Rating: 
Summary: The Greatest Documentary On Planet Earth
Review: 1991: Anima Mundi is Latin for "Soul of the World". In this dazzling documentary, the life of animals from land and sea are captured with exquisite precision and beauty. The careful attention to detail makes this documentary simply the best about life on planet earth. The shots of wildlife in Africa, the foliage, the various life forms under the sea are all in perfect union, making this film a reminder to us that planet earth is a living being, complete with its own intelligence, biological function and even its own spirit.I recall seeing this in both film format and in the extra large IMAX screen. The cinematography to the documentary is breathtaking. Although it is only 30 minutes long, there is much to learn about the life on this planet by watching this documentary, which is very short but meaningful. The music is composed by none other than the brilliant 20th century composer Phillip Glass- whose technique of minimalism is haunting and effective, particularily in the shots of the sea creatures. Phillip Glass' work for this short film ranks as one of his finest, although it is very short and precise. Phillip Glass and Anima Mundi go together almost like two blending chemicals. Finally, on DVD, the greatest documenatary, albeit the shortest, is available for viewing.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Documentary On Planet Earth
Review: 1991: Anima Mundi is Latin for "Soul of the World". In this dazzling documentary, the life of animals from land and sea are captured with exquisite precision and beauty. The careful attention to detail makes this documentary simply the best about life on planet earth. The shots of wildlife in Africa, the foliage, the various life forms under the sea are all in perfect union, making this film a reminder to us that planet earth is a living being, complete with its own intelligence, biological function and even its own spirit. I recall seeing this in both film format and in the extra large IMAX screen. The cinematography to the documentary is breathtaking. Although it is only 30 minutes long, there is much to learn about the life on this planet by watching this documentary, which is very short but meaningful. The music is composed by none other than the brilliant 20th century composer Phillip Glass- whose technique of minimalism is haunting and effective, particularily in the shots of the sea creatures. Phillip Glass' work for this short film ranks as one of his finest, although it is very short and precise. Phillip Glass and Anima Mundi go together almost like two blending chemicals. Finally, on DVD, the greatest documenatary, albeit the shortest, is available for viewing.
Rating: 
Summary: A good, short work
Review: A comment was made that this film is derivative of Koyaanisqatsi, which is a silly and ignorant statement at best. Anima Mundi covers a completely different subject: the diversity of life on earth, where as Koyaanisqatsi was a reflection on the affect of technology on nature. Anima Mundi has no time lapse photography and Koyaanisqatsi has no animals. They are quite different. Yes they have the same style, but why should a film maker be blasted for having a distinct style? The footage is striking and it is very well put together. Much of Philip Glass' music actually isn't instantly recognizable as Philip Glass music. It's short and not as evocative as Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka but it's a fine piece on it's own merits. The DVD could be better quality... the dark shots have some unfortunate digital artifacts... but the brighter shots look quite nice.
Rating:
Summary: Anima Mundi
Review: An Awesome DVD. Top Wildlife Scenes and the very best accompanying music.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Stare Factor...
Review: An interesting feature of the DVD which I think communicates something of the essence of this movie is that the text used to communicate the idea "play" is "play continuously". The film is composed of around a hundred separately filmed 15-30 second nature scenes, which is pretty short for a DVD and pretty disconnected for a traditional film. You will find though that people can't walk by without stopping to stare... The sound quality is listed as a 5 in the ratings provided by widescreen review, but if you look at the technical details you'll see it listed as "hi-fi sound". That means NOT 5.1 surround, which is quickly becoming the standard for a modern release and which is immediately noticed if you have, like me, become accustomed to the high quality sound that DVD has to offer. Anyway, Phil Glass' music is one of the best parts of the film, bringing continuity to what otherwise is a somewhat haphazard collection of wildlife shots. Granted, there are some thematics in the way that the shots are composed, but without the music, you'd be wondering what (and why) you were watching (try it). The movie also comes with three annoying copyright notices at the beginning that you can't fast forward through. Finally, it was filmed in Italy (hence Anima Mundi - i.e., "Soul of the World"). Overall, an enjoyable 30 minute diversion - a light snack if you will. Hope you enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Stare Factor...
