Galileo

Starring:Topol, Bill Wallis, Tom Chatto, Margaret Leighton, Judy Parfitt, Madeline Smith, Ronald Radd, William Gossling, Ken Wynne, Norman Scace, Henry Woolf, Andrew Harding (II), Paul Curran, John Gielgud, Edward Fox, John Moffatt, Harold Innocent, Leon Silver, Maurice Quick, Tim Woodward
Director: Joseph Losey
Studio: Kino Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

great movie
Baby Galileo, Just Outstanding
one of the best
"Galaxy" is my 2-year-old's new favorite word!
Wonderful just great.

Baby Einstein - Baby Galileo - Discovering the Sky
Starring: Baby Einstein
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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Product Features:

Musical scores by Mozart, Chopin, Strauss and Tchaikovsky
Captivating footage of the sky, planets and galaxies
Enhances motor skills
Length of DVD: 28 mintues
Length of VHS: 30 mintues

ASIN: B00008WFHE
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Product Description

Baby Galileo Video The Baby Einstein Baby Galileo video takes your child on a journey of sight and sound with this captivating exposure to the magical world above. Your little one will take a musical voyage through the sky, investigating the stars, the sun, clouds, planets and whirling galaxies far away with the Baby Galileo video. Brightly colored toys, engaging images, stunning video and fun-loving puppet shows highlight Baby Galileo's interactive and stimulating journey. Baby Galileo contains beautiful music by Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Strauss and Tchaikovsky. Baby Einstein's Baby Galileo video will pique your baby's curiosity through spectacular images, colorful toys, engaging puppets.

Amazon.com

Baby Galileo, a young kangaroo puppet, looks toward the sky in an exploration of the awesome wonders above to discover the sun, moon, clouds, stars, and galaxies, and each of the nine planets,. This 30-minute presentation features rapidly shifting images that include real-life photography of the celestial wonders and children playing with space-themed toys, animated segments, and puppetry. A variety of excerpts from classical masterpieces like Mozart's "A Little Night Music" and Debussy's "Clair de Lune," specially arranged in primarily synthesized "music box" arrangements, as well as several popular nursery songs like "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," accompany the imagery and ensure a stimulating, multi-sensory experience. DVD extras include a repeat-play function, discovery cards with 14 real-life photographs of celestial wonders with spoken and written titles, puppetry excerpts from the presentation, toy chest with details about pictured toys, and a DVD-ROM coloring book. (Ages 9 months to 4 years) --Tami Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

great movie.......2007-06-13

This is a great movie, one of my son's favorites. Very cute. The puppets are alot nicer than some previous videos. There are also alot of cool, new images in it. It's a nice, soothing video for bed time or if your kids are totally wound up and need to calm down.

Baby Galileo, Just Outstanding.......2007-06-03

Baby Einstein is a wonderful new line of videos to aid in your child's development. Get them off to a very good start with these videos, and this special one, Baby Galileo. Get them well on the way to a successful future now! Don't wait!

one of the best.......2007-05-26

I'd say that Baby Galileo and Baby Mozart have the nicest music selection of the series. In Baby Galileo, the puppet work is pretty good, and my 10-month old daughter loves the balloons in particular. One caveat: the International Astronomical Union (IAU) no longer considers Pluto to be a planet (at least not a major planet appropriate to be listed with M,V,E,M,J,S,U,N). Perhaps Disney ought to modify this video.

"Galaxy" is my 2-year-old's new favorite word!.......2007-05-26

We checked this out of the library (as we do with most kids' videos before buying...finding something my son likes is pretty "hit-and-miss"), and my 2-year-old was engaged from beginning to end. He's so fascinated by the moon and stars that I thought he may like it...I was right! My 9-month-old was fascinated by it, too. It has a lot of great REAL images of stars, planets, clouds, and the moon...and not as much "puppet action" as most other Baby Einstein videos. I really like this one as much as our kids do. I've ordered this video and am excited to watch it again and again with both our boys!

Wonderful just great........2007-05-12

I bought this for my nephew and he is wild about it. He is 3 now and has out grown the series. Except this one. He has to watch it everyday and he is wants to watch anything he can on planets and space. This is wonderful with actual pics of the plants. I actually told my college astromony teacher about it and he used it in class. That was an interesting day. I recommend this to everyone.

NOVA - Genius: The Science of Einstein, Newton, Darwin, and Galileo

Average customer rating:

A marvelous collection of 4 Nova programs

NOVA - Genius: The Science of Einstein, Newton, Darwin, and Galileo
Starring: Stacy Keach , Peter Thomas (VI) , and Don Wescott
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000C8STOE
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Description

DVD set that includes Einstein's Big Idea, Newton's Dark Secrets, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, and Galileo's Battle for the Heavens.

