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Amazon.com essential video:
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Interesting Look
A very fine and intriguing documentary from Errol Morris about the life and work of physicist/celebrity Stephen Hawking, who revolutionized the way we think about the universe in his monumental book of the same name. The film is really divided into two stories, the life of Hawking as he struggles to overcome his paralysis, and the brilliant work he achieved in spite of his physical limitations. One gets the impression that had Hawking never became ill, he wouldn't have been as compelled to carry ... Read More
Rating: - Biography and Science
Many documentaries focus on either the scientific ideas of a person, trying to explain them to an audience wherein most people can understand what is being talked about.
Other documentaries are about people who against the odds do something great that everyone will remember them by.
This documentary combines both in a very interesting mix. Through interviews with his mother and sister we get a good insight into his life as a teenager and part of college. From his fellow ... Read More
Rating: - ...
A Brief History of Time is an uncomfortable combination of autobiography and a bibliography of some (generally Hawking dominated) concepts in cosmology. While it does go into more depth (and is slightly more entertaining) than Stephen Hawking's Universe does when it covers these topics, the movie is greatly distracted by anecdotes about his life. Some of these offer an entertaining glimpse into his life and personality, some into how certain of his and other scientests' ideas were come across, ... Read More
Rating:  - Enjoyable and thought provoking
This delightful documentary gives a keen look at the intimate parts of Stephen Hawking's remarkable life. Interviews of friends, family members, and colleagues are artfully weaved with pictures of Hawking, computer graphic illustrations, and the commentary of Hawking himself. Along with the overview of Hawking's life we get fascinating bits of physics and philosophy that challenges his mind and everyone else's. If you have an interest in popular physics, then this would be a worthy purchase.
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Rating: - Interesting developments in science
This short film is about a monumental cosmologist attempting to delve into the unknown in order to know it. It poses the question as to whether there is a God behind the universe or a self-contained boundless system running blindly by its own physical laws (or perhaps there is a God but one who is impersonal to the universe). Today there are two theories about the expansion of the universe. Some believe that it will continue to expand forever while others think it will slow down, contract, and collapse ... Read More
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