Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine 2023 Movie Review
Everything comes to an end, as does the Netflix documentary series Unknown , which is finished after four episodes, at least for the time being. The respective teams took us on a not always convincing, but overall not uninteresting and varied journey through different areas of science. After The Forgotten Pyramid revolved around the search for ancient Egypt, killer robots took on the opportunities and dangers of artificial intelligence. In the third part The Bone Cavityit was time for another journey into the distant past, when we walked in the footsteps of a hitherto unknown species of people who lived 300,000 years ago. And the fourth and last part, The Cosmic Time Machine, is also about life that is still unknown. With the difference that this is sought in the vastness of space.
Anyone who fears it could be one of those pseudo-documentary productions that want to sell fantasies and conspiracy theories as science – the topic of extraterrestrials is predestined for something like that – can rest easy. That’s not what this is about. Instead, the film is about the James Webb Space Telescope , which was launched in late 2021 to search for answers. The search for possible life on distant planets is not the only thing on the agenda. Rather, one hopes to find out more about space in general. It’s about the very basics, such as clues about what happened after the Big Bang. The title Unknown: The Cosmic Time Machine does not refer to a journey through time, as known from science fiction films, but to insights into the beginnings of all being.
It’s definitely exciting, and it’s also a triumph of science – around a quarter of a century was spent working on the telescope, which is intended to inherit the legendary Hubble space telescope, among other things. However, not much has jumped out since then: the mission, which was planned to last five to ten years, was still in its infancy at the time the documentary was shot. Anyone hoping for breathtaking new discoveries from Unknown: The Cosmic Time Machine should rather lower their expectations right away. As with the other episodes, the marketing department talked a little bit full. Some might end up being a bit disappointed if you get the feeling that you’ve only seen a kind of prologue here.
In more detail, we learn more about the development of the telescope, about the people who are involved with it and what the goals of the project are. Everything then tends to remain on the surface, since the target group is laypeople. In addition, the running time of one hour, as with killer robots , is too short to really deepen the topic. There aren’t more than a few catchphrases to give the audience at least an idea of what it’s all about. This then also makes you want more, both for potential discoveries of the telescope, but also for astronomy in general. In this respect, Unknown serves : The cosmic time machine So already expanding horizons and is a worthwhile new addition to the Netflix catalogue. Just don’t expect big answers.
The fourth part of the documentary series “Unknown” also has an interesting topic when it comes to the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope and astronomy in general. Just don’t expect any bigger answers, the film, which is almost an hour long, is nothing more than a prologue for the young mission.
