Stargaze II - Visions of the Universe

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Starring: Stargaze 2-Visions of the Universe
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Studio: DVD International
Release Date: 2004-05-11
Stargaze II doesn't deviate much from the previous Stargaze DVD, and that's a good thing. Galaxies, nebulae, and other astronomical elements simply float across the screen in brilliant clarity, fueled by New Age music by Opus 27. The images are mostly from the Hubble Space Telescope, along with some unique mosaics from several sources. The bigger your screen, the better for "plasma art" that could serve as the background at a party or a valentine to any star freak. You can even view the program in high definition if you have the right media set-up. Sometimes the images float in front of a wallpaper of stars that causes a 3-D effect or looks kinda hokey, depending on your point of view. You can find out what you are looking at by activating subtitles or by clicking a menu button that goes to a page-by-page detail about the subject and how the image was rendered. With literally out-of-this-world colors and textures, the beauty of the heavens is glorious to behold. Produced the same year Congress debates the fate of the Hubble (2004), this program serves record of the extraordinary worlds that are seen only by this workhorse satellite. Lobbyists may have no better weapon to use than the Stargaze DVDs. --Doug Thomas

Looking at the heavens: Beautiful lights of the mysterious universe
This DVD, the second volume of two volume set released in 2004, shows some beautiful lights of the universe. This DVD has more of the same stuff of volume 1 except for more stellar nurseries (nebulas). There are 12 titles and each title has several chapters, which is a little confusing since each chapter covers about one or two minutes. The total running time for the entire DVD is about 65 minutes. The nebulas are full of beautiful lights that correspond to gas clouds (mainly hydrogen) which function as the nurseries for star formation. There are pictures of clusters of galaxies, clusters of stars, stars in various stages of life (young blue stars, dying red giants), supernova (giant stars facing violent death producing spectacular light phenomenon), quasars, pulsars and planetary nebula (nurseries for planets). The background music by Opus 27 adds some depth to watching this DVD; it is very profound. More pictures of the spectacular light of well known supernova 1987A is shown with more structure than the one shown in volume 1. Some of the stars and galaxies show fine structure (sheets of light in various colors due to reflecting light/solar wind from the massive stars in the neighborhood); this is simply breathtaking. The Eagle nebula (also shown in volume 1) with huge pillars of gas and intergalactic dust showing the birth of stars is wonderful. The Centaurs A galaxy is magnificent and so is the 2 micron scan of the sky with literally countless star clusters and galaxies. Milky Way galactic center, galaxies Andromeda, & Black Eye, supernova fragments of Cassiopeia A, Retina nebula (with green background), Horse-head nebula (black clouds with pink background), NGC 2440 (bright red), Orange nebula, Flame nebula, Southern Pinwheel galaxy, Lagoon nebula, Dumbell nebula, Christmas Tree cluster, various spiral galaxies with very spectacular lights, Crescent nebula, Helix nebula, Omega nebula, Tarantula nebula (with patches of brilliant light), Orion nebula (beautiful blue lights), Carina nebula, and Crab nebula are great to watch.

Title 6 shows the beauty and elegance of Halley's Comet; this title also has the pictures solar planets and some well known asteroids. The close-up pictures of Mars is grand. One word of advice is when you are watching this for the first time; right click on the screen and the start from title one to title last manually. The DVD apparently repeats itself from the same title, in addition it springs back to subtitle "disable," the subtitles tells what the nebula or galaxy it is. I had to change the subtitle to option 1 every time I went to the next title. There is also another option to bookmark or capture the image which you can save as screen savers; there are some good images to capture.

1. Stargaze - Hubble's View of the Universe
2. Stargaze HD: Universal Beauty [Blu-ray]
3. The Universe: The Complete Season 1 [Blu-ray]
4. Hubble: 15 Years of Discovery
5. Cosmic Voyage (IMAX)
6. The Visible Universe DVD: A Visual Journey Through Space and Back in Time. (2008)
7. The Universe: An Amazing Journey From the Sun to the Most Distant Galaxies
8. Stars, Planets & Galaxies: Hubble Telescope Pictures from Outer Space
9. The Celestial Voyager

very interesting
great pictures and music, but I missing a best explanation where we are.

Just beautiful and relaxing
Well I will give this one 5 stars, because it is what I expected. Sometimes and as in this case ''Less is more''. If you are not looking for a Discovery Channel or PBS type documentary, but rather beautiful imagery along with nice ''new age'' type music, then I recommend this DVD.

I use it as a ''background'' element when I am reading or doing something else since it is very un-intrusive. You can also play the DVD with other music sources (Steve Roach, Vidna Obmana, Robert Rich). It is fit and OK for 16x9 format. I agree that the images and montage are sometimes grainy and lacks creativity but it is more than acceptable since the photos were intended more for science than entertainment. The music is relaxing and appropriate for this type of visual experience.

This DVD can also be very educational if you take the time to learn the menu options. But it also nice that it can be just a simple visual and musical experience.

nice images ... poor production
I liked the images included in the DVD; however, getting information for the different images or navigating between slides is an absolute frustration. I wanted to play the DVD in my Astronomy class but after going over the DVD I changed my mind for it would have been a nightmare to move between images and display the information for some of these images. Overall, the DVD is poorly produced, BIG TIME, and because of that I am giving it 2 stars.

Stargaze II ... Just another poor sequel
I really enjoy Stargaze and was anxious to order and watch the second installment with Stargaze II. Unfortunately, like most sequels, second parts, etc., Stargaze II falls significantly short of expanding on the photographic essay that Stargaze did; and in this respect, was a miserable disappointment.

There is so much that the Hubble ST has given to us in the way of images, I find it hard to believe that there was a shortage of images that could be incorporated into this DVD. The overlay of images over a moving starfield in the first chapter should never have been allowed. It's a shame. Often times presentations like this are the inspiration and trigger for those who wonder if a life in astronomy might be their calling.