COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey continues the exploration of the remarkable mysteries of the cosmos and our place within it. Hosted by renowned astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, this thrilling, 13-part adventure will transport you across the universe of space and time, bringing to life never-before-told stories of the heroic quest for knowledge and a deeper understanding of nature. With an updated Cosmic Calendar, dazzling visual effects, and the wondrous Ship of the Imagination, prepare to take an unforgettable journey to new worlds and across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest - and smallest - scale.
For more about Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and the Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Blu-ray release, see Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on June 11, 2014 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.5 out of 5.
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The series wafts back and forth between three general approaches, live action sequences with Neil deGrasse Tyson (on both actual and virtual locations), CGI elements, and the aforementioned animated sequences which are typically utilized to bring historical characters and/or events to life. The outdoor footage is nicely sharp and detailed, with excellently saturated colors and some appealingly deep blacks (a couple of episodes feature Tyson huddled next to a campfire at night). The interior of the "Ship of the Imagination" features a huge viewscreen which typically lights up with whatever Tyson is discussing, and here there are some occasional problems with Tyson's image in front of the background in terms of sharpness and clarity. The animated sequences exploit ochre to yellowish hues a lot of the time and are decently sharp if never overwhelmingly precise. Some of the CGI is astoundingly sharp and colorful, while other elements (which may in fact be culled from stock footage or stills) look less crystal clear (some shots which may have been taken by the Hubble Telescope are a good example). On the whole, though, this is a spectacular looking series that benefits immensely from its high definition presentation, and despite a few niggling qualms, there are neither major issues nor major artifacts to contend with.
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey features a wonderfully immersive lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which surrounds the listener with a variety of sound effects, Tyson's voice and a really lush and varied score by Alan Silvestri. My one and only issue with this track is the sometimes jarring disconnect between sequences that feature Tyson's voice, which seem to have been edited together from different sessions where levels weren't equalized. Therefore, you'll suddenly get a minor but still noticeable "blast" of Tyson at peculiar moments, as if amplitude inexplicably spiked for just a word or two. Otherwise, though, the series offers a lot of inventive sound effects, and even some reasonable if never overpowering LFE, to propel virtually every episode. Some of the historical animated sequences feature other actors voicing various characters, and those are also cleanly and clearly presented.
