A Brief History of Time (1991)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The juxtaposition of Hawking's physical deterioration & his growing intellect is what makes him such a captivating figure. This is curiously beautiful documentary uses tiny cinematography choices, subtle movements, & unique angles to capture how Hawking saw time & space: with curiosity & beauty. Yes, it's a bit dry, but not nearly as dry as it could've been thanks to some stellar direction & editing. The way he describes the experience of death by black hole makes me wish that is the way he could've gone. RIP.

Sadly I only found this excellent film when transferring a well used VHS copy to DVD for another university lecturer who uses it in her classes - it's tragic that it's only currently available in PAL format abroad, since this well packed 80 minutes is one of the best layman's summations of Hawking's theories (more thoroughly and eminently "readably" gone into in Hawking's book of the same name) together with as nice a companion biography of the man that I can imagine. By leading us through the chronology and the process Hawking went through in arriving at his conclusions, we not only find them but the admirable man himself and the family which he came from far more comprehensible.This should be aired at least once a year on cable channels as an example - along side Ken Burns admirable work with figures of the past - of how enthralling a documentary on a living subject can be, and be available on a reissued DVD for every college library in the country. Why only 9 our of 10? I wish the film itself were longer and the "Woody Allenish" type on the year cards which index the milestones in Hawking's life and thought were a bit bigger - but these are mere quibbles. The film is both emotionally warm and intellectually wonderful. See it if you can.

A brief history of time. The cosmological content of this documentary is fascinating, the thoughts provoking and the man... brilliant. Yet I had a hard time enjoying this documentary. The way the family members and professors are interviewed feels so unnatural. These members were interviewed on specifically built sets and were directed uncomfortably. Mostly, their accounts came across as very acted and forcefully directed. The (deliberate) non-inclusion of asked questions manipulates the given information into a very harsh and impersonal format. I do not know who are responsibly for the interviewing but they did a dreadful job and with that took away from the viewing experience.Overall still a fascinating documentary well worth seeing, if only for the interesting concepts presented.

As a physicist, talk about blackholes and cosmology gets my heart racing. However I found this presentation too slow and not packed with enough information for the interested layman (who is most likely to see it). If you have more than a passing curiosity in this sort of stuff, go to the library and check out some books. You will find they explain current scientific cosmologies with far more detail while at the same time filling you with more of a sense of wonder than this movie does. Also to set the record straight: Hawking is NOT considered the "greatest mind" or the world's "smartest person" as commonly asserted even among the user reviews here at the IMDb. Hawking himself has commented that "It is rubbish. It is just media hype. They needed somebody to fill the role model of disabled genius. At least I'm disabled." To be fair, he is probably a genius but among history's greatest scientists, people like Einstein, Newton, Gauss, and many others easily are even more highly regarded. This is not to disrespect Hawking who is a undoubtedly a great scientist but rather not to disrespect others who have done even more than he has. Anyhow, see the movie if you are truly into science. But if not, I think it would be boring for you.