Customer Reviews:

A marvelous collection of 4 Nova programs.......2006-04-11

Here, in one box, are 4 superb Nova programs that function as absorbing discussions of some of the most profound scientific discoveries in history and as biographies of the scientists responsible for them. Very few breakthroughs in science follow a linear path: there are usually a host of ancillary scientists whose contributions to the intellectual climate of the time provide the essential nutrients for discovery. Then there are the scientists whose insights are crucial to the final momentous breakthrough. Both groups are part of the fabric of these programs. Abstract ideas are easier to explain when there are people and concrete things to drape them on. I found the superb Galileo and Einstein programs particularly valuable (especially if watched in chronological order) for their thoughtful explication of the scientific concept of Relativity.

Relativity, in it's modern sense, originates with Galileo's primal work on motion and gravity. Following his death, his elegant ideas persisted over three centuries before Einstein's profoundly deep insights into the workings of nature illuminated the Relativity of motion, the speed of light, mass, energy and time. Along this 300 year long thoroughfare of thought, illustrious scientific names such as Newton, Leibnitz, Halley, Faraday, Maxwell and many others illuminate the way. As someone trained as a scientist, I can attest to how this mingling of ideas with personalities and history can make them easier to visualize and understand. Where the Einstein program appears weakest: the occasional emphasis on the 'sexy' Einstein, on 'Einstein the dude' who is just like any other fellow; hating school, ogling women. If the intent is to persuade the audience that Einstein was just an ordinary bloke, that anyone can conceive what Einstein conceived given enough spare time and a sufficient number of rainy afternoons, it is pointless. The kind of insights that led to his miraculous year of discovery, 1905, only happen every few centuries, if not longer. That applies to Newton, Galileo and Darwin, as well. Extraordinary discoveries require extraordinary minds. These 4 programs help curious nonscientists understand the products of these extraordinary minds, and the precursor ideas that helped seed them. Along the way, they also redress some historical wrongs. Women who were marginalized in the world of science by gender and religious prejudice, women such as Emilie du Chatelet and Lisa Meitner, are given long overdue exposure and their proper credit. This is a wonderful byproduct of these programs.

These 4 programs emphasize drama more than the science programs of the past. Inevitably, some may accuse them of being "dumbed down". I've always felt that anything that increases scientific curiosity and aides understanding is worthwhile. These Nova programs definitely achieve that end. They do not engage in deep scientific complexity, but they are intelligently entertaining and dramatically engrossing. If you are curious about these great scientists but are afraid that their science will be over your head, fear not. The shows are clear and not too difficult. They are challenging without being obscure; while never talking down to the audience, they are always eager to inform. For those more scientifically sophisticated than the average viewer, the historical drama and scientific biographies may hold intrinsic interest. All of the performers are superb. All of the scientists providing expert commentary are clear, informative and eager to enlighten. The computer graphics used to illustrate these shows are of the highest technical quality. The photography, likewise.

The DVDs are all NTSC encoded. The films are shot either full screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio or shot widescreen with a 16:9 aspect. The running time of the 4 DVDs is 420 minutes. Sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo and the films are closed captioned. There are various extras including DVD-ROM text material and various web site links.

These 4 programs are an excellent and intelligent combination of science, biography and history presented for those who are curious about the world. Most highly recommended.

Mike Birman

Average customer rating:

engaging, entertaining, and informative
New York Times' rave review (and a correction)

NOVA - Galileo's Battle for the Heavens
Starring: Stacy Keach , Peter Thomas (VI) , and Don Wescott
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000C8STO4
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Description

At a time when heretics were burned alive for dissent, scientist Galileo Galilei risked his life to advance his revolutionary concepts of the universe. British actor Simon Callow (Shakespeare in Love, Four Weddings and a Funeral) brings Galileo to life, humanizing the great thinker's passion, intelligence, and arrogance while depicting his frustrations with fellow philosophers and scientists, and with Roman Catholic church leaders.

Based on Dava Sobel's best-selling biography Galileo's Daughter, this two-hour film offers a vivid re-imagining of Galileo's incredible achievements that forever changed the way we view our place in the universe. It also investigates the momentous personal and spiritual conflicts Galileo faced- most especially in defending the controversial theory that the earth revolves around the sun.

Join noted Galileo authorities and experience the remarkable life behind the discoveries, and see letters from his illegitimate daughter, Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun, have shed new light on Galileo's pioneering telescopic observations, his fateful Inquisition trial for heresy, and life in the seventeenth century.

Customer Reviews:

engaging, entertaining, and informative.......2007-03-22

I've been enjoying learning about influential scientists lately, and this was a good resource in my self-education. It was really well made, combining standard documentary techniques with reenactments of episodes from Galileo's life, making for a program that's very informative and also easy to watch. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of science.

