 | | |
| Koyaanisqatsi - Life Out of Balance | 
 enlarge | Director: Godfrey Reggio
Actors: Ted Koppel, Philip Glass
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $7.42
You Save: $7.56 (50%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $6.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (171 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3142
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD
Running Time: 86 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: MGMD1003766D
ISBN: 0792853334
UPC: 027616878939
EAN: 9780792853336
ASIN: B000068OCS
Release Date: September 17, 2002
Theatrical Release Date: 1982
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Description
Prepare to experience a truly remarkable filma cinematic masterpiece so extraordinary that it regales the senses, stimulates the mind and actually 'redefines the potential of filmmaking (The Hollywood Reporter). Celebrated director Godfrey Reggio, innovative cinematographer Ron Fricke and Golden Globe-winning* composer Philip Glass have created a 'spellbinding [film] so rich in beauty and detail that with each viewing it becomes a new and different film (Leonard Maltin). Unique profound mesmerizing and thought-provoking (Boxoffice), Koyaanisqatsi contrasts the tranquil beauty of nature with the frenzied hum of contemporary urban society. Uniting breathtaking imagery with a hauntingly evocative, award-winning score, it is original and fascinating (People) one of the greatest films of all time (Uncut). *1998: Score (with Burkhard Dallwitz), The Truman Show
Amazon.com
First-time filmmaker Godfrey Reggio's experimental documentary from 1983--shot mostly in the desert Southwest and New York City on a tiny budget with no script, then attracting the support of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas and enlisting the indispensable musical contribution of Philip Glass--delighted college students on the midnight circuit and fans of minimalism for many years. Meanwhile, its techniques, merging cinematographer Ron Fricke's time-lapse shots (alternately peripatetic and hyperspeed) with Glass's reiterative music (from the meditative to the orgiastic)--as well as its ecology-minded imagery--crept into the consciousness of popular culture. The influence of Koyaanisqatsi, or "life out of balance," has by now become unmistakable in television advertisements, music videos, and, of course, in similar movies such as Fricke's own Chronos and Craig McCourry's Apogee. Reggio shot a sequel, Powaqqatsi (1988), and is planning to complete the trilogy with Naqoyqatsi. Koyaanisqatsi provides the uninitiated the chance to see where it all started--along with an intense audiovisual rush. --Robert Burns Neveldine
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 166 more reviews...
 so are humans bad or not bad? i didnt get it. December 15, 2008
I viewed this movie on a watch instantly feature (ie, computer monitor) and the picture was kinda fuzzy. This might be sharper on a DVD form? This film starts off with about 20 minutes of videos of rocks, clouds, water. Then it starts moving into the human aspects. You see the camera swoop over radio antennas (whatever kind of antennas those were). You also see things like: skyscrapers with reflections of clouds, parking lot of multicolored cars, a lot of busy intersections with the film sped up, buildings and a bridge or two being demolished, Twinkie/hot dog/car factory all with music in the background. There is no narration. This movie definitely had a I should watch this in IMAX type feel to it. Some of the nature shots had this high school nature film aura about it. If youre in the mood for something like that, then you should like the film!
The title Life out of Balance insinuates that wed be viewing more of a harmful human effect on nature. But I personally felt this film showed more of the hecticness of human life (a lot of the people scenes were sped up). Maybe we are out of balance in this ant/drone like way.... but I didnt get the feeling of destructive with the exception of one or two shots. Some of the skyscraper shots were, well, pretty. I just dont see how that reflected a life out of balance or portrayed our current situation in a horrific, bad-steward-of-the-earth type of way. My personal opinion. Take it or leave it.
I loved the Indian quotes (very small part of the film). But, like I said, I didnt understand how Koyaanisqatsi was displayed in the overall message the film actually put across (ie, the filmer's intentions didnt match what was portrayed on screen).
 koyaanisqatsi September 15, 2008
This film was way ahead of it's time. Coppola had amazing insight as to where we are headed on a global scale.
One of My Favorite Films September 9, 2008
Film buffs frequently create lists of their 10 favorite movies. My answer changes from day to day, but there are three films always on the list: Koyannisqatsi, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Fantasia. A new age documentary, a science-fiction drama, anda cartoon; three completely different films.
Koyannisqatsi is the newest and least known of these three films. It is a 1982 documentary with ads that said "Until now, you've never really seen the world you live in.". Director Godfrey Reggio combines stock footage (rocket launches, landscape vistas, building demolitions, munitions tests) with spectacular new footage by cinematographer Ron Fricke (cityscapes, commuter crowds, clouds and waves, traffic jams, assembly lines). He creates a mosaic of life in the modern industrial world and how it has become disconnected from the natural world and is now a `life out of balance', which is a translation of the title. Although the film has no characters, dialogue or narration, the dramatic editing and stirring score by Philip Glass create a great emotional, and even physical impact. I once talked my mother into seeing it with me. While she liked it very much and still comments on it, at the end of one particularly frenetic sequence she said, with a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness that's over".
2001 is an imaginative look at how man's evolution might have been affected by outside influences. Much of the film has no dialogue whatever. The rest has occasional patches of dialogue, with most having nothing to do with the plot. There is the TV interview, a father's phone call on his daughter's birthday, proud parents radio message on their distant son's birthday, a computer's seeming random questions while working up the crew psychology report, the rambling song of a computer having its memory erased. None of this has anything to do with the search for the source of the strange artifact first found by prehistoric apes, then later by explorers on the moon and how it may affect man's future. More important than dialogue are the amazing visuals and music. The spaceship ballets, technical hardware, and the ending star gate dance of lights, combined with magnificent music evoke the sense of wonder and awe that the vastness of space and the possibilities of the future should inspire.
Walt Disney's Fantasia is a groundbreaking film creating a painted ballet to accompany several pieces of well-known music. The only dialogue is short introductions to each piece by renowned musicologist Deems Taylor. He briefly comments on the composer, if the music tells a specific story, and whether Disney's animation follows that story. Music can evoke strong emotions in the listener with or without a story. Fantasia frequently creates new stories for the music, but the power of the music to arouse the listener remains. The mouse king is gone from the Nutcracker Suite, but a circle of dancing mushrooms, and bouquet of waltzing flowers is no less charming and whimsical. The primitive dances of the Rite of Spring have been changed to the struggles of prehistoric life, but the music is still powerfully thrilling. The rage and fury of demons in Night on Bald Mountain end at dawn as the serene beauty of Ave Maria accompanies the glory of a sunrise. Image and music again stir the viewer's soul.
A science-fiction drama, a cartoon, and a new age documentary; three completely different films thematically that each show the power of image and music to reach the viewer emotionally.
Excellent Film August 4, 2008
Very different and artistic film. This film is an excellent example of telling a story through other means than those used in conventional cinema today.
Impressive film/unimpressive DVD June 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love this film. One of the most moving works of art ever created, however the DVD transfer is underwhelming. DVD can use up to 10 MBPS. When surround sound is used up to about 9 MBPS. I work preofessionally with video (shooting/editing) and spend a fair amount of time authoring DVDs. Why they chose to stick to 3 - 5 MBPS is appalling. For those of you who do not know MBPS = Mega Bits Per Second. MBPS is similar to Megapixels (when speaking about a digital camera). The higher the Mega Bits used per second the more information used to store thie picture and thus the higher the quality the picture will be and the better it will look. I would still recommend this DVD...only because this is as of now the best way to see the film (outside the off chance it will be shown in some art house theatre). Beware,however, it will not look great...good maybe. I can't wait until Kayaanisqatsi is remastered for Blu-ray.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |