While I enjoy HISTORY’s The Universe series as much as any astronomy enthusiast, the fact of the matter is the series has its ups and downs. Sometimes they seem hard pressed to find new ideas for episodes (which is truly ironic considering the subject is “the universe”) and consequently entire halves of seasons feel like rehashes of things that came before. “7 Wonders of the Solar System” suffers and benefits from this all at once. On one hand, it’s a summary episode, looking briefly at 7 different phenomena in our solar system in a way that piques interest, feeds it, but then moves on to a new subject before offering anything truly substantial on any. On the other hand, the 7 phenomena are interesting and are presented in 3D with visuals that take full advantage of an extra dimension. So is it worthwhile shelling out about $20 for the first episode of the fifth season in 3D? Not really.
Having watched the episode first in 2D as I was going through the fifth season, and knowing at the time that the episode was being sold as a standalone 3D presentation, I kept my eye out for all the moments where they’d be using 3D to make the visuals pop. It’s not worth counting because it starts with 3D worthy content and keeps it going full-steam throughout. When I slipped in the 3D copy, this proved true, and so as a specimen of high-definition 3D educational entertainment – you can’t go wrong with what you’ll see. The visuals aren’t the problem. The visuals are superb.
There are two problems, one of which is objective and one of which is subjective (if you’re rich, I guess the first problem could be subjective too. A 42-minute episode of television that also appears (in 2D form) in the fifth season, which costs the same as this single-episode package, should not command as high a price as a full season of television. Even with that third dimension added to the presentation, as great as it is, it isn’t worth the remainder of a television series. The correct answer for packaging this was not to sell this 3D episode as its own product, but as an added incentive for those considering buying the fifth season on Blu-ray. This feels more like an extra that those fortunate enough to have a 3D television could enjoy rather than its own entity. Hell, even this Blu-ray disc is playable in both 2D and 3D, so it’s not that much different from having included it as an extra anyways.
The second problem, the truly subjective one (not based on monetary value) takes root in the 7 item list countdown. All of the items on the list deserve to be there, but where I take issue is with the rather cheesy #1. Consider this as close to a spoiler as you can get for ruining the suspense inherent in a cosmic countdown. You were warned. Want to know what ranked in at #1? If you’re familiar with the show and modern astronomy’s fascination with finding new earthlike planets, the winner of this single-episode contest is pretty obvious: Earth. We are the most amazing wonder of this solar system. It’s a somewhat egotistical view, but it does have validity when you consider the odds of life forming and the conditions it requires. My gripe is with making a list just to put us at the center of it all. There are lots and lots and lots of incredibly interesting things to be found in the solar system, but it just feels cheap to go through the countdown to find the answer to be so glaringly obvious.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
As you might expect, considering it’s just a singular episode of television on a Blu-ray (which is already a cynical exploitation of what consumers will buy), the disc is barren in the extras department. It’s a single episode of television, and whether or not it’s in 3D, the price being asked here is far too high.
"7 Wonders of the Solar System" is on sale January 11, 2011 and is not rated. Documentary, Education. Starring Erik Thompson.