New York Times' rave review (and a correction).......2006-03-31

Amazon has the wrong description of this show. It's really an Emmy winning 2 hour Nova Episode with Simon Callow as Galileo, first broadcast in 2002.

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:

''GOOD philosophers, like eagles, fly alone, not in flocks like starlings,'' declares the father of modern science in ''Galileo's Battle for the Heavens,'' a two-hour special on PBS's ''Nova''
The same goes for intelligent television shows...With this handsome, unabashedly earnest production, ''Nova'' demonstrates a continuing willingness to believe in viewers who are interested in how ideas have taken hold.

The two-hour program, written and produced by David Axelrod, recalls the uproar over Copernican theory at a time when Roman Catholic theology placed a stationary earth at the center of the universe. This is no dry science lesson but a dramatized vision of the contradictory forces pulling on Galileo, who was both a scientist and a devout Catholic. He lived during the Inquisition, in an era when unpopular ideas were grounds for torture or being burned at the stake.

The program was adapted from ''Galileo's Daughter,'' Dava Sobel's best-selling book based on letters written to Galileo by his daughter, who became a nun. She took the name Maria Celeste, perhaps in deference to her father's fascination with the stars, and her letters reveal a touching desire to understand his obsession.

His feelings for her are less clear, because his letters to her have not been found. But Galileo was a prolific writer, expressing his scientific theories as literature in his ''Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems.'' He had the necessary arrogance to combat prevailing wisdom. ''I render grace to God that it has pleased him to make me alone the first observer of an admirable thing kept hidden all these ages,'' he said. But he would die humbled by the Inquisition; his writings were banned. In dramatic recreations, Simon Callow plays Galileo with melancholy grandeur.

Baby Einstein Gift Pack Volume 3 (Baby Galileo/Baby Neptune/Baby Beethoven/Numbers Nursery)

Average customer rating:

Think Again
Baby Einstein DVDs are the best!
Got these as a gift and...
mediocre programs
A Great Learning Tool!

Baby Einstein Gift Pack Volume 3 (Baby Galileo/Baby Neptune/Baby Beethoven/Numbers Nursery)

Manufacturer: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000DZ3H1
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Description

Baby Einstein(TM): Baby Beethoven(TM) Symphony Of Fun - English/French/Spanish DVD- BABY BEETHOVEN(TM) SYMPHONY OF FUN is a captivating experience that exposes babies and toddlers to the beauty and benefits of classical music while mesmerizing them with stimulating, colorful images. Both you and your little one will love these enchanting versions of classic compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven. Baby Einstein(TM): Baby Galileo(TM) Discovering The Sky - English/French/Spanish DVD- BABY GALILEO(TM) DISCOVERING THE SKY introduces babies and toddlers to the wonders in the sky above -- the sun and moon, fluffy clouds, shimmering stars, colorful planets, and whirling galaxies. This original and inspiring look at our universe will pique your baby's curiosity through spectacular images, colorful toys, engaging puppets, and beautiful music by Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky. BABY EINSTEIN(TM) uses real-world objects, music, art, language, science, and nature to introduce young children to the world around them in fun, fascinating ways. All our videos are set to music specially reorchestrated for little ears. We encourage you to watch with your baby and enjoy the sights and sounds together! Baby Einstein(TM): Baby Neptune(TM) Discovering Water - English/French/Spanish DVD- BABY NEPTUNE(TM) DISCOVERING WATER introduces babies and toddlers to the wonders of water in their world. Whether in the bathtub or the deep blue sea, in rivers or lakes, water is explored from a baby's perspective in a playful, imaginative way. It combines captivating undersea footage with visuals of silly puppets, toys, happy children, and the music of Handel, Telemann, Beethoven, and Strauss. BABY EINSTEIN(TM) uses real-world objects, music, art, language, science, and nature to introduce young children to the world around them in fun, fascinating ways. All our videos are set to music specially reorchestrated for little ears. We encourage you to watch with your baby and enjoy the sights and sounds together! Baby Einstein(TM): Numbers Nursery(TM) - English/French/Spanish DVD- Numbers Nursery(TM) introduces toddlers to the numbers 1 through 5 in a playful, interactive way that encourages them to join in and count out loud! This dynamic exploration of numbers will delight and engage your child using images of toys, puppets, and familiar real-world objects set to beautiful music by Haydn and Chopin. This unique aproach will help your todder begin to understand what numbers represent.

