Particle Fever (2013) User Reviews

Short on the science; long on the human factors

[lotekguy-1 · 7/10 · 1 May 2014]

Although this is a documentary about the world's greatest scientific undertaking, there's no need for those who've abandoned hope of understanding physics or other advanced sciences to roll their eyes and move on. This one is less about the abstract principles and obscure questions motivating thousands of scientists and dozens of governments to collaborate on the massive European nuclear facility CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) than about the personal and human factors behind it.

The script offers some degree of Physics for Dummies (present company included), in trying to explain the basics of what we know about subatomic particles, and what proving there's such a thing as the Higgs boson could mean about the nature of existence. The so-called "God Particle" was posited as the reason atoms collect to form all matter, including life as we know it, in the universe. Supposedly, learning not only that it exists, but what it weighs could either support arguments for some sort of intelligent or symmetrical design, or a cosmic randomness that might pervade through innumerable parallel universes.

But before you doze off, remember this is mainly about the people behind the curtain. We learn about their dreams and motives. We even share in many of their lighter moments, along with the suspense of whether this massive undertaking would even work, what it would help us understand, and where any results might lead academic endeavors in multiple disciplines for generations to come. It's less scientifically informative, or slickly produced, than the new incarnation of Cosmos that's been running on several TV networks. But it's more intimate in showing relatable emotions among the brainiacs who've devoted years of their lives to this highly speculative venture.

Perhaps the best feature of the film is its clarity about the underlying difference between science and other human pursuits like religion or politics. Everyone at CERN was seeking objective, provable answers, even if they unraveled their own beliefs. And all were dedicated to the mission with absolutely no idea of what commercial uses, if any, their outcomes might engender. It's the purity of human curiosity at its finest. Learning for its own sake. No one at NASA expected the space race to leave us with Tang and other related products. Time will tell on the practical applications and cultural developments we'll receive from the labors of these scholars. For now, it's reassuring to know they've got a place to find the answers.

Meet the people who "found" the Higgs boson at CERN

[steven-leibson · 7/10 · 23 March 2014]

This is a documentary that physicists will love, as will others who really love science. It's the kind of film that carefully explains the difference between theoretical and experimental physicists. If that kind of distinction interests you, then you will like the film. A lot of physics jargon is tossed around in this film with no explanation so you need to bring a working knowledge of particle physics if you want to fully understand the discussions. If you don't know what a GeV is and that lack of knowledge is going to bother you, then you will not like this film. If you enjoy an explanation of the opposing physics theories of supersymmetry and the multiverse, then this is your film. Also, if math scares you, there are blackboards and whiteboards full of some of the hairiest equations you're likely to see. If you find such things frightening, just turn away.

However, if you'd like to meet people who have staked 10, 20, 30, even 40 years of their career on the moment when the ATLAS team finally announced "We've got it!", then this film is for you. This film paints an accurate though relatively lightweight picture of the years spent making the world's largest machine, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), operational and then confirming the existence of the Higgs boson 40 years after it was predicted in theory. It's exciting to see scores of smart people stretching their brains to the limit so that they can understand something truly fundamental about the universe.

Although billions of particles were smashed in the LHC experiments needed to confirm the Higgs, you will mostly see calm scenes of crops growing in the LHC's vicinity. There are no car chases or crashes, no battling giant robots, no aliens. There are just lots of smart people saying highly intelligent things, most of the time. When they drop into small talk or take time out to brew an espresso, it's actually jarring. (At least it was to me.) About the audience: There were about 40 people in the movie showing I attended on a Sunday afternoon. Every single one of them looked like they had an advanced degree in physics or some other hard science. Indeed, that's who this movie is made for.

