Filmmakers give this production the look and feel of popular sci-fi flicks tweaked with a video game sensibility. It's obviously meant to hit kids where they live, entertainment-wise. And I think it succeeds in making the unmanned craft Cassini pretty cool. Kids will remember that craft by name, they'll get the gist of its mission, and even be able to pick it out of a line up of miscellaneous space craft.

There is some straight science in this edutaining big movie, but it takes a back seat to action. Filmmakers have decidedly sided with keeping their audience in the momentum of space drama. Personally, I would have liked to see more straight academic moments injected. For instance, filmmakers take the time to fly by heavenly bodies and caption them with names. This pause from the tense conflict of the story actually gives great emphasis. I also enjoyed Jon Anderson's (of the band YES) tune which played over the moons of Jupiter. I think the production could have been enriched with more such dramatic-break musical moments.

Technically speaking, the character design is top notch - high quality stuff. Instead of the bad guy being pure evil, he's pure ignorance. I like that. Our heroes are siding with knowledge. It's a great theme to preach. "Free yourself from ignorance -- learn!"

However, the sport obviously borrowed from the Harry Potter film felt a little too unoriginal. Oh, and the captions appeared too low on the big screen … couldn't see them over people's heads.

Overall -- a pretty cool concept.

Summer 2010 Update: I recently sat down with Dr. Harry Kloor. We talked about tech topics from oil spill solutions to Quantum Quest. A passionate educator as well as the film's creator, he plans to make it as easy as possible for teachers to use QQ in the classroom to stir up student curiosity towards science and astronomy.

Autumn 2010 Update: Dr. Kloor had this to add. "We now have two full educational guides completed --- one for teachers created in partnership with the San Diego Ruben H Fleet Museum and one for general public also usable by teachers (written by teachers) created in partnership with the Planetary Society. Teachers are invited to create lessons and other activities using the characters and we will place them online for everyone to use. We will be showing the film to a large audience at Dragon Con on Sept 4 in Atlanta Georgia."

-- Books by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony --