sundman Already 10 minutes into the movie the viewers have been bombarded with such amounts of factual errors, physical impossibilities and unscientific nonsense that it is obvious that the target audience is mainly people with half a brain or less. Some of the absurdities are obvious, such as when Dr. Michio Kaku says that it takes 42 years for a vehicle to travel 4 light years at 0.2 c. (Obviously 4ly/0.2c = 20 years. In fact it takes exactly twice as long if the start and end velocities are 0 m/s, the maximum velocity is 0.2 c and the acceleration is constant but shifts to the opposite direction at halfway.) Others are less obvious, such as when Stephen Hawkings concludes that if life has spontaneously generated itself on earth then it must be possible for that to have happened elsewhere, too. (OK, the illogicality of that statement is somewhat obvious, too.)The format of the movie is the only thing that is realistic. Although this is a fictional "documentary" it is very much like today's documentaries on BBC and elsewhere, in that the viewers are shown so called experts who proclaim more or less wild speculation as fact.Some of the CGI is nice, though, and because of that I gave this movie a 2/10.

doktorf Some spoilers in the following text.For years I have been trying to get people to read Wayne Barlowe's EXPEDITION as an imaginative and entertaining view of what an alien world's ecosystem might be like. In the book there were actual human explorers. I thought that the use of robots was both more interesting and more realistic. The commentary from scientists, artists and film makes was interesting, but lacked depth. I don't think George Lucas, talented as he may be, is an expert on anything involving the hard sciences. The program needed to be at least twice as long as it was. There was a wealth of material in Barlowe's book that wasn't even touched in the show. The amazing Butcher Tree was shown briefly but not discussed at all. The icecrawlers and rimrunners were among my favorite of Barlowe's creations, but they went unmentioned in the show. The Floaters were not shown or discussed at all thus making the Eosapiens seem less obviously related to other life forms on the planet. The brevity of the presentation left the creators less able to paint a picture of a vast and complex biosphere. Perhaps this material might have been better presented in a mini series as was The Future Is Wild.By all means get the DVD of this program, but also get the book. Check it out at: http://heh.pl/&1yk

Slopmaster4001 This show ranks right up there with "The Future Is Wild" in that it presents some very intriguing ideas with very nice CGI. But unlike TFIW they are showing us a not to distant future, one that may be possible with my life time. I also thought the comments from various scientist was a nice touch since these are the best people to comment on a future mission to another planet. And on a final note, the planet depicted in the show, Darwin IV was a very alien place while yet being similar to earth but seeing what life is like on that planet makes me appreciate our own little blue marble even more. Also, speaking of the name Darwin IV, I would have preferred a name from popular science fiction, possible Hal IV.

Aetius This show looks sexy and is presented as such, but is rife with dubious and questionable assumptions on biology, ecology and zoology of the alien planet. While intriguing on the surface, the descriptions of alien animals are poorly thought through and do not match the stipulated physical conditions on the alien planet. In addition to other scientific errors, this is obvious and annoying enough to completely kill my enjoyment of the show.It seems to me as if the show wavers between a science-fiction-like narrative and a more documentary attitude. This does not work well, and one or the other should have been used, rather than a poor amalgam of both.Points given for trying though.EDIT: Having seen the program once again, I find that I have to amend my initial comments somewhat. Points previously given in a gesture of reluctant goodwill are hereby removed. This show is utter bollicks, and the only positive thing I can say about it is that it just might inspire people to look into the possibility of alien life in a more serious way. It is, however, obvious that this show was designed and written by people with a severely limited grasp of science and scientific theory, and an obviously insufficient grasp of fundamental logic. There are hundreds of truly excellent science-fiction books out there which treat this subject not only more seriously, but also more logically and more spectacularly.In short, the dumbing-down of TV has staggered me once again, and I am truly grateful that I didn't pay to watch this program.