Why we (should, perhaps) care

[paul2001sw-1 · 8/10 · 6 December 2014]

The Large Hadron Collider is a gigantic experimental apparatus, conceived in an attempt to discover the fundamental particles that make up the universe. This documentary about it is relatively light on the physics: in concentrates on the hopes of some of the scientists working on it, conveying their innate excitement for their subject rather than the technical details of how and why. But it does convey some of the reasons why this work is (at least theoretically) important: the Higgs Bosun, the previously elusive particle that was target number one for the LHC, is central to modern physical models of the universe; and moreover, determining its mass would help us choose between two broader theories: one is which the universe exists in a state of perfect symmetry, and the other in which it is just one of a huge array of universes, each with their own peculiar properties. And I think the documentary succeeds in inducing its audience to share these concerns. How this relates to the world as we perceive it on a daily basis is very unclear; but the urge to understand is something very fundamental in our humanity, and 'Particle Fever' conveys this well.

A little high on build up, but short on balanced presentation

[skalwani · 6/10 · 25 March 2014]

Since real science gets very little public exposure in any positive way, anticipation was high that this would help deliver that. While it made a credible attempt, I was rather disappointed at the lack of balanced credit. To the average public citizen it came across as largely the work of a few visionaries and one particular experiment - ATLAS. There were several others who did major yeoman like efforts and that is why I gave it only 6 stars. The human stories were particularly good, perseverance despite the adversity, it could have easily done it without the expletives as well. While it is a documentary and did a fantastic job of chronologically growing with the major real life characters, it failed to acknowledge numerous labs and institutions, along the way who were much more than mere influencers. But definitely worthwhile, hope the next generation of the story raises the bar.

Far better than Oscar material: Every student, whatever age, should watch this film

[richard-1967 · 10/10 · 22 February 2014]

This is one of the two or three best documentaries I've ever seen. We were so lucky to see an advance screening at our movie preview club.

It's hard to believe that a documentary about particle physics and the Hadron collider could be dramatic, suspenseful, even thrilling. It's just as hard to make the subject matter - the creation and operation of a huge facility in Switzerland for the purpose of colliding sub-atomic particles at great speed to search for clues about the universe - both intelligible and accessible. Yet this film has brilliantly done both.

Accessibility is achieved partly through clear explanations from particle physicist (and co-producer) David Kaplan and other theoretical physicists, and several experimental physicists who work at the collider. Even more compelling are the clear, beautiful, and simple-to-understand graphics that accompany these explanations. Indeed, the great graphics begin right from the opening credits. All this is enhanced by the editing of multi-Oscar-winner Walter Murch.

The drama comes from the efforts of the experimentalists to prove the theorists' ideas true - especially the existence of the "Higgs boson," the crucial particle of modern physics. The drama is enhanced by presenting a pleasant cast of surprisingly normal, friendly (and, of course, super-smart) physicists who have strong rooting interests in the outcome the way some of us might root for a sports team - but with so much more at stake. There's even tension (albeit friendly) between the "multi-universe" and "dual symmetry" camps.

Watch this film and you'll understand these phrases and so much more. I learned more than I ever thought I could. And in the most pleasant, enthusiastic, accessible way possible.

Lightweight but well-planned film

[ShiiStyle · 6/10 · 11 February 2014]

The main focus of this film is the interaction of scientists with the LHC and its data. Many shots are either banter in the CERN offices or YouTube-like video contributions from scientists themselves. Basically, it adds a human element to what you might read in the news. The engineering of the LHC is scarcely touched upon, and while the film (directed by a physicist) attempts to explain the consequences for particle physics, its dramatized overview is not really accurate; the viewer would be advised to read Lee Smolin's book "The Trouble With Physics". The substitution of pictures of difficult-looking math equations for real scientific exposition became irritating. Furthermore, while we see people interacting with each other in a superficial way, the film doesn't really dig into the culture of theoretical physics -- for example, I enjoyed a shot where physicists discuss how rumors are displacing older methods of data distribution like the arXiv, but the context of this discussion was not given and I worried most of the audience would not understand it.

