THE FARTHEST [2017] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] A Inspiring Love Letter to Scientific Curiosity Pioneering Spirit! This Simply is an Exceptional Visually Spectacular Mind-Expanding Documentary!
‘THE FARTHEST: VOYAGER’S INTERSTELLAR JOURNEY’ shows us that more than twelve billion miles away, a tiny spaceship is leaving our Solar System and entering the void of deep space the first human-made object ever to do so. Slowly dying within its heart is a nuclear generator that will beat for perhaps another decade before the lights on Voyager 1 finally go out. But this little craft will travel on for millions of years, carrying a Golden Record bearing recordings and images of life on Earth. The Voyager mission revolutionised our understanding of our Solar System and the outer planets and the two Voyager spacecraft’s visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune on their incredible journeys and in all likelihood they will probably outlive humanity. ‘THE FARTHEST: VOYAGER’S INTERSTELLAR JOURNEY’ celebrates these magnificent machines, the men and women who built them and the vision that propelled them farther than anyone could ever have hoped. The Voyager space launch in 1977 is one of humankind`s greatest achievements.
FILM FACT: Awards and Nominations: 2017 Barcelona International Film Festival: Win: Gold Lion Award for Crossing The Line Films (production company) and Emer Reynolds (director). 2017 Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards: Win: Best Irish Documentary for Emer Reynolds. 2017 Dublin International Film Festival: Win: Dublin Film Critics Award: Best Irish Documentary for Crossing The Line Films (production company) and Emer Reynolds (director). Win: George Byrne Maverick Award: Best Film for Crossing The Line Films (production company) and Emer Reynolds (director). 2017 Edinburgh International Film Festival: Nominated: Best Documentary Feature Film Emer Reynolds (director). 2017 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival: Win: Audience Award for Emer Reynolds (director). Win: Festival Award: DFCC Best Irish Documentary for Emer Reynolds (director). 2017 Seattle International Film Festival: Nominated: Documentary Competition Award for Emer Reynolds (director). 2017 Sydney Film Festival: Nominated: Audience Award: Best Documentary for for Emer Reynolds (director) (8th Place).
Cast: Frank Drake, Carolyn Porco, John Casani, Lawrence Krauss, Timothy Ferris, Edward Stone, Nick Sagan, Larry Soderblom, Charley Kohlhase, Fran Bagenal, James F. Bell, Frank Locatell, Suzanne Dodd, Jon Lomberg, Heidi Hammel, Candy Hansen, Andrew Ingersoll, Dave Linick, Fernando Peralta, Linda J. Spilker, Tom Spilker, Janet Sternberg, Amahl Drake, Don Gurnett, Stamatios Krimigis, Linda Morabito, Brad Smith and Richard John Terrile.
Director: Emer Reynolds
Producers: Clare Stronge, Dennis Liu, John Murray, John Rubin, Keith Potter, Sean B. Carroll and Zlata Filipovic
Screenplay: Emer Reynolds
Composer: Ray Harman
Cinematography: Kate McCullough (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound
English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 115 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Screenbound Pictures / Crossing The Line / hhmi | Tangled Bank Studios / Irish Film Board / ZDF / ARTE / BBC STORYVILLE / RTÉ / PBS
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE FARTHEST: VOYAGER’S INTERSTELLAR JOURNEY’ [2017] Twelve billion miles away a tiny spaceship is leaving our solar system and entering the void of deep space. It is the first human-made object ever to do so. Slowly dying within its heart is a plutonium generator that will beat for perhaps another decade before the lights on Voyager finally go out. But this little craft will travel on for millions of years, carrying a Golden Record bearing recordings and images of life on Earth.
The story of the two Voyager space crafts is an epic of human achievement, personal drama and almost miraculous success. Launched 16 days apart in 1977, the twin Voyager space probes have defied all the odds, survived countless near misses and almost 40 years later continue to beam revolutionary information across unimaginable distances. With less computing power than a modern hearing aid, they have unlocked the stunning secrets of our solar system. This film tells the story of these magnificent machines, the men and women who built them and the vision that propelled them farther than anyone could ever have hoped.