Customer Reviews:

Think Again.......2007-06-16

My son has been watching the Baby Einstein video series since birth and at the age of two and a half, he is speech delayed and is actively in speech therapy. I think there is a correlation between the Baby Einstein videos and speech delay and sensory development. My son is intelligent, but is not expressive in speech. He understands but cannot express himself with words. The speech therapy is working but we will be in therapy until he is at the level he should be for his age. I also think there is a issue with sensory development. He is my second son and I never had issues with my first son who is now nine and back then Baby Einstein videos were not around. He watched Barney, Sesame Street, and other cartoons that used actual words and communicate dialog between two or more people and not so much sensory fluff. Take caution because I read one review that talked about autism and speech delay being an epidemic in the last five years. I think research needs to be conducted about the effects of Baby Einstein videos on baby and toddler development. If anyone else recognizes this problem or would like to write back, please email me directly at falina@sbcglobal.net

Baby Einstein DVDs are the best!.......2007-05-13

I have a 14 month old daughter who loves all the Baby Einstein DVDs. She watches them while she's playing with her toys and it seems to calm her down. Babies just love these DVDs, for whatever reason!

Got these as a gift and..........2006-08-11

we (me, my husband and my daughter) all love them. She is 7 mos. old now, has been watching about 1 per day for 3 mos. It gives me time to make myself some toast and a cup of tea in the morning or me and my husband 20 min. to eat our dinner together and discuss our day. I know the instructions say to interact with your little one while they're watching so occasionally I'll verbalize the object, the color or describe what the children on the video are doing. I find that she is enthralled with the puppet shows on the bonus feature on the main menu...also like the multi-lingual option as they say its good for little ears to hear different languages, sounds etc. One suggestion I have is to first preview them from the local library. There are a few that I've gotten from there that she's just not that into! Now I know and it saved me a few bucks too! Overall, I would recommend these but would hesitate in giving them to someone who may use the "Repeat Play" option-if you catch my drift!

mediocre programs.......2006-08-07

My daughter Kelsey (1 year and 8 month) owns about 12 of these Baby Einstein DVD's (gift pack 1,2,3). She is not a fan. I don't think she ever watched any of those DVD in its entirety. I find that, regardless of the "age guidelines" on the Baby Einstein videos, there are a lot of overlapping and simple "scenes" with shots of plastic toys that never really facinated her. As I watch plenty of children videos nowadays, I do feel the Baby Einstein series are comparatively boring and repetitive. The whole series just appear cheap and simplistic.

Obviously every child is different and Baby Einstein seems to work great for most parents, but I would strongly suggest buying only ONE dvd at a time to see how yours react instead of buying too many in one go like I did. My daughter loves the Wiggles and will sit through...no, rather, dance through, the whole DVD. She also like Barney so I know she will watch children programs if we give her the right one.

A Great Learning Tool!.......2006-07-24

My 10 month old grandson LOVES this set. It holds his attention for the entire duration. I'll be buying more!

Average customer rating:

childish, bigoted, and just plain stupid
The better documentary
An excellent educational tool !

Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants
Starring: Michael Moriarty , Kenny Vadas , Louis Del Grande , Tony Nardi , and Damir Andrei
Director: David Devine
Manufacturer: Devine Entertainment
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ASIN: B00005B327
Release Date: 2002-05-28

Amazon.com

This installment of The Inventors' Specials, a series that invites youngsters to think about great inventors (including Edison and Einstein), focuses on the man who brought the wonder of science into the Dark Ages. Michael Moriarty gives vigor to his role as the scientist who is forced to take on a young apprentice. First bored with his new surroundings, the youngster develops a keen interest in Galileo's inventions, including his latest, the telescope. The hour-long video, which played on HBO and won two daytime Emmys, doesn't pull any punches by explaining what happened to heretics who, like Galileo, preached the Earth wasn't the center of the universe. However, the filmmakers do not trust their young audience. Galileo's rival is an obese fool whose antics belong in Home Alone. It nearly ruins a good thing. Ages 7 and up. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

childish, bigoted, and just plain stupid.......2007-03-23

Well, if you're an anti-Catholic bigot, just LOVE empty-headed after-school specials, and know absolutely nothing about the truth of the Galileo case, I'm sure you'll love this badly-acted bit of foolishness. I had my students watch it. The bad acting pained them. One asked: "What did we do to you that made you so angry that you forced us to watch that idiotic thing?" The problem was, I had assigned them to read the actual historical documents on the Galileo case BEFORE they watched the movie. So they saw all the historical absurdities at once. Bottom line: childish pratfalls, intellectually dishonest anti-religious bigotry, along with remarkably stupid historical inaccuracies. As an example of propaganda and bigotry, it's great. As history, well, put it this way: the Scottish accents in the movie "The 300" is closer to the truth of the Spartans than this boring drivel is to Galileo.