I subtract four stars for lack of depth and would probably extract more, except that the screening I went to had an interview with the director afterwards, and I realized from him that it was quite difficult for this documentary to achieve what it did. The science the LHC produces comes in the form of millions of spreadsheets full of numbers, which must be analyzed by thousands of experimental physicists sitting at computers around the world. It is rather hard to make a long documentary film about people analyzing numbers on computers. The director made a number of clever stylistic decisions, like mainly interviewing people who were physically present at the CERN buildings, and separating the segments of experimental and theoretical physicists. To get theoretical physics onto the big screen in a thoughtful and entertaining way is really an accomplishment in itself. It was also pointed out that the documentary skillfully focused on a few likable subjects among many to give a hint of the vast size of the project. All in all, the film is a decent portrayal of the kind of willpower and teamwork that is needed on a project the size of the LHC, but don't go to it expecting to gain a very deep knowledge of today's physics or the scientific community.

An extremely well conceived, tight documentary on an exciting but challenging subject: the nature of human discovery

[bluefire-6 · 10/10 · 5 May 2014]

I generally evaluate films on their technical direction and production values, not necessarily their deep meanings -- because as a student of film and a video producer, I know how subjective those "deep-meaning" criteria can be.

I found this film to be an exciting, well-crafted, exceptionally well-edited and sound- designed production. No one in the audience seemed ready to drop off as is so often the case with documentary features. Instead, the director's timing was precise and the arc of the story very well formed. But there was much more happening in this movie below the surface.

The Hadron Collider is as one figure in the film indicated, the largest machine ever constructed by human beings ("machine" being meant as a mechanical unit, not a network like the Internet -- although even the Internet was essential to the successful use of the Collider, to distribute all of the data generated to various locations where it could be processed and analyzed). The drama of its conception was left a little vague, but from the time that construction began to the time it was used to look for the Higgs Boson, the characters involved are well portrayed and their motives thoroughly probed -- in an amazingly short time!

The physics behind the quest for the "God Particle" are not all that hard to understand and besides, the film does a great job of simplifying even further so that anyone with a basic high school education should be able to follow the story and its implications.

I particularly enjoyed the "main" characters, some of the key thinkers whose speculations as physics "theorists" fired the imagination of physics "experimentalists" who are driven to test the others' speculations. The give and take between the two communities gave the film its energy and tension. I hope there will be sequels following down the next round of experiments, to take place in Sweden, where an even bigger collider is being built -- and also the physicists, how their lives are turning based on the results gotten from this unique, massive exploration of the fundaments of existence itself.

PS PARTICLE FEVER is not all youthful, bubbly energy and joyful discovery. The stories of the older physicists, facing their retirement from the field possibly without ever finding elusive answers to questions they posed decades earlier in their lives, was real hankie material -- and for good reason. In the field of particle physics, like other achievement-driven/self-promotional professions, it's not how smart you are but when you're smart, if luck is on your side and you timely get noticed, validated, and lauded. Miss the mark, and you may be relegated to obsolescence even if your mind is still active and your ideas large. Fortunately in this case, most of those with long-ago aspirations have lived long enough to have their ideas tested and thus learn their truth.

Interesting how personal meaning and the meaning of the universe -- or multiverse, according to one theory tested by the Collider -- are so intertwined. And which really is the more important, a question about which there is no easy answer.

See this film, you will emerge glad for the experience, with big questions yet to be answered.

Good Film For Science Nerds

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 7 August 2014]

Physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time -- or perhaps their greatest failure.

As someone who is not a physicist (or even a scientist), but has an interest in physics, this film did a great job of laying out the before and after events of the Large Hadron Collider's search for the Higgs. Others may want more science in their science documentaries, but for a novice like myself, explaining the roles of experimentalists and theorists was very helpful.

Professor Peter Higgs makes a cameo, as he should, but it seems unfortunate he did not have a bigger role in this film. In an indirect way, he is sort of the subject, being one of the original minds that launched this search.