‘THE FARTHEST’ is a NASA documentary of the two Voyager space crafts to the outer limits. Directed by Emer Reynold and Produced by John Murray and Clare Stronge, the film tells the fascinating film about the Voyager I and Voyager II probes, that were launched in 1977 and now carrying their golden records beyond the solar system and into deep space. It is one of humankind's greatest achievements. At the time of the filming of the documentary, more than 12 billion miles away there are two tiny spaceships that is leaving our Solar System and entering the void of deep space and the first human-made objects ever to do so. Slowly dying within the heart of their nuclear generators that will beat for perhaps another decade before the lights of the two Voyager space craft’s finally go out and theses little craft’s will travel on for millions of years, bearing recordings and images of life on Earth. In all likelihood the two Voyager space crafts will outlive humanity.
‘THE FARTHEST’ informs us of the captivating tales of the people and events behind one of humanity’s greatest achievements in exploration: NASA’s Voyager mission, which celebrates its 40th anniversary and the twin spacecraft’s, which each have less computing power than a mobile phone and uses slingshot trajectories to visit, and especially Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and sent back unprecedented spectacular images and data that revolutionized our understanding of the spectacular of outer planets and their many peculiar moons.
This exquisite exemplary STORYVILLE science documentary, recounts the rich and fascinating story of the Voyager space craft’s NASA’s finest mission, and arguably their noblest contribution to scientific understanding. Launched in 1977, Voyager I and II were sent billions of miles into the outer limits of our solar system to gather information about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and then into deep space. In 2012, Voyager I slipped through the Heliosphere, which is the bubble-like region of space dominated by the Sun, which extends far beyond the orbit of Pluto and officially became the first human-made object to reach interstellar space, and it’s still going today, to infinity and beyond.
The story is told from conception to its current condition of endless incompletion. President Nixon, who seems cuddly in comparison to the current incumbent, approved the plan to launch an unmanned spaceship through the Solar System and then out into the vast unknown. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were both launched in 1977. Thirty-five years later Voyager 1 became the first man-made object to enter interstellar space. Emer Reynolds allows the witnesses to speak for themselves. The scientists’ abilities to make gripping stories of their contributions and the director’s willingness to knit those chapters together into a coherent saga is key to the documentary film’s success. In one striking moment, a woman describes how, just as she was locking up for the evening, she spotted a relayed image of volcanic eruptions on Io, a moon of Jupiter and was the first person to see such a thing happen on another world.
Although the main purpose of the trip was data collection, the thing most people remember about the Voyager space crafts is that each of them contain a golden Long Playing record encoded with images, aural greetings in many Earth languages and, on the B-side, a playlist of top tunes like Beethoven, Bach, Pygmy tribespeople, Chuck Berry to tickle the eardrums of any alien life form they might meet. A wide assortment of those involved are interviewed in depth and not just scientists but also people whose voices are on the Long Playing record and one of the deeply admirable things about this film, in addition to the beauty of its imagery, its sprightly rhythm and its witty soundtrack.
It asks the most basic questions about human existence, and the most complex. It demonstrates the simplest application of physics, and the most nuanced. The most unscientific aspect of its construction is also its most ethereal: the famed Golden Record. It blazed a trail beyond our solar system, a trail that won’t be followed by anyone in our lifetime. The Voyager space crafts are a collection of paradoxes, least of all the masterpiece of ingenuity that has already become the first manmade object to journey into interstellar space.
The Voyager spacecraft’s are still going strong four decades after the initial launch, and each spacecraft carries an iconic golden record with greetings, music and images from Earth and a gift for any aliens that might one day find it. Voyager 1, which left our solar system and ushered humanity into the interstellar age in 2012, is the farthest-flung object humans have ever created. A billion years from now, when our sun has flamed out and burned Earth to a cinder, the Voyager space crafts and their golden records will still be sailing on and perhaps the only remaining evidence that humanity ever existed and here is the list of the major historic events that has occurred on their awesome amazing long journey deep into outer space that Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 has achieved since their maiden launch from Cape Canaveral way back in 1977 and reads as follows:
Voyager 2 Launch [20th August, 1977]
Voyager 1 Launch [5th September, 1977]
Voyager 1 Jupiter Flyby [5th March, 1979]
Voyager 2 Jupiter Flyby [9th July, 1979]
Voyager 1 Saturn Flyby [12th November, 1980]
Voyager 2 Saturn Flyby [26th August, 1981]
Voyager 2 Uranus Flyby [14th January, 1986]
Voyager 2 Neptune Flyby [25th August, 1989]
Voyager 1 takes Pale Blue Dot Image [14th February, 1990]
Voyager 1 crosses into interstellar space [1st August, 2012]
‘THE FARTHEST’ documentary by the prophetic director Emer Reynolds provides ample evidence that the Voyager spacecraft’s remains the most audacious project in human history, and one of humankind’s greatest successes. Through a rhapsodic collection of interviews, animations, photographs, and never-before-seen archival footage, she recreates the forty-five years it took the spacecraft to reach its current point in space, and the secrets it uncovered along the way. The enthusiastic men and women, who built the Voyager spacecraft’s and nurtured it along its twelve-billion-mile flight and counting, complete the film with fascinating behind-the-scenes stories. ‘THE FARTHEST’ is an absolute joyful celebration of a golden age of American curiosity, exploration, and the will to look up at the sky and ask, “Why not?”
