I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Blistering performances.

Basically just a modern, lesser remake of A Brief History of Time. Not as artistically enriching or hypnotizing, though perhaps more accessible, and still respectably covers the incredible life of an incredible man.

I had seen the documentary film A Brief History of Time, and the Oscar winning Eddie Redmayne movie The Theory of Everything, so I was most interested to see a new documentary with much more detail about the life and career of a great man and mind. English theoretical physicist and cosmologist Professor Stephen Hawking is one of the most famous scientists in history, and this documentary focused on all aspects of his life and career, from his youth to the present day, told by himself and those closest to him. Starting from his study of astrophysics in Cambridge University, his slow progression and deterioration from motor neurone disease, or ALS, his graduation and PhD degree, and his marriage to first wife Jane. Then it continues to his rise to fame, discovering new theories of black holes, the beginning of the universe, space and time and many more, and the writing of his book A Brief History of Time, which became a worldwide best seller. It also explains his life-threatening pneumonia and the tracheotomy that ended his ability to speak, the details of his speech synthesiser, and how despite these setbacks he continued his work, including at Cambridge University, and became the famous genius he is. It also includes footage of his appearances in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Simpsons, his appearance at the London 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony, his experience of a zero gravity flight, and the information that he has been invited to be a guest on the first flight into outer space. With narration by Hawking, using his copyrighted Equalizer computerised voice, featuring actors playing him and his friends and family for reconstructions, with contributions from Buzz Aldrin, Sir Richard Branson, Jim Carrey, Benedict Cumberbatch (who played Stephen in the 2004 TV movie Hawking), Jane Hawking, Mary Hawking, and many of Hawking's friends, colleagues, students and care workers who love and admire him. Hawking is a great man who has struggled through many challenges, not just his disability, but in his personal life and career as well, this film, co-written by Hawking himself, really gives you an incite into his world, you are in awe of his dedication to his work, his continued sense of humour and his human endeavour, an extraordinary story and most watchable documentary film. Very good!

This is a BBC produced movie/documentary that is more detailed about the development of Hawking's scientific thinking than one would see in other science biography movies. It starts with Hawking at 21 and covers his ALS diagnosis and how he and his family reacted to the news. The movie captures the look and feel of the times very well. It captures the environment in Cambridge where Hawking worked on his PhD, the influences on him, and the world of theoretical physics. The movie mostly focuses on the period from 1963 to 1980, so it is rather sparse on Hawking's later life and his later theories. This is a well made movie well worth watching especially if you have an interest in science in general, but also worth watching as a inspirational story of Hawking's tenacity and perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds.

In the film Stephen Hawkings ponders to himself whether his celebrity, if not the interest in his person, more so comes from his work and discoveries, or more so from his disability? Sad to say, I, like many probably, knew of him more as the peculiar, and sometimes off putting, man who would show up randomly in media. Be it his episode in The Simpsons, his iconic voice, or his mention of shows like Big Bang Theory, he was a man I knew of, but didn't know why exactly he was famous. So, with this movie, I got a quick run through of the man's life in his own words.To begin, this biographical documentary is obviously about Stephen Hawking, and alongside him are his first wife, sister and a slew of former students and colleagues. Strangely, we don't see his children from his first marriage, or his 2nd wife, but you can't get everything right? Still, Hawking surprisingly, even with his robotic voice, makes for a decent narrator and though his personality only shines in a handful of moments, he does leave you with the feeling that despite being the Einstein of our age, like Einstein, he knows how to have a little fun.As for what the film covers, it starts in the beginning talking about his childhood and leaves things around August 2012. You learn quite a bit through this period, like the fact he wasn't always bound to his chair. It makes the story a bit sad to see this man who was brilliant, social and a bit eccentric forced to live trapped in his body, and admittedly it can depress you to the point of pausing the film. Yet still, Hawking tries his best to keep things from becoming too depressing by talking about his many scientific breakthroughs, in quite a bit of detail, and showing home movie footage reminding you that despite how his life may seem, he is quite happy. Now, with every documentary comes a lot of information, and those interested in Hawking or his work will definitely be given a good overview of the man's life and accomplishments. It goes into his personal life a tad, though it breezes over his second wife, and when it comes to the science discoveries, the amount of information makes you feel you are in a college class. At the same time though, despite it being a bit in depth, you can at least get enough of a grasp on what is said to understand how important this man is to science. Also, something I liked, was that the film mixed in the good times, bad times, and while we never really see Stephen in a bad light, there is the occasional story of him being upset or hard to deal with. It makes it so that while it does sort of uplift and exemplify him, it also gives enough human aspects to keep it to feel like the film is basically superficial.I have to say though, I did find it hard at times to finish the film only because it can easily get you down, due to him going from eccentric and zany to being chair bound, and the parts when he talks about his research can quickly push away your interest. The amount of detail, though very much a plus, also sometimes seems like it was made for students to watch like an introductory video. Be it because I'm not used to watching biographies on the lives of non-entertainment figures, or because my curiosity wasn't strong enough to keep attentive, I will definitely say that as much as I am happy to know more, when I finished the film it was like finishing writing a final paper for a class. Lastly, there were times Stephen was talking when I definitely felt like subtitles were needed.Overall: Watch if interestedFor people like me who only have a childlike curiosity about the man, this film is not for you. It goes into great detail and assumes you want to know everything and more about the man and his work, and really it goes a bit overboard for my taste. Still, Hawking very much is a well- made film and it makes you wish other living prominent figures would create similar films chronicling their lives. So, overall, I would say this film is definitely for those who truly have an interest in this man's life and/or work more so than those just looking for the basics. Those of you looking for the basics are perhaps better catching the movie with Benedict Cumberbatch under the same title, but made in 2004. I haven't seen it to recommend it, but it is featured in the film and Hawking seems a bit in awe of it.