Engaging Documentary That Tells Us a Lot About the Ways in Which 'Science' is Viewed in Western Cultures

[l_rawjalaurence · 8/10 · 7 November 2014]

Superficially PARTICLE FEVER is a quest-narrative charting the search by a group of 4000 physicists at a variety of locations - Geneva, Princeton, Texas, for a particle that might provide the key to the way the universe works. There are several obstacles placed along the way, including an inconvenient breakdown of the machinery used to conduct the experiment, but the film ends on an optimistic note as the quest is concluded, and everyone celebrates through internet links.

Mark Levinson's film contains a fair amount of technical language spoken by a variety of interviewees, including physicists Martin Aleksa, Nima Arkani-Hamed, Savas Dimopoulos, and Fabiola Gianotti (among others). A lot of it is difficult, well nigh incomprehensible for nonspecialists to understand, but as the documentary unfolds, it soon becomes clear that the quest to prove the theories behind the particles is a peripheral element of the narrative. Levinson is far more interested in showing how the project involves representatives from different nations working together in a community of purpose - even those originating from countries (e.g. the United States, Iran and Iraq), which are supposedly at war with one another. The sight of them participating so enthusiastically offers a hope for the future; beneath the rhetoric expressed by politicians and warmongers there lurks a genuine desire for co-operation across cultures. Perhaps if more attention were paid to these initiatives, then the world might be a safer place.

More significantly, Levinson's film shows that the so-called "two cultures" theory espoused by C. P. Snow and other writers has been satisfactorily exploded. Snow insisted that the "arts" and the "sciences" could never work cohesively with one another: one was interested in "ideas," the other in "truths." PARTICLE FEVER begins by insisting that the scientists are pursuing universal "truths" that would help individuals understand the worlds they inhabit; but as the documentary unfolds, so several of the scientists admit that their conclusions will be tenuous at best, and always subject to renegotiation. Put another way, they admit that "truth" is a relative term, dependent on the context in which the term has been employed; this knowledge lies at the heart of all "artistic" endeavors as well. We understand that both communities are engaged in similar activities; the need to discover new things about the world we inhabit and share them with others. This is what drives new research, irrespective of whether it is in the "arts" or the "sciences."

Ultimately PARTICLE FEVER is an uplifting film that demonstrates the value of common research, and how it can be conducted across all platforms and all disciplines. Let us hope that the group of scientists have been inspired to continue their valuable work.

The Excitement of a Scientifically Historic Event

[atlasmb · 8/10 · 5 September 2014]

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.

Lack of science and pedestrian pacing...

[cmayerle-41064 · 3/10 · 25 June 2018]

There's a lot of talk about how important what they are doing and people congratulating each other, but they don't really explain much of anything. It's not for a lack of time as they spend too much time on long shots of the countryside or segues with meaningless background chatter. Why did they spend so much time on the kickoff party (complete with rapping physicists) when they could have delved into science a lot more? For a "science" documentary, they missed the audience.

If it was meant as a human interest story centered around David Kaplan, that failed too. The scientists they spend less time on come across as smart and likable. Not so much Kaplan who barely tries to explain the importance of CERN but wants funding but doesn't want to write grant applications because people just won't understand. So, after complaining that this research needs to be funded because it is so important, Kaplan immediately talks about how his mentor will only allow three co-researchers on any experiment because he couldn't win a Nobel Prize if there were more. This of course begs the question, if the research is so important, why are you limiting the number of people in hopes that you'll win a prize? If you're doing pure research, shouldn't your personnel decisions be based on doing research, not winning prizes?

Kaplan may be a very nice guy who isn't actually like this, but the clips the director shows come across that way. Overall, too little information for a science documentary and too boring for a human interest story.

