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Universe

Oscar nominated documentary short from 1976

Top Cast

  • William Shatner

    William Shatner

    Narrator

Overview

Oscar nominated documentary short from 1976

Rating

6.6 / 10
9 Reviews
0 Popular

1 Reviews

  • CinemaSerf
    CinemaSerf
    6 Oct 19, 2025

    Anyone remember the pocket “Observer” books that offered us a beginners guide to things? I used to have the astronomy one and it was great as an introduction to all things cosmic. William Shatner narrates a sort of video equivalent here as we start with the Big Bang and whizz through time to the creation of galaxies, stars, planets, nebulae, super novas and big black holes. Using some animation and a few telescopic images, it regales us with facts galore about the sun, the solar system and even speculates about what might happen next - well, in the next five billion years. Whilst there are some fairly incomprehensible statistics provided about size, distance and scale the vast majority of this amiably presented documentary offers us little more than a teaser to go and read about, or watch, something more substantially scientific. Did you know that Jupiter is larger than all the other objects (including the now downgraded Pluto) in the solar system put together? You do now.

Recommendations

Night Will Fall

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

Night Will Fall

7.6 2014