Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

I've you're reading this review it's probably because you've already heard about this DVD and are more than a little interested in spaceflight. In that case this is a great DVD, and to call it a movie doesn't do it justice. Imagine you are a NASA astronaut and you've been given 80 minutes off to just stare out the window...Oh, and on your 80 minutes your orbit is going to take you past all the best sights to be seen and you get to listen to your favourite chillout music at the same time. That pretty much sums it up. There is no plot or actors, just great footage and music. It was made in 1998 using shuttle footage, so there are some shots of Mir, but none of the ISS. The DVD menu allows you to show the location, height and direction info for each section, as well as selecting your favourite sections. There are other extras such as a shuttle launch and some stills.

This is inspiring! The absolute beauty of our planet is revealed in stunning detail as the Space Shuttle orbits Earth. The Dolby Digital music which this DVD is set to makes this one of the most relaxing videos you could ever watch. As a previous poster said, this is not necessarily a movie, but more of a background video. I can't describe the images on this DVD and do them justice. You just simply have to get it and see for yourself. You'll have philosophical and religious experiences when you watch this. It's the best thing you could watch if you have had a long/hard day. Simply put this in your DVD player, kick back and you'll immediately realize that the problems you think are huge are insignificant; and you'll feel better about everything.

Earthlight Special Edition is special and I'm glad I've bought it. In parts it is awe inspiring stuff: sand dunes draped over desert rock, land locked seas with swirling sediment washed in from rushing rivers - and all in high resolution. This is the stuff for geologists to die for. The disappointing parts for me were something I should have thought through: 70% of the Earth is ocean; about 70% of the footage is over the oceans. The cloud tops ARE fascinating but the overland footage is spectacular and offers so much more to see and wonder at. This is a great DVD and you should get it, but much as I'd like to fly a mission with the NASA team, they need to teach the crews a bit more finesse with the camera technique. This title promises so much, but for me, it didn't quite deliver. 7/10.

Earthlight is awesome and beautiful w/incredibly sharp video of the the earth from space, including giant hurricanes, deserts, mountain ranges, cities at night, the moon rising and setting over the earth--and my favorite--those beautiful blue oceans. It's like getting the view that John Glenn had of our big beautiful blue earth on his recent space shuttle mission. The music is peaceful and relaxing without being sentimental. There are location subtitles in a whole bunch of languages, including Klingon!!! The brand new Earthlight Special Edition includes video & room shaking sound of a space shuttle lifting off with that cool crackling sound of NASA communicating with the astronauts in the background. I love to watch those thrusters gimble! This is not a movie--more like background video. It's awe-inspiring. There are cool features on the DVD, like menus that will take you to any part of the video you want and give you subtitles and map locators that track the shuttle's orbit. Plus, you can play the DVD on your computer as well as your DVD player. You can have the video albums or still photo albums play on a continuous loop. Very cool!