Riveting documentary about knowing the greatest unknown there is

[eyal philippsborn · 8/10 · 11 July 2014]

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

Particle physics explained for the rest of us

[paul-allaer · 8/10 · 22 April 2014]

"Particle Fever" (2013 release; 99 min.) brings the story, spread over 5 years (2007-2012) of how the CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research, based in Geneva) is trying to decipher some of the biggest unresolved mysteries in physics, namely one particular particle, and how the composition of that particle may (or may not) explain some things about the universe (or is that multiverse?). The documentary opens with some background information on why this project, which started in the late 1980s with the construction of the super-collider, is happening in Europe, rather than the US. The, we get pretty much immersed into a crash course of experimental physics vs. theoretical physics, but to tell you much more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first and foremost, this movie is about physics, but you don't have to be a physicist to enjoy this movie! Okay, if you absolutely hate the mere idea of physics, then maybe you shouldn't invest an hour and a half of your life on this. I don't have any capability to do anything in this field, yet I found myself enjoying this documentary from start to finish, in particular the debate over the economic value of this type of research (responds one of the physicists: "None, except it may explain everything", ha!). The documentary is primarily a series of interview of about 5 or 6 scientists, most of whom are at CERN. Yet again, it sounds deceptively boring, as it turns out these people have a whole lot of interesting things to share with the world. Bottom line is that I very much enjoyed this documentary.

"Particle Fever" opened recently at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati and when I went to see it, an evening screening on a work day, I was very surprised to find that there were quite a few other people in the theater for this. If you are in the mood for a documentary that will entertain you yet also teach you a few things about physics in the most unexpected way, you can't go wrong with this. "Particle Fever" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I loved this movie

[banhei · 10/10 · 4 April 2014]

I went to this movie as a layman, seeing it because it would probably be good for me—educational—but also thinking it would probably be hard work. But I was riveted and the movie flew by faster than a James Bond movie. Many physicists will certainly wish the movie dug deeper into the actual physics, but it's partly because it didn't that I found it not just good for me but good fun. One minor quibble is that the face of the killing of the construction of a particle accelerator in Texas was put on two Republican congressmen (clips are shown of them complaining it was too expensive) and no Democrats. But it was a bipartisan decision. Here's a quote from an article in the 7/6/12 "The Atlantic": "'I'm not saying there isn't a lot of elegant science that can be gleaned from this, but that's what it is: elegant,' Senator Dale Bumpers, a Democrat, told the 'New York Times' in March 1993. 'We can't afford elegance now.'" Again: bipartisan.

A great movie.

A most beautiful piece of work

[rohit_kaa · 10/10 · 29 October 2017]

Modern particle physics can be expressed succinctly in a single piece of paper, but it would take years for the uninitiated to decipher it. This documentary brings one no closer to the inscrutable utterances of that page nor does it try to. What it aims at doing and what it succeeds in is depicting the emotion that drives the people to take on unthinkable tasks and work on it indomitably for decades on end to see some semblance of a result. It brings you closer to the heart of a scientist or an artist and try's to show the fundamental driving force of human endeavor. This is a beautiful piece of film making, and I heavily recommend you, whoever you are, whatever time you are in, wherever you be to watch this , because its worth it .

Zero information, some emotions and a lot of Mr.Kaplan

[itrofimova · 2/10 · 3 April 2014]

I gave 2 and not 2 star for a rare footage of physicists inside CERN expecting the first run. Overall that rare access to the place and people was wasted on rather cheesy self-presentation, as the rest of film is Mr. Kaplan's face in every second minute and emotional bla-bla without a drop of physics. All theoretical details are carefully erased or not shown as if physics suddenly became a great secret (what the public ArHiv is doing then if it is so secret?) Animation is very poor and has zero information, camera work is very shaky. The main message of the film is that David Kaplan was in the CERN crowd, and that was "cool". It doesn't worth my 10$

The Biggest of Science on the Smallest of Scales

[don2507 · 9/10 · 15 March 2016]

This is a fascinating documentary about the building, operating, and research results of the world's largest, and probably most complex "machine", the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator in the world, otherwise known to us laymen as an "atom smasher." As the film depicts, the LHC accelerates protons to near the speed of light (according to CERN each proton traverses the 17-mile loop of the LHC in over 11,000 times per second!) and then directs the two proton beams into a collision that releases extraordinary amounts of energy that resembles the energy level at the birth of the universe (the Big Bang). The LHC is then able to detect micro particles that are created from these extremely energetic collisions and that exist for only a fleeting fraction of a second but whose existence provides clues to the fundamental nature of our world. Much of the research revealed in this film deals with the hopes of detecting the Higgs Boson particle, a fundamental particle whose existence is said to explain why matter has mass but that has never been detected until the LHC arrived.

