Movie review – Hubble 3D

Dir. Tony Meyers
Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio

How cool would it be to travel across the galaxy, or, better yet, across the universe? It’s currently still impossible to do in a physical sense, but Hubble 3D is probably the closest thing to actually traveling astronomical distances through the cosmos. The documentary about the Hubble Space Telescope takes you on a journey from our lonely little rock to the far corners of the observable universe in search of planets similar to our own.

Hubble 3D recounts the stories of building the telescope, launching it into orbit, and repairing it, most notably the final servicing mission – which was almost cancelled – conducted by the crew of space shuttle Atlantis. Hubble 3D takes a look into the careful planning and execution of the mission, and how it almost never happened.

The image is nothing short of astounding. It’s remarkably clear, and gives a sense of actually being 300 miles above Earth with the crew of Atlantis. The 3D wasn’t too bad either. There was only one instance when it was difficult to determine where objects were within the depth of field, but for the most part it was clean and lifelike.

Easily, the coolest part of the movie is the actual photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope. It’s one thing to see these pictures in a textbook or on the internet, but seeing them on a screen that’s three stories high – in 3D, no less – is probably the best way to see these places without leaving the confines of Earth.

The biggest let down of the show is its length. Hubble 3D is only 40 minutes long which is a tad irksome considering you’re paying nine dollars for admission. It seems that events were almost skimmed over, the way someone would nonchalantly read a textbook for a class they don’t overly care for. There could have been more of pretty much everything, like the Hubble’s history, the final service mission, and images taken from the telescope.

As a whole, Hubble 3D sits on top of the bell curve. It does some things quite well, but seems too brief. Had details been elaborated on further, Hubble 3D would have gone from an adequate documentary to an intriguing one.

Paul Bogdan
Contributor