Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

It pains me to write this, because this series is my all-time favorite television production and I've been awaiting its arrival on the format since its inception, but the Blu-ray/streaming debut of FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON is mind-numbingly bad. The classic model and original CGI visual effects work - which were nominated for an Emmy - have been replaced with outsourced CGI that looks like something out of a direct-to-video kids movie. The Earth shots look like 2D paintings and the moonscapes resemble PlayStation 1 graphics. The CGI spacecrafts have little to no motion blur either, which makes the movement look incredibly hokey. This was done because the original CGI shots from 1997/1998 were rendered in 480p for standard definition televisions. However, instead of simply upconverting these scenes to a respectable 1080p, they were replaced wholesale. Also, this upconverting would have been 100% possible - the S-IVB shot from Episode 4 was recently upconverted to HD and used in the theatrical trailer for PIXELS and looked great. You can see it on YouTube. What were are now left with are Sharknado-quality graphics. Parachutes look like they're made of Laffy Taffy, rocket exhaust looks like butane lighters/Christmas light bulbs, launchpad smoke looks like cotton balls, and wires hooked to spacecraft look like spaghetti. Even stranger, some shots that were created entirely in-camera - such as Armstrong and Aldrin opening the hatch on the LEM after landing - have been replaced by this low-rent CGI, despite already being HD, having been filmed in 35mm. Certain musical cues are strangely missing, as well - the version of the FIREBALL XL5 theme song that opens Episode 5 has been inexplicably replaced with a cover. Also, for all the talk HBO gave about using "reference models from NASA" for these new VFX shots, nearly every vehicle shown has a major error. Shepard's Freedom 7 capsule design is from an un-flown model, the hatch on the LEM is now comically wide with the LEM itself shown in a weird matte beige color instead of metallic silver, in one scene the LEM "porch" and ladder is shown on the REAR leg, black stripes are missing the from Saturn IV-B rocket, and the command module is shown missing its boost protection cover - yet retaining the launch escape tower (think the 1/48 scale Revell model kits from 1967) during the Apollo 8 lift-off scene - which is inaccurately shown taking place at dusk. All of the wonderful, hand-built miniature models and sets - GONE. This was also hastily done, as several scenes feature the first second or two of the original special effects models before the new CGI is faded in digitally. Adding insult to injury, the myriad archival footage from NASA that is often used for B-roll or launch scenes is so washed out and murky from close-cropping and an over-abundance of digital noise removal that it appears to be sourced from 7th generation VHS-quality reference files - if not analog tapes themselves. Considering so much of this footage is now widely available in HD thanks to the efforts of people like Mark Gray from Spacecraft Films and others, it's very frustrating to see such important footage context-wise being treated as little more than an afterthought by the restoration team. In addition, the "restoration" of the 35mm film elements has been handled very poorly. The color correction is over-saturated, with "Mare Tranquillitatis" and "For Miles and Miles" suffering the most. The faces in Mission Control and inside the spacecraft are literally orange or yellow, with no pink/red hues to speak of. Everyone looks like they've been spray-tanned. I tried viewing these scenes under every single color setting my 4K TV has to offer, and tried watching it on two other televisions in my home, and nothing alleviated the issue. Also knowing that the original FX artists were never told that their shots - which they worked for over a year on and received an Emmy nomination for - were being replaced and their names were being removed from the credits adds an extra element of cynicism for me. This whole thing just screams "cheap cash-grab" on HBO's behalf. The release is also bare bones, special features-wise. The only two features are an 11-minute video where the restoration team gives themselves a pat on the back for doing a subpar job, and the original 30-minute making-of special from 1998 that has been on every digital release since, not to mention YouTube. No commentaries. None of the original special effects featurettes, nothing on the iconic score created by some of television and cinema's most respected talents. No retrospective from the cast. No production/promotional photo gallery. No TV spots/trailers. Nothing. HBO should have just upconverted the original 480p FX shots and focused on making the other 35mm film elements look their best. Now we have a "Jar Jar" version of TV's finest miniseries, and with HBO assuming most people won't care - and even if they did, the show isn't a big enough money-generator - we likely will never see a later release that fixes these issues. Keep your DVDs from 2005 - HBO should have never touched this. Now I see why Tom Hanks has done zero press for this re-release, and the rest of the Imagine Entertainment team behind it have been silent in the months leading up this highly-anticipated release and haven't said a word since. Even worse, HBO seems to have been aware that they were putting out an inferior release, as several prominent Blu-ray reviewers have gone public, noting that HBO did not send them an advance copy, as they had done before with previous HBO releases. I love this series and I wanted to love this 2019 release - but it just fails in every aspect for me. If the things I mentioned above aren't deal-breakers for you, by all means, buy it - but if you want a faithful representation of the series as it aired (minus the aspect ratio change), just buy the 2005 Signature Edition and watch it on a 4K TV with an upconverting player. That experience should be pretty close to what this release should have been.