You don't have to be a physicist (I'm not) to enjoy this film; all a viewer needs is a healthy and very human curiosity about the nature of our world to appreciate the nature of the discoveries the physicists in this film are uncovering. I don't understand all the physics, e.g., super-symmetry, but the filmmakers have focused on the human personalities and motivations of these scientists to allow us to understand and appreciate much of their esoteric research. Essentially, we have a film about the largest and most expensive scientific apparatus ever built that reveals sub-atomic particles that may exist for only a nanosecond, thus "The Biggest of Science on the Smallest of Scales." I was particularly intrigued by the film's separate treatment of theoretical physicists and experimental physicists with their different work styles, personalities, and seeming rivalry. The theoretical physicists are seen deriving their lofty ideas via advanced mathematics on various blackboards (think Einstein), while the experimental physicists are busy designing the apparatus that will generate the "data sets" used to confirm or refute the theories. I got the impression that the experimental physicists, some of them at least, felt that they were subordinate physicists compared to the theoreticians. One of the most engaging scientists in the film is Monica Dunford an experimentalist whose lively personality and enthusiasm for the experimental research at CERN is highlighted by her recollection that when she revealed to a physicist colleague that she wanted to go into experimental physics, his response was: "why do you want to hammer things?" But of course, an earlier CERN physicist reminds us that Galileo was an experimentalist.

This is a film about a huge science undertaking that might resemble a well-done film on the WW II Manhattan Project, an equally huge scientific undertaking. The difference was that the Manhattan Project was top-secret and focused on using nature's forces to construct a bomb of horrendous destructiveness, while "Particle Fever" is an open and very public look of the efforts of some of our smartest scientists to reveal the fundamental nature of our universe.

An Interesting Life

[dallasryan · 8/10 · 14 June 2018]

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

I love this film, a great insight into the LHC and the team making it happen.

[TxMike · 30 July 2014]

The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, has been in the works for over 20 years, from concept to construction to operation. This is one of those projects that cannot be described in monetary terms, i.e. "cost/benefit." No, it is one of those fundamental experimental projects that will hopefully uncover new insights into sub-atomic particle Physics and allow us to better explain how our universe works.

The LHC has many goals, but an early primary goal was to experimentally verify the Peter Higgs theory that there must exist a heavy particle called a "boson", usually referred to as the Higgs boson, which is the linchpin for all other particles. The only way to possibly observe it is to bombard the small particles at very high energies and using giant, sophisticated specialty detectors look at the resulting new particles and their energies.

When I first learned this film is more than 90 minutes long I wondered why. But I found out as I watched it, instead of being a dry scientific and engineering account of the LHC, much of the film featured several of the Physicists either working directly to build it or working secondarily to analyze data and interpret results. Overall I found it to be a good balance, to learn more about the people and what kinds of thoughts and apprehensions they had as zero hour approached.

As the film documents, all went fine and the LHC began working as designed ... until a rather catastrophic failure resulted in a leak and the destruction of some of the critical parts of the LHC. It had to be shut down for several months and repaired, all before it was able to generate any useful data.

Then, in 2011 and 2012, after it started up and ran fine, the critical experiments were performed, and the results were presented to a small live audience and the worldwide audience by teleconference and TV.