The better documentary.......2001-07-17

At the dawn of the 17th century, everybody takes the explanations of the great thinkers such as Aristotle for granted. The astronomer and the mathematician Galileo Galilei is about to discover the biggest mysteries of the universe. The lack of money, a brother who lives in his depend and a rival can't stop him from continuing its researches. He finds support in his pupil prince Cosimo (who was spoiled by the monarchy at the beginning of the movie). The education of Galileo is going to change the vision of the prince. He's going to help its teacher to invent the telescope. This film (almost a documentary) is striking as for its attention to details. It's easy to understand why they won two Emmy Awards (as being nominated for five). Michael Moriarty (actor from the series "Law and Order") is excellent in the title role. As good as Kenny Vadas who plays the role of his student. It is very cool at the end of the film when an astronaut finally proves Galileo's theory of falling objects speed.

An excellent educational tool !.......1999-09-14

As a High School Physics Teacher I really recomend this video for the introduction of the scientific method. It details the importance of experimentation before making conclussions. It is also a unique resource to help teachers develop in students etics and moral values in science. I whish I can get a copy of this video in Spanish since that is the language most of my students understand better.

Average customer rating:

King of night vision, king of insight.
Heroes

Galileo
Starring: Topol , Robert Langdon Lloyd , John McEnery , Richard O'Callaghan , and Georgia Brown
Director: Joseph Losey
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000TPABA
Release Date: 2003-11-11

Customer Reviews:

King of night vision, king of insight........2004-11-16

Needless to day Galileo, look where we are now. I applaud your work and your dedication to the truth it has changed my future immensely. Sadly, the same can't be same for this film. If there was ever a film that you needed to use as a weapon of mass destruction against an unknown foe, Joseph Losey's Galileo would be my number one pick. By doing this you would ensure victory to your team by forcing your opponents to fall asleep. Galileo was the dullest piece of film I have ever encountered. From the acting to the irritating boys singing before every scene was just pure rubbish. This biography did nothing but uproot past High School science reports about this genius. It presented nothing new and nothing exciting. It was genetic cross between a classic British mini-series and one of those friends that never seems to get the hint that they are talking way too much. It was a disaster that would probably, in today's standards, put Galileo back into house arrest.

The role of Galileo was played an interesting actor by the name of Topol. New to this generation's work, I wasn't sure who Topol was until I watched this film. For those of you who do not know, he is a mix between an insane street urchin and a bearded John Belushi. His actions in this film seemed random and rabid at the same time. I never knew what he was going to do or say next, half due to the poor quality in sound, but also because Topol never looked scripted. I guess this is a good thing because it gave some realism to the scene, but it destroyed his character. I kept seeing Galileo as insane instead of brilliant. I know some will argue that Galileo was insane, but when I read about him I just couldn't picture him as one of those screwball geniuses. I always felt he was the real deal, just misunderstood. Topol's delivery of Galileo is longwinded in the sense that he talks more about his actions than just doing them. There seemed to be a lot of this going around in the film, but I will get into that later. Honestly, I wasn't impressed with Topol's performance in this film. I need to see him in more before I make my final decision on his acting ability, but Galileo was not his cup of tea. Outside of Topol, I didn't care about any of the other characters or really fully understand who they were. The lack of character development (odd in a three hour film) and poor sound (outside of the singing kids) only pulled me further away from the rest of the cast. They were just not up to quality standards.

While researching this film, I read by another reviewer about the reasoning for the American Film Theater to make this style of movie. In the mid 70s the organization released several of their plays to the silver screen for their members. As a chance to capture more people to their plays, they offered these subscriptions with six tickets to other films that they had released. The strange aspect about these movies is that they are not filmed as if the actors are on a stage, nor do they carry a lavish budget. They use some fancy (for the time) camera work to highlight some emotions in the characters, but that is it. The rest is cheap and claustrophobic scenery that would immediately turn the novice moviegoer away. Perhaps during this era this was considered amazing cinematography and set design, but in my eyes it just seems shoddy and poor. For this film to work well there needed to be less conversation, more involvement by other characters, and less singing. I didn't see this film labeled as a musical (and I understand why the kids sang to help guide the audience throughout the film as in a play), so I didn't need the twenty minute sexually driven dance sequence in the middle. It was as if it was put in there for the men in the audience that had patiently been waiting through this film (forcing their eyes to remain open) as an added benefit. Suddenly everyone was awake, just in time for the second act. GRRRRRRR.

Overall, this film put me to sleep several times before it was over. It was not the biography I was hoping for on this acclaimed scientist. As a period piece film it failed and as a "courtroom drama" it failed as well. The actors seemed like they were overacting for film because they were used to the theater productions. Infants did the camera work and the singing kids who introduced the scenes should have been put out of their misery. At least wait till someone has hit puberty to get them singing! Jeesh. If the American Theater wanted this to attract others to their productions, they should have filmed it on a stage, it would have created a better atmosphere and tone. Topol, I hope to see you in better down the road, but until then, stay far away from science.

