Yeah the narration can be annoying but if you're a skydiving or space nerd, you'll enjoy this one. Focused on the logistics of making his suit and air transport, it's not so deep that everyone can't be interested. Great scenery as well.
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lisadanger26 February 2019
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ferguson-612 November 2016Greetings again from the darkness. The audience for this documentary is probably every after-school Science club, although most anyone with a sense of wonder will find it interesting enough. Four directors (Jerry Kobler, Adam "Tex" Davis, Trey Nelson, Erich Sturm) combine to present visual proof of a middle-aged Google executive reaching for the stars or more accurately, pursuing his dream of free-falling from the stratosphere.
The film begins with an introductory and basic overview of the stratosphere being one of five layers to Earth's atmosphere – and the most difficult to access and study. Tribute is paid to Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian skydiver, who in 2012 set the exit altitude record for his jump from the stratosphere. It's at this point we are introduced to Alan Eustace, the Google executive who wishes to go higher/fall farther than Baumgartner For the next couple of years, Eustace and his team of brainiacs discuss, draw, develop, calculate, re-calculate and test their many theories and concepts on how to bring the project to life. To paraphrase Matt Damon's character in The Martian, they science and technology the sh## of out of this.
Developing a space suit, a specialized parachute, a balloon the size of a football stadium, and the necessary equipment to take Eustace up and get him back is actually a pretty fascinating project to follow especially the errors and mistakes. The human element is never far away, and just to make sure we know that, Eustace's wife makes a couple of appearances.
When you or I catch a flight from Chicago O'Hare to LAX, our plane's altitude probably reaches about 35,000 feet. Imagine going up another 100,000 feet (almost 25 miles above Earth's surface) and then being dropped with an experimental parachute now you understand the Eustace dream.
As interesting as the details are, it's unfortunate there isn't more of a scientific discovery aspect to the project and the story. It's mostly just some rich Google dude pursuing a hobby that you and I would never consider. As viewers, we are rewarded with some spectacular and rare photographic evidence of the mission, and a part of our atmosphere that we wouldn't ordinarily see. One of the quotes about Eustace is his commitment to the Google way "We believe in the impossible". So it's refreshing to know that in this day and age, there are still pioneers and risk-takers, and the technology exists to record it all. -
muamba_eats_toast17 May 2019So the narrator was really annoying and at times it dragged but it also blows your mind at times and the final jump footage was insane and definitely worth watching even if you skip the rest. Overall a reasonable watch.
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I don't think anyone would really believe a documentary would be released of a failure, or of the main character dying, so the cliffhanger moments are really overdone. And as has been noted by other reviewers: the science we're promised at the beginning is entirely missing. What really grated on my sense of reality was calling him their "pilot" - he had no more control than Abraham Lincoln would, if they had dropped a penny from that height, so he wasn't piloting anything. But if you can get past all that, it's actually an interesting story about a lot of money being spent to seriously risk a man's life just to break someone else's useless record. No mention at all is made of the ONE guy who originally did this for actual science - Colonel Joe Kittinger.
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tj_roberts17 February 2019What a bunch of cowboys. God help us if this is how Google develop and deploy engineering solutions. I guess the cost of stuffing up a code deployment is lower than killing a man. Glad Google haven't decided to enter the space race. 😀 That said it's entertaining viewing!
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flyingdals23 April 2017The movie begins with a description of the stratosphere and how little we know about it, in addition to how critical it is - then we get into the story of trying to raise a human to the stratosphere so he can fall through it. If the idea is to collect data on the stratosphere, I believe developing a drone that could remain in position for more than a few minutes would be much more productive. This movie with the pictures of his kids, the interview with his wife and co-workers at Google, all seemed staged to be nothing more than stroking this guy's ego. I just don't see how falling through the stratosphere (which has been done approximately 60 years ago), is going to give you enough data worth the time and expense. The movie was just a PR stunt, why else would you film it? It's like bad reality television.
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ashleygouldas1 July 2016It made me feel like I was there. To go to the edge of space take courage and the lack of fear of death. So the best thing I can say about this film was that I'm afraid of heights and this film made me close my eyes. The imagery was beautiful and the overall production value was theater quality. The music was OK, but could have been better. Basically it distracted me from the experience. This is a lot since it was shot at such a low budget. So if you get a chance you should defiantly check it out.
Again for those of us who will never skydive this movie takes you beyond being just a spectator, to feeling like you are actually there. Also the the message of the movie is never give up on your dreams and they may come true. So for me this movie hit home as an aspiring filmmaker. I only hope that one day I will be able to accomplish something so spectacular. Again great movie! -
Ben-336 June 2021An extremely rich Google exec with the personality of a sack of potatoes pays a load of engineering clowns in a vanity project. My 12 year old asked if the film had been made by Google because it seems like an infomercial.