Two competing theories had established that the boson will have a mass of either 115 GEV or 140 GEV. When the massive amount of data was analyzed and verified to 5 sigma, meaning the chance of an incorrect result was less than about 1 in 3 million, the Higgs boson was discovered, at a mass of about 125 to 126. Almost right in the middle of the two predicted either/or values.

So that opens up a potentially totally new and exciting set of theories about how the universe was formed and how it behaves. Hopefully after the LHC is set up to run at full design power, new data will shed additional light on the issue. I can't wait!

It was a joyous sight to see Peter Higgs himself at the news conference announcing the results. One can only imagine how he must have felt, after so many years and so much effort seeing his groundbreaking theoretical work verified.

BTW, how fast do protons travel at their highest energy in the LHC? Roughly 99.999999% of the speed of light. Now that is fast!

Particle Fever will give you a positive charge about particle physics.

[texshelters · 8/10 · 3 May 2014]

Nerdgasm in "Particle Fever"

Warning: Nerdy martial is contained within this review. Moreover, it's the worst kind of nerdy material, that of a non-scientist. Read at your own discretion.

"Particle Fever" is a documentary about the super particle accelerator and supercollider in Cern, Switzerland that is funded and staffed by over 100 nations. Under the direction of the European Organization of Nuclear Research, it has been a thirty year project that is the center of controversy in the scientific community.

The controversy is not over military application of its findings, whether the collider will create a singularity and kill us all, or who will take credit for the results. No, the controversy is something more sinister: will the Higgs particle reveal evidence for the popular supersymmetry hypothesis of the universe or the dreaded, evil multiverse hypothesis. Jobs can be lost in the flash of a proton, reputations can be ruined depending on the results, the whole universe could be at risk if we find we are part of a multiverse!

Of course I exaggerate, slightly, but "Particle Fever" does a credible job in laying out the consequences of some results over others in the experiment. The main goal of the 17 miles, billion dollar collider is to reveal the Higgs particle (a fundamental particle at the center of our existence), find its weight and energy, in GeV. GeV is 1.60217657 × 10-10 joules: really, really small, the smallest particle we know of, so far. The hope is to also find out if other, smaller particles emerge when two protons collide at near light speed.

You must see the movie to find out if our universe is doomed and if hundreds of theoretical scientists have lost their jobs. Their sometime arch-rivals but collaborators on this experiment, the experimental physicists, will certainly have jobs after this, unless the universe collapses and having a job is moot. The experimenters, as they would boast, actual do things with their hands and have skills. The theorists need them more than they need the theorists, they argue.

The movie doesn't explain things fully; it creates more questions than answers:

1. What is a multiverse, and why would the mass and energy of the Higgs indicate we live in a multiverse? Does it have to do with stability. The nerds don't explain.

2. One theorist postulated that under certain conditions of the Higgs, the universe could disappear. However, doesn't the concept of the conservation of energy and mass preclude a disappearance of matter and thus it would be only a universal transformation of matter? He doesn't explain that for us non-theorists.

3. Two questions about reading the mass and energy of the Higgs: a. If you are creating massive energy when colliding protons to reveal the Higgs, couldn't different energy levels at the collision change the measurement of the Higgs, for mass and energy are two sides of the same particle? I assume they accounted for this in their experiment, but like elite nerds, they didn't explain it to us unenlightened lay folk.

Moreover, isn't the experiment itself creating uncertainty in their reading of the particle? Wouldn't the near-light speed collision of the protons change the very nature of the Higgs particle they are measuring? They didn't explain this to us either. "Particle Fever" makes science interesting. There are true science protagonists in this movie. It focused on a few scientists, and the women scientists get a center and starring role. Their infectious obsession with their fields gave us all, "Particle Fever."