Grade: * out of *****

Heroes.......2004-04-14

"Galileo" is one of those movies people serious about cinema more or less "have" to have or see, less for its cinematic achievements than for its pedigree. After all, how many films start with a play by Bertolt Brecht, based on a translation by Charles Laughton, directed by a preeminent film maker (Joseph Losey) with a cast that includes luminaries like John Gielgud, Tom Conti, Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale, Colin Blakely, Margaret Leighton, and on and on? The results are almost secondary. What matters is who participated.

Fortunately, "Galileo" offers more than a laundry list of Big Names. While it is not a hallmark of cinema, it is an entertaining, frequently lively and at the same time, tragic look at the interplay between private conscience and public responsibility. People familiar with Brecht's work need no introduction to this, one of his most famous plays. Those unfamiliar with his name can enjoy a largely straightforward, suspenseful exposition on Galileo's complex relationship to the history of science.

With the large exception of Topol, in the lead role, the cast is extraordinary, providing one plum moment after another. John Gielgud offers a witty walk on as an apoplectic cardinal, while the scene between Galileo, Cardinal Bellarmin (Patrick Magee) and Cardinal (eventually Pope) Barberini (Lonsdale) is a playful feint, a series of verbal parries and thrusts, dextrous, but deadly serious. My favorite scene, however, is the famous "dressing of the Pope" sequence in which the Cardinal Inquisitor (Fox) convinces the Pope to force Galileo to recant.

Viewers who know Losey's work only through his movies may be surprised at the idea of him directing such a project. Aside from the fact that he had a parallel career in the theater, however, he was also the director of the play's first production, in Los Angeles and New York in the forties, starring Laughton. His adaptation of some of Brecht's "alienation effects" is, for the most part, simple and clean, such as using superimposed titles instead of Brecht's on-stage signs announcing the forthcoming action, or having Galileo occasionally speak directly to the camera. There are even one or two trademark "Losey" moments, such as the fraught, nerve jangling scene between the Inquisitor and Galileo's daughter. As with the director's more famous work, there is nothing explicitly violent in the scene, even at a verbal level, yet you sense the implicit threat in every moment.

Description

Prof. Joseph W. Dauben discusses the life of Galileo, the origin of perspective drawing and the interaction of art and science in the Renaissance. His presentation includes dozens of examples from Renaissance painting, sculpture and architectural drawing including the works of Rembrandt, Michelangelo and Leonardo DaVinci. Brunelleschi's famous discovery of linear perspective using mirrors and the Baptistry of the Cathedral in Florence is illustrated with overlays showing the horizon line and the vanishing points. Computer graphics are used to recreate the inclined plane and Tower of Pisa experiments of Galileo. Dauben explains how these experiments allowed Galileo to formulate his revolutionary mathematical theory of the behavior of falling bodies. Dauben concludes by discussing the influence of Galileo's scientific work on the artists of his time.

Oh Marbella! [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Germany ]

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Oh Marbella! [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Germany ]
Director: Piers Ashworth
Manufacturer: Galileo
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Shortbus (Unrated Edition)

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Product Description

Germany released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), German (Dolby Digital 5.1), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SYNOPSIS: This comedy, which has some rather stereotyped but still amusing characters in a fast-paced fairly intelligent Britcom, is set on the Costa Del Sol in Southern Spain. The film is rather short, but it adds up to a decent, light evening's entertainment, with some decent comedic high spots. A number of familiar & skilled character actors pop up during the film and Rik Mayall & Eddie Webber were good to watch in their respective roles as a slimy estate agent and timeshare victim. It will come as no surprise that both Tom Bell & Mike Reid were perfectly cast as aging gangsters. SPECIAL FEATURES: Behind the scenes, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, Making Of, Scene Access,

Maedchen in Uniform [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Germany ]

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Adorable

Maedchen in Uniform [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Germany ]
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ProductGroup: DVD
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Germany released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o Dutch (subtitles) o English (subtitles) o German (subtitles) o German (Mono) Synopsis: After the death of her parents young girl Manuela von Meinhardis is sent to a boarding school where Prussian drill rules the education. Desperately seeking love and warmth in Manuela's heart special emotions for the only human lady teacher, Fraeulein von Bernburg, start growing. Manuela falls in love with her. It's just a matter of time until that forbidden love becomes known what immediatly leads to desaster. Though Elisabeth von Bernburg has never returned the love she is forced to leave the school; Manuela gets a severe punishment, like someone who has committed a crime. Special Features: o Biographies o Cast/Crew Interview(s) o Filmographies o Interactive Menu o Photo Gallery o Scene Access o Trailer(s)

Customer Reviews:

Adorable .......2006-12-29

Germany around 1910. After the death of her mother the young girl Manuela von Meinhardis (Romy Schneider) has to enter a boarding school for aristocratic women, whose headmistress believes in strict Prussian education. Manuela as well as some of the other young students adores the rather young and (for this time) unconventional governess Fräulein von Bernburg (Lilli Palmer), who tries to see the students as individuals. This believe goes straight against the education represented in this boarding school and sure there are big arguments between her and the headmistress.

