History of the World in Two Hours (3D Blu-Ray)

Introduction  

The evolution of life, the universe and everything is quite a complex subject area to cover due to the amount of years (in billions) to cover, not too mention the many, many theories that encompass our creation – whilst obviously ignoring the view of Religion.  

The History channel think they’ve come up with a good concept in that they attempt to shrink this entire period into a documentary that last no more than two hours.  Well, actually it’s only about 88 minutes but then that’s because this was originally designed for TV and had commercial breaks in it.  Some people, rather stupidly in my view, feel a little short changed by this but this is the reality of transferring TV shows to a physical format for you to enjoy at home whenever you please.  

So, this documentary takes on a long journey over its 88 minute span, starting with the big bang (theory) to show how our original ancestor was an exploding star that eventually led to the formation of the earth and how the emergence of life came about from the earliest organisms to the advance of man and growth of civilisation.  

This really is an epic story that also reveals some rather surprising facts such as the ancient pyramids being essentially built from millions and millions of compressed sea shells.  

Picture  

Superb picture that is incredibly sharp and detailed.  Mainly CGI driven in the main at the start before eventually moving on to man’s time on the block.  Very impressive visuals overall.  Not having the option to view in 3D, I can’t comment on that aspect but bear in mind it’s there.  

Overall  

I have to admit that I really enjoyed this.  It’s a great concept and it helps that writer/producer Douglas Cohen really uses his time well to illustrate just how long various portions of history took.  Man’s ascent to the top of the food chain is relatively short in the history of the world, and therefore most of the running time is spent on the formation of the universe, creation of various atoms and the start of life itself.  

There are some drawbacks to this programme though.  It was initially a TV and as such it really needed some editing for a blu-ray release to cut out the commercial breaks and the summarising of what had just occurred prior to the now non-existent commercial breaks.  

Other than that though, this is a superb documentary that is pitched at the right level for those not willing to go to University to study these things in more detail.  You have to remember all the way through that a lot of the things presented along the way are more theory than proven fact but it is nonetheless compelling and backed up with various scientifically qualified talking heads.  

Probably not the right documentary for Creationists, but enjoyable enough for anyone else looking for a decently pitched explanation of where we may have come from...