Ascension (2014 TV Mini-Series/Lionsgate DVD)

Picture: B+ Sound: B Extras: C Episodes: B-

Ascension is a very interesting mini-series that is inspired by Project Orion, which thrived during John F. Kennedy's presidency. In this science fiction TV mini-series, the U.S. government launches a covert space mission that sends hundreds of men, women, and children on a 100-year journey aboard the starship Ascension to make a new world.

It takes place in an alternate reality where the United States government's fears of the Cold War and the space race to another level and combine the two by launching an interstellar spacecraft (The Orion-class USS Ascension) towards a planet they believe is capable of creating a new inhabitable Earth.

Ascension is a mini-series that blends science-fiction and political drama into an interstellar conspiracy journey. It is very amusing to see the idea of two huge situations in the United States history, that being "The Space Race" and The Cold War, combining into one solution. However, it seems to get a little rough and uses shaky logic as you get further in to this piece.

Ascension is surprisingly compressed down to a single disc, but the quality does not really suffer much. It is presented in standard definition with a 1.77:1 frame and 16x9 enhanced transfer. It gives a nice palette of colors and remains sharp. It has a nice look in this sci-fi.

The audio is presented in a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track, which provides a strong surround sound stage with the effects and elements involved in this science fiction mini-series.

The bonus features on Ascension include, Ascension: A Behind the Scenes Look, which covers different elements following the press-kit and interviews with the cast and crew.

There is also a digital copy included with the disc.

- Jordan Whiteko