Manuela finally admits her love to Fräulein von Bernburg after a theatre performance and under the influence of way too much alcohol. This leads to a big scandal which forces Manuela into isolation and the feeling of being abandoned from her teacher, finally resulting into a suicide attempt. Her classmates are able to save her just in time and the headmistress begins to understand that her lack of comprehension and her cruelty nearly resulted in the death of one of her students. Fräulein von Bernburg is asked to stay in the school, but she denies in favour of Manuela, feeling that Manuela needs to find her own way in life and that she would be a handicap for this.

The book on which the movie is based ends entirely different: Manuela succeeds in her suicide attempt. Author Christa Winsloe (who had to leave Germany in 1933) wanted to show the destruction of Manuela.

However, the film adaptation with Romy Schneider is brilliant and was a scandal in 1958, showing only one kiss between teacher and student, but one too much. And what a kiss... remember we are talking about Germany around 1910.

Therese Giehse (playing the headmistress) is outstanding and was a famous German character actor of her time. Romy Schneider and Lilli Palmer were some of the few international stars of Germany theatre and the other cast is just as good. But is sure is an older movie and some scenes are a bit corny today.

Being a German I always have to smile listening to the educational believes and statements in this movie. But I know that this kind of Prussian education was a real thing way back in Germany and that makes it really interesting and depressing at the same time.

This is actually one of my favourite movies and I was more than happy to buy it on DVD.

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 7, Episodes 14 & 15: The Galileo Seven/ Court-Martial

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The burdens of command
Two of the Better Episodes From Season One!
Galileo 7-Does Man Need his Emotions?
Below average, by season one's standards
"Books young man, books!"

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 7, Episodes 14 & 15: The Galileo Seven/ Court-Martial
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ASIN: 6305744858
Release Date: 2000-02-22

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Volume 7 in this excellent DVD series of original Star Trek programs includes "The Galileo Seven," which teleplay writer Oliver Crawford says was inspired by his viewing of a 1939 film called Five Came Back. (A catty footnote: David Gerrold, scribe of the famous "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode, called "The Galileo Seven" a rip-off of the Jimmy Stewart film The Flight of the Phoenix. Meow.) Five Came Back concerned a plane crash in the Andes and the survivors who faced the constant threat of surrounding headhunters. Crawford toyed with the idea and came up with a story line in which Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and a couple of other crew members crash on the surface of a hostile planet during a shuttle mission. With communication between the small craft and the Enterprise disrupted by quasar activity, Spock and the others must defend themselves against a formidable threat with only primitive, handmade weapons. That's the scenario, but the real drama is in the rising conflict between the half-Vulcan Spock's coldly logical approach to survival and the passions of his human crew, who soon come to regard him as a hateful, unfeeling monster. This is an interesting episode, both as a taut action piece and, somewhat indirectly, as a portrait of intolerance (specifically, an intolerance of individual differences) developing under stress.

Also on this disc is "Court Martial," a courtroom drama in which Captain Kirk (William Shatner) stands trial for negligence in the death of an Enterprise crewman. As the proceedings rumble on, Spock investigates some hidden truths about the dead man and the apparent computer malfunction that led to the tragedy. While "Court Martial" is a lesser episode from the Star Trek canon (the action is a bit mired in trial proceedings), it's still a lot of fun and features a supporting role from veteran Hollywood character actor Elisha Cook Jr. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

The burdens of command.......2006-10-08

These two episodes deal with the responsibilities of being in command.

In "The Galileo Seven," Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is in command of a shuttlecraft that crash lands on a planet inhabited by hostile, primitive giants. His logical approach clashes with the emotional reactions of McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and other crewmembers and handicaps his ability to predict the actions of beings that possess no logic. The emotion vs. logic dynamic may be a bit heavy-handed here (I felt that the humans were pretty hard on poor Spock, not that he would care), but it cetainly sets up some powerful character conflicts. Spock must trust his command decisions in the face of nearly unanimous disapproval. Interestingly, Scotty seems to have no problem with Spock's "cold" methods, maybe because he's too busy trying to repair the shuttlecraft.