The ONLY thing that takes this from a 1/10 to a 2/10 is the hilarious incompetence of the engineers. My daughter and I were in fits of laughter watching one disaster after another. They made the rip cord too long so he couldn't actually deploy his parachute. They only worked this out during the first jump. One of the support crew had to sweep in and pull it for him. Then they found out that the steering toggles weee too short and he couldn't reach them! He just drifted away. They'd broken off the gps antenna on the way out of the plane (the door of which was too small!) so the couldn't find him in the desert. Oh perhaps someone should have thought about having a helicopter available to find the guy.
Then there are the landings. He basically just hits the deck each time. Hilarious. We played one of them 8 times ove. What a hoot.
Oh and the part where the engineer literally exploded the balloon before takeoff. Comedy gold.
At the end of the whole thing the journalist asked him what it was like to be in the stratosphere. He literally used the words "cool" and awesome. I think there was a "nice" in there also. What a true poet. -
AudioFileZ24 February 2019I do not get the negative reviews other than this is a serious risk to a man's life so the benefits should far exceed any records. Perhaps the benefits are not worth this particular mission to most folks. Getting beyond that this is the same "go where no man has before" ethos that drives us to progress in all of human achievement. Being an engineer Alan Eustace felt this project was doable with technologies that exist. He was in a position professionally to pitch his idea, get backing, and assemble a group of highly skilled professionals to make it happen. You just get the feeling it would have never happened without Alan because we were never told that a backup "pilot" existed. I think that tells so much of the danger involved which the film doesn't skirt. I often felt edgy watching the team and Alan go through the tests leading up to the ultimate journey. One reviewer put down Google's involvement as a bunch of cowboys as if this was a crazy idea hobbled together on a dime store budget and mentality. I can't see that. I'm sure Google was the deep pocket, but the bulk of the scientific team had nothing to do with Google instead being experts who had mostly worked as contractors variously with NASA. No matter if the risk can be justified for scientific gain or not it's a huge achievement with a very driven and brave man who is disarmingly normal in many ways. I think it's a fine film of a technological and human feat which was professionally done in the private sector. I think this is a harbinger of future space science and travel to adding to the accomplishments of SpaceX and the others taking charge in the field. A very worthwhile watch for anyone interesting in human exploration.
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rob-0536115 February 2019I couldn't get through the first 15 minutes because the narrator was so atrocious. I think the Google Assistant sounds better narrating this movie than the guy narrating the movie. That and it was poorly written my high school teenager could have written a better script no waste your time
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davincisdayjob11 December 2021Unfortunately, engineering has become some math cult you have to suffer through. Frying your brain to memorize formulas that a smart engineer would simply design a program for. Now you have a bunch of "certified" engineers who have lost grasp with common sense. Sending this guy 20 miles in the air and don't even have the most basic procedure solidified.
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Rip_Ekstract11 October 2020The documentary is more of a corporate video made by the HR department of Google than an inspirational guide into parts unknown.
There is a reason why no one reported on this event... because is wasn't an event. Why? When a physical feat is safe enough for an awkward nerd to do, it is not a physical feat to aspire to any more.
Much like any 'trend', the pioneers set the initial benchmark that everyone looks up to. Eventually, the nervous and socially awkward 'laggards' catch on after everyone else has contributed to the initial 'cool' factor of whatever the trend is before them.
This is how all fashions, trends, styles and other aspirational things die. Thanks Alan Eustace for killing another. Let's call it 'The Eustace Moment'. That time when something cool tips into uncool and everyone loses interest because the person doing it is someone no one wants to be. Bell bottoms, disco, space jumping. -
name99-92-54538919 September 2021In principle this should have been a stellar movie. The story is interesting, the visuals frequently dramatic, and there are lots of details that can be explained to appeal to the likely audience.
Unfortunately the writer/directors seemed to think they were creating a piece of Reality TV. The entire movie is paced and narrated in Reality TV style -- narrator says something, then the even happens and participants say the exact same thing, then five minutes later narrator repeats the thing. The audience are treated as morons who can't remember anything for longer than 30 seconds, and who need even the most trivial issues explained to them.
And so rather than a serous, technical documentary that would have a natural audience, we have this nonsense which will appeal to no-one. Engineers watching it will lose patience within 20 minutes, those uninterested in engineering would rather be watching the Real Housewives of Silicon Valley.
The obvious comparison is to the Red Bull Stratos movie, Mission to the Edge of Space. Regardless of the differences in engineering approach, the latter is a vastly superior movie because the creators know and respect their audience. -
thomasgabs14 March 2019SOOOOO melodramatic and at a lot of times completely vacant of anything of substance. Really cringey.