THE FARTHEST MUSIC TRACK LIST
ALIMA SONG (From the Album Music of the Ituri Forest) [Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings]
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047 (Written and Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach) [Performed by Orchestra Münchener Bach-Orchester]
MELANCHOLY BLUES (Written and Composed by Marty Bloom and Walter Melrose) [Performed by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven]
LIUSHUI (by Guan Pinghu from the Album “China”) (Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
WISHING ON A STAR (Words and Music by Billie Rae Calvin) [Performed by Rose Royce]
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor; Op.67: I.Allegro Con Brio (Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven) [Performed by Otto Klemperer, and The Philharmonia Orchestra]
IZLEL JE DELYO HAGDUTIN [Performed by Valya Balkanska]
TCHENHOUKOUMEN (From the Album Musiques Dahoméennes Ocr17) [Courtesy of Ocora Radio France]
AZERBAIJAN S.S.R. – UGAM (From the album Folk Music of the U.S.S.R.) (Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
Recorder 4' Consort – The Fairie Round (The Early Music Consort Of London) [Performed by David Munrow]
TSURU NO SUGOMORI [Performed by various artists via the Explorer Series]
JAAT KAHAN HO [Performed by Surshri Kesarbai Kerkar] (Under license from Saregama India Limited)
Die Zauberflöte - Der Hölle Rache (Queen of the Night's Aria) [Performed by Edda Moser –Soprano] [Conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch]
KARCZMARZE POGRANICZE [Performed by the Karczmarze Band]
CALLING OCCUPANTS OF INTERPLANETARY CRAFT (Words and Music by John Woloschuk and Terry Draper) [Performed By The Carpenters]
KETAWANG: PUSPAWARNA [Performed by Various Artists / Explorer Series]
- Gavotte En Rondeau (Partita For Violin Solo No.3 in E, BWV 1006) (Written and Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach) [Violin: Arthur Grumiaux]
BREAKAWAY (Written by Gallagher & Lyle) [Performed by Gallagher & Lyle]
US AND THEM (Written by Roger Waters and Richard Wright) [Performed by Pink Floyd]
THE RACE (Written by Archer Prewitt) [Performed by Archer Prewitt]
JOHNNY B. GOODE (Written and Composed by Chuck Berry) [Performed by Chuck Berry]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Screenbound Pictures presents us with this very unique and spellbinding Blu-ray disc with a glorious and totally awesome 1080p image presentation and an equally impressive 2.40:1 aspect ratio, so giving you a cinema like spectacular presentation. With its dramatic mix of computer generated CGI imagery, live action, and traditional animation, this is a show made for high definition, and the sharpness, clarity, and excitement of the presentation of ‘THE FARTHEST’ is faultless. Colours are dramatic and richly saturated without ever seeming over-the-top. The black levels of space are densely black and endlessly appealing. Just as Planet Earth was the touchstone to the first generation of high definition viewers, so this film documentary now serves as reference image presentation for our current generation. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Screenbound Pictures presents us with a 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio reference quality audio experiences. The audio is excellently recorded and has been placed in the centre channel along with the dialogue. Ray Harman commanding film music score gets a magnificent rendering with the front and sometimes with the rear channels, and the sound effects will rock your viewing environment. So all in all Screenbound Pictures has done a 100% professional job all round.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Trailer [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:12] This is the stunning and beautiful evocative Original Trailer for the documentary ‘THE FARTHEST.’
Finally, ‘THE FARTHEST’ documentary has been brought to you via this amazing Blu-ray disc with its equally awesome documentary about space and beyond. It has over time become philosophical, a pondering about the unknown, and a tale of admiration, awe and adventure about those who are “crawling on the planet’s face and finding some insects called the human race.” This is science nonfiction at its farthest and its finest moment in time. Both the record and the probe are monuments to human achievement that can only be good and wondrous things that have been, and can be and will be achieved in the future, especially for mankind. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