In "Court-Martial," Kirk (William Shatner) is accused of murdering a crewmember with whom he had a strained relationship. Veteran character actor Elisha Cook, Jr. gives a strong performance as defending attorney Samuel Cogley. Presented with damning evidence, Kirk, too, must preserve confidence in his command abilities. By the way, this episode features one of my favorite technobabble glitches, when Spock says that the Enterprise computer is capable of amplifying sound to the magnitude of "one to the fourth power." Since 1x1x1x1=1, wouldn't that mean that the sound was not amplified at all?

Two fun episodes.

Two of the Better Episodes From Season One!.......2006-07-03

These are two of the better and my favourite episodes from the first season. In the first episode, we get to see Spock in his first command of the doomed shuttlecraft which lands on a planet populated by giant cavemen! Having lost 2 crewman to these creatures, the rest of the crew grow impatient at Spock's lack of sympathy and emotion and rebel at his incessant logic. Still, the good finale shows Spock surprising us with his actions and still winning the day in what eventually becomes a very successful first stint in charge.

In the second episode, Kirk gets courtmartialed in what can be described as Perry Mason in space! I won't spoil the ending for you but I can tell you that this story is a great piece of detective storytelling and is a must-see episode.

If you are picking and choosing the volumes to keep, this is a keeper as they rank among the best episodes of the first season. Recommended.

Galileo 7-Does Man Need his Emotions?.......2005-06-07

The original Star Trek series came out in the 1960's at a time when the worst horrors of the 20th century were still fresh in everyone's minds-two world wars, the Holocaust, the millions who perished in the Gulag's of the USSR, China and other Communist countries culminating in the omnipresent threat of the total annihilation of humanity by nuclear weapons. The writers of the series decided to make a statement of how possibly to cope with these things by creating the character of Mr Spock who comes from a race which decided to eliminate all emotion and to live only by "logic" and "reason". However, the question is always hovering over Spock as to whether this is really possible, i.e. can man really change his nature. Spock's friendly adversary, Dr McCoy does not believe this is possible and in the "Galileo 7" both men are put in a crisis situation where Spock is finally given command and he can now put his theories on human perfection to use. This show has all the elements of Star Trek at its finest: life or death drama, fear of the unknown, military command decisions, loyalty of friends to each other, interference from superior authorities and others. The script and acting are splendid and the first-time viewer will be riveted to his TV screen. This proves that a good story and fine actors can make a great production even with low-budget sets (something the later versions of ST forget).
I would also recomment "Journer to Babel" an another excellent epidsode that deals with the Vulcun/Human encounter.

Below average, by season one's standards.......2003-09-09

The Galileo Seven-This episode, in which a shuttlecraft is forced to land on a planet with giant bear/ape-like creatures, was an average offering by first season standards. The episode has sufficient action, and explores the circumstances under which even otherwise well-behaved crews may be led to (?) mutiny. As others have noted, this episode, one of the few in which Kirk has a secondary role, was seminal to Spock's development. Unfortunately, the logic vs. emotion arguments are overdone, to the extent that they-and the participants-become somewhat tedious. The creatures also looked pretty silly, but as I've said before I try not to hold Star Trek to a high standard when it comes to such things; the effects weren't bad enough to totally compromise the `primal fear' element so central to this (and few other) episodes. (3 stars)

Court Martial-This courtroom whodunit, featuring Kirk in the hot seat, is a slightly below average episode. As in virtually every courtroom drama ever put to screen, the trial scenes drag. But this whole episode, quite frankly, is dull. Shatner definitely gets up for his "request it?..I demand it!" line, but somehow this episode just feels flat, despite the strong performance by Elisha Cook Jr. as an eccentric lawyer. It doesn't help that the finale's bombshell, pulled somewhat out of left field, just isn't explosive. Themes explored here, including the importance of 1) presumption of innocence, and 2) recognizing the fallibility of machines, would be better explored in other episodes. (2.5 stars)

"Books young man, books!".......2003-08-02

Despite what is a goofy, techno-babble ending for "The Court Martial", this episode is one of my favorites for that most wonderful of Star Trek quotes, applicable in 1966 and applicable even moreso in 2003:

(Elisha Cook Jr speaking to Shatner, refering to a computer terminal's sterility over the stacks of books apparent in the scene)

"Books, young man, books. Thousands of them. If time wasn't so important, I'd show you something-- my library. Thousands of books. ... This is where the law is, not in that homogenized, pasteurized, synthesized--Do you want to know the law,
the ancient concepts in their own language, Learn the intent of the men who wrote them, from Moses to the tribunal of Alpha 3?
Books."

By golly if this line isn't worth every deus ex machina and boring, ignorant techno-babble, I do not know what is. It is one of the great lines ever made by Hollywood. More than that, it inspired "My own library. Books. Thousands of them!" And I can't think of a greater gift from Star Trek to my life.

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