4 disc set is pretty bloomin' brilliant - cleaned up pictures and sound mean that this (along with "in the shadow of the moon")has the best images you are going to see this side of Spacecraft films exhaustive (and relatively expensive)collections.
It doesn't just focus on one aspect but covers all of NASA's manned programs.
Extra interviews with various astronauts (including Neil Armstrong and John Young) and a fair range of extras mean that this is a top notch set and is ideal for a newbie or someone with an active interest in the space program.

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." September 4, 2008

By Albatross

Format:Blu-ray

Excellent documentary on the Space Program.
The older footage has been remastered and looks good.
The HD sequences of the launches look amazing.
The musical score is great.

The Space Race with the Mercury program. Project Gemini.
The Apollo missions with the massive Saturn V rockets.
The Challenger mission segment has candid admissions (Story Musgrave).
Footage of the first untethered EVA by Bruce McCandless is great.
The Hubble Telescope repair mission puts you in the EVAs.
Construction of the International Space Station.
Disc 4 is a Bonus Disc of original NASA films.

My only complaint with this package is the Blu-ray case. They could have used a better center hub for holding the discs. The one they used makes it difficult to remove the discs for viewing.