Rating: Pay Full Price

Peace, Tex Shelters

Satisfies some deep scientific curiosity

[francoface · 9/10 · 14 June 2018]

"Particle Fever" is an excellent view into the workings and development of how physicists come from elementary basic principles to a greater understanding of the Universe as well as our world in general. If a rising student can't find this presentation to peak one's interest then maybe nothing will.

all hype, no science

[rsignal · 4/10 · 4 August 2014]

Wow, this movie is a poster child for what's wrong with big budget science. At the beginning they show clips of conservative members of congress, who are arguing that the American version of CERN should be defunded. I'm sure this was intended to be a hit/slam, but I found myself agreeing with the politicians. For the record, I'm a science geek, with a degree in engineering, who reads books about quantum mechanics for fun (David Deutsch in particular is my favorite author).

The female lead, well, she was super-impressed by a 5 story structure. Kaplan, one of the male leads, comes off as very unlikable, although I warmed up to him by the end of the movie. Then there's the guy who won't collaborate with more than 2 colleagues, but Nobel prizes can only be given to a most 3 people. Great, this guy's ego is so big that he'll sacrifice science to protect his reputation.

There's very little science here beyond what's in the headlines. Basically, all this money was spent on CERN, they were expecting the Higgs to be in one of two places, but they found something (it must be the Higgs!) in a different place, therefore it's pretty much back to the drawing board. Perhaps science is at its limits - but you know what, Einstein didn't need an expensive CERN to know that general relativity was true. Yes, something is WAY off here, and this movie just solidifies that for me.

I'd give this movie more stars if it could actually tell me WHY a Higgs imparts mass to other particles (or anything interesting!) because the personalities of the people they interviewed were simply not interesting to me.

Moderately complex presentation of a highly complex and intriguing subject

[andrew-herbst · 9/10 · 20 December 2015]

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".

Better than Star Wars

[michelvega · 10/10 · 7 January 2016]

Saw this documentary for the first time today and though I was aware of the research, it put everything back together for me in the most exciting way. After seeing Star Wars 7 last week, I found Particle Fever far more entertaining. I've read and watched shows about Quantum Physics for decades, so by now, I know the importance of the research done at CERN. I'm also quite thrilled to see women involved in the science. No more chicks piking up numbers from a computer and passing them up to men. Usually, physics documentaries leave little place for them. Not this time, they were front and center where they ought to be. The science part is well done, just enough to let you know what's happening, or not, to keep our interest. The pacing, the insights into the most important mysteries are just right. Some humor as well. I liked the bit where one journalist asked what all the Higgs boson discovery would mean to the ordinary people. No idea was the answer but again, no one knew what the discovery of radio waves could be used for at first, since there were no radio set. Science is about letting your curiosity lose and what happens next is the civilization we live in with cell phones, GPS and WiFi. Who knows where the CERN research will lead to in the next decades. Then there's the Machine itself, this enormous contraption built by men and women from everywhere in the world. And the first collisions happening live and broadcast to every corner of the world. What a Story for the Ages. If you understand what science is about, then you must see this very precious piece of History.

Answering fundamental questions, by scientist for casual viewers

[quincytheodore · 8/10 · 31 May 2015]

I'll admit I have no knowledge of physics whatsoever and some parts of the documentary are honestly a bit too complex for me, yet the commitment as these men and women pursue their craft will not be lost to anyone. Particle Fever is a documentary about Higgs particle and the long arduous journey to discover, or rather prove its existence. It's made entirely from footage of the actual scientists and impressive shots over the colossal machinery.

The production crew knows how to intrigue and inspire audience. It often uses clean colorful visual, nifty graphic as well as the panoramic shots to showcase the size of the Large Hadron Collider. The scientists themselves present monologues to explain the subject to the audience, some clips are even taken from seminar or actual conference. It gives a sense of involvement as they focus with the mainly basic problems anyone can follow.

However, it does tend to be overly complex at latter half, which is understandable. Some of the on-screen people have dedicated their lives for this, they are not characters. While the details might not be identifiable for everyone, the scale of massive undertaking and the way it affects those who worked tirelessly for this effort are easily apparent. This is a work to inspire, giving more understanding to the famously hyped god particle. It's visually engaging and effectively entices casual audience to gaze on the science behind it.