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Me & Issac Newton
Home Vision Entertainment // Unrated // January 22, 2002
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Director Michael Apted may have found his biggest success in his venture into the world of "007" with the Bond film "The World Is Not Enough", but it's certainly not his most interesting - nor entertaining - film. Looking at the director's career reveals a wealth of fascinating documentaries, including the classic "Up" series that visited a group of men and women after every seven years of their lives.
"Me and Issac Newton" is the director's 1999 documentary about a group of scientists who keep attempting to understand the reasoning and functioning behind science. Interviews with seven scientists - pharmaceutical chemist Gertrude Elion, environmental physicist Ashok Gadgil, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, AI researcher Maja Mataric, cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, oncologist Karol Sikora, and primatologist Patricia Wright - are included.
Okay - interviews with seven scientists may not exactly sound like the most thrilling way to spend two hours, but those who venture into this documentary will likely find it rewarding and engaging. It's not only because the thoughts of the participants are witty and interesting, but that Apted takes a noticably pleasing approach to the look and feel of the picture. Rather than have people standing in their labs or in front of basic backgrounds, Apted mixes in images, clips from old footage, new interviews and more into a documentary that's not only interesting in content, but interesting to the eye.
The other element where Apted succeeds is that the participants not only discuss what they are currently working on, but they go into enjoyable detail about their lives and often, they reveal how parts of their personality or things from their past have lead them down the journey to where they currently are. While attempting to unlock the mysteries of science, they also are attempting to have a positive impact on society and cure ailments affecting our lives. "Me and Issac Newton" is a fascinating, extremely inspiring documentary that easily earns a **** rating.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Me & Issac Newton" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by Home Vision Entertainment. The film's cinematography is beautiful and, while there are old archive clips scattered throughout the documentary, they not only appear fairly clean, but the film's editing and music make the marriage of new and old images really a work of art. Sharpness and detail are crisp and clear during the new interview footage and passably sharp, but soft, during the older footage.
I really didn't notice any flaws with the presentation that I didn't expect to already be there. The older footage shows a mild amount of wear, but other than that, the new footage didn't appear to have any print flaws or other issues such as edge enhancement or pixelation. Colors looked marvelous, appearing nicely saturated and warm.
SOUND: The 2.0 soundtrack is certainly nothing very agressive, but it also is somewhat better than what I expected for a documentary. The outdoor sequences do contain a good deal of ambient details and the dialogue from the interviewees is captured very cleanly and clearly.
MENUS: Home Vision provides a sleek animated main menu, with film-themed animation.
EXTRAS: Unfortunately, Home Vision apparently wasn't able to "invent" any special features for this film. No trailers or notes.
Final Thoughts: "Me and Issac Newton" is a beautifully filmed documentary that I often found to be a fascinating look and seven people who are attempting to make a positive impact on our society and trying to understand what makes us and the world around us work. Home Vision's DVD edition of the film offers a fine presentation of the film itself, but it's a bit dissapointing that this edition offers no extras and a rather steep $29.99 price tag. Those who are interested in the subject or fans of the film should still certainly take a look, but others might want to rent first.
Director Michael Apted may have found his biggest success in his venture into the world of "007" with the Bond film "The World Is Not Enough", but it's certainly not his most interesting - nor entertaining - film. Looking at the director's career reveals a wealth of fascinating documentaries, including the classic "Up" series that visited a group of men and women after every seven years of their lives.
"Me and Issac Newton" is the director's 1999 documentary about a group of scientists who keep attempting to understand the reasoning and functioning behind science. Interviews with seven scientists - pharmaceutical chemist Gertrude Elion, environmental physicist Ashok Gadgil, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, AI researcher Maja Mataric, cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, oncologist Karol Sikora, and primatologist Patricia Wright - are included.
Okay - interviews with seven scientists may not exactly sound like the most thrilling way to spend two hours, but those who venture into this documentary will likely find it rewarding and engaging. It's not only because the thoughts of the participants are witty and interesting, but that Apted takes a noticably pleasing approach to the look and feel of the picture. Rather than have people standing in their labs or in front of basic backgrounds, Apted mixes in images, clips from old footage, new interviews and more into a documentary that's not only interesting in content, but interesting to the eye.
The other element where Apted succeeds is that the participants not only discuss what they are currently working on, but they go into enjoyable detail about their lives and often, they reveal how parts of their personality or things from their past have lead them down the journey to where they currently are. While attempting to unlock the mysteries of science, they also are attempting to have a positive impact on society and cure ailments affecting our lives. "Me and Issac Newton" is a fascinating, extremely inspiring documentary that easily earns a **** rating.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Me & Issac Newton" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by Home Vision Entertainment. The film's cinematography is beautiful and, while there are old archive clips scattered throughout the documentary, they not only appear fairly clean, but the film's editing and music make the marriage of new and old images really a work of art. Sharpness and detail are crisp and clear during the new interview footage and passably sharp, but soft, during the older footage.
I really didn't notice any flaws with the presentation that I didn't expect to already be there. The older footage shows a mild amount of wear, but other than that, the new footage didn't appear to have any print flaws or other issues such as edge enhancement or pixelation. Colors looked marvelous, appearing nicely saturated and warm.
SOUND: The 2.0 soundtrack is certainly nothing very agressive, but it also is somewhat better than what I expected for a documentary. The outdoor sequences do contain a good deal of ambient details and the dialogue from the interviewees is captured very cleanly and clearly.
MENUS: Home Vision provides a sleek animated main menu, with film-themed animation.
EXTRAS: Unfortunately, Home Vision apparently wasn't able to "invent" any special features for this film. No trailers or notes.
Final Thoughts: "Me and Issac Newton" is a beautifully filmed documentary that I often found to be a fascinating look and seven people who are attempting to make a positive impact on our society and trying to understand what makes us and the world around us work. Home Vision's DVD edition of the film offers a fine presentation of the film itself, but it's a bit dissapointing that this edition offers no extras and a rather steep $29.99 price tag. Those who are interested in the subject or fans of the film should still certainly take a look, but others might want to rent first.
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