BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

dallasryan Particle Fever is an interesting watch in showing what we believe we can prove, what we have proven (or believe we have), what will be disproven (and/or what we believe will be disproven) and everything else in between. Particle Fever proves there is never a solid answer to any of it, and even when the scientists believe they have found the 'God' Particle other scientists will argue that they didn't (outside of the documentary). The real question is not 'What can be proven?', but the real question is 'Can you disprove it?' A documentary worth watching for the debate and concepts

andrew-herbst This documentary spans several years leading up to the apparent detection of the Higgs particle in 2013. We get a fair bit of insight from several theoreticians and experimental scientists. The complexity of CERN's large hadron collider is part of the story - debugging, repairing, testing, etc. Not a small part of the story either.Behind it all is the quest for the elusive Higgs particle. I thought that the movie makers have done a pretty good job of explaining the theory of what the particle is, how it fits into the "Standard Model", and how the experimentalists expect to find with their incredibly large and complex equipment. It helps to watch it on DVD because you may want to back-up in few places for better comprehension. Also, several graphics are quite well done and help illustrate the complex theory. I have a much better understanding of the standard model from having paused DVD player and studied one of the graphics in particular.So their is some technical content to be sure, but even to a layman like myself, it rarely came across as "mumbo-jumbo".

atlasmb This is not an educational film designed for physicists. Those who say the film is light on science should look to its title: "Particle Fever". What does "fever" refer to? Unbridled emotions--from joy to fear--that accompanied scientists' anticipation of an historic event: the operation of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in Meyrin, Switzerland.The film explains how the theoretical basis for the CERN experiments dates back decades. Entire scientific careers have focused on theories that might be perfected or destroyed with data from the LHC.Before I started watching this documentary, I decided that I was looking for clarity regarding the physics behind this endeavor. And I was hoping that the film would be engaging. The film is a success on both points. As a layperson, I could never hope to understand the mathematics of theoretic physics or the mechanics of experimental physics, but this film provides the basics for understanding the issues at play and their magnitude. Using a few "actors" to speak to the camera, especially those with overt enthusiasm and those who have invested their lifetimes in this arena of scientific thought, helped me feel their "fever" and understand the stakes.For the most part, this film is presented chronologically, beginning in 2007 as the LHC becomes operational. History and theory are interspersed throughout the film.The most anticipated results of the LHC data pertained to the Higgs boson, a theoretical particle critical to modern particle theory. Much of the drama, at least for those unfamiliar with the data CERN has provided over the years, concerns this particle.This film also shows the relationship of the scientific community with media, which sometimes has the power to excite popular opinion for better or worse. Information presented about a CERN-like project in Texas illustrates that politics play its part, often controlling the purse strings.On the downside, I found some of the universe theory to be anthropocentric and even anthropomorphic. Also, when Nima A. says it is "incredible" that the laws of nature are understandable via math, I understand what he means, but I wonder if there are other "maths" unavailable to us that could explain those laws of nature that are imperceivable by man. We can know but a small part of the multiverse. This is something astronomers have already accepted.

eyal philippsborn If there's one thing I learned at particle fever, it's probably the fact that Phyiscs is not what I learned in high school. The Physics I studied (and failed miserably) was the calculator of light rays and gravity forces. The real Physics, the one some people choose as their livelihood is, quite literally, a universe away. Some might say multi-verse away. But I'm jumping ahead of myself. The focus of the movie- the Hydron collider in Switzerland is a project according to all projections, should never have materialized. Its costs sky-rocketed to five billion pounds, it took almost twenty years to build and a few more years to overcome glitches (and when you build a seven mile long tunnel to run beams in the speed off light, glitches are inevitable) and it's functional and commercial uses are, as of today, non-existent. It's hard to persuade people to allocate money and time just to get a replay of the big bang. Alas, it's not the Hedron's goal.I'm still jumping ahead.Physics is the most pretentious of scientific fields. Its purpose is to compose the great manual of the universe. A tough assignment considering no one knows how it works, how long it will work or if it was intentionally premeditated to work. CERN, The ultimate place of worship for all physicists, takes the wild theories of the universe and with high powered, heavily documented and shockingly susceptible device, puts them to the test. The one test that CERN failed to anticipate is the test of the real world. When one operate a gigantic, costly collider, you need press coverage, in order to do that, CERN must provide insights. Keeping the experiments clandestine, isolate CERN from the media, making them public, lead to rushed tests that more often than not, fail and alienate the press even more. Apparently, the world outside the Hedron collider is as vicious as the Collider itself.Of course, the Hedron collider overcame all its initial difficulties and supplied the world with shocking insights that leave many questions unanswered. One that, in my opinion, looms over all the rest, is whether or not this manual of the universe was authored or generated by circumstances. In other words, is there a big guy upstairs or is this universe one big exercise in probability. This movie makes you think. beyond the colorful and diverse types of physicists, it projects an image of the universe and forces us to redefine perspective. Now, that's quite an accomplishment for a modest documentary. Don't expect the movie to be easy. It's not for the Physics majors but it's also not digested to be user-friendly. Manuals never are. 8 out of 10 in my FilmOmeter