Review: An interesting feature of the DVD which I think communicates something of the essence of this movie is that the text used to communicate the idea "play" is "play continuously". The film is composed of around a hundred separately filmed 15-30 second nature scenes, which is pretty short for a DVD and pretty disconnected for a traditional film. You will find though that people can't walk by without stopping to stare... The sound quality is listed as a 5 in the ratings provided by widescreen review, but if you look at the technical details you'll see it listed as "hi-fi sound". That means NOT 5.1 surround, which is quickly becoming the standard for a modern release and which is immediately noticed if you have, like me, become accustomed to the high quality sound that DVD has to offer. Anyway, Phil Glass' music is one of the best parts of the film, bringing continuity to what otherwise is a somewhat haphazard collection of wildlife shots. Granted, there are some thematics in the way that the shots are composed, but without the music, you'd be wondering what (and why) you were watching (try it). The movie also comes with three annoying copyright notices at the beginning that you can't fast forward through. Finally, it was filmed in Italy (hence Anima Mundi - i.e., "Soul of the World"). Overall, an enjoyable 30 minute diversion - a light snack if you will. Hope you enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Stare Factor...
Review: An interesting feature of the DVD which I think communicates something of the essence of this movie is that the text used to communicate the idea "play" is "play continuously". The film is composed of around a hundred separately filmed 15-30 second nature scenes, which is pretty short for a DVD and pretty disconnected for a traditional film. You will find though that people can't walk by without stopping to stare... The sound quality is listed as a 5 in the ratings provided by widescreen review, but if you look at the technical details you'll see it listed as "hi-fi sound". That means NOT 5.1 surround, which is quickly becoming the standard for a modern release and which is immediately noticed if you have, like me, become accustomed to the high quality sound that DVD has to offer. Anyway, Phil Glass' music is one of the best parts of the film, bringing continuity to what otherwise is a somewhat haphazard collection of wildlife shots. Granted, there are some thematics in the way that the shots are composed, but without the music, you'd be wondering what (and why) you were watching (try it). The movie also comes with three annoying copyright notices at the beginning that you can't fast forward through. Finally, it was filmed in Italy (hence Anima Mundi - i.e., "Soul of the World"). Overall, an enjoyable 30 minute diversion - a light snack if you will. Hope you enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Animals Vs. Imperfect Humans
Review: Anima Mundi shows the awesome diversity of creatures at various levels of evolution. From single cell creatures to complex dramatic jungle animals. The obvious love of the director goes out towards beings which live by way of instinct, rather than free will. So in a sense, he can not be faulted in his choice of admiration. The animals are doing exactly what they are supposed to do as animals: indirectly fulfilling the will of their creator by sustaining their assigned way of life. I wonder why Mr. Reggio can not bring this same strong devotional love towards us imperfect humans, however? In his film trilogy, ( yet to be completed, of which anima mundi is not really a part? ), he puts his exacting focus on the 'crazy', 'transformative', 'war like', aspects of modern ( technological? ) life. It would perhaps give many of us much solace, to see a vision as compelling as Mr. Reggio obviously has, used in the service of a celebration of the human. ( with the same delicate care as he uses to show us the merely animal ) One possible conclusion is that we ( in our imperfection ) are not worthy of this type of love?
Rating:
Summary: Artistic, thought provoking, documentary cinema at its best
Review: Another fine work by Reggio. My three-year-old loved it. Especially the part where he saw "stingrays eating spaceships." A great demo disc as well.
Rating:
Summary: A good, short work
Review: Good thing this is out of print. I hope they reissue a better quality DVD. This is one of the worst-authored discs I have ever seen. I first saw the film on VHS and wish I'd bought it that way--this thing really looks like an mpeg file. To give you an idea of just how bad this is, the black of the end credits has brown-grey squares (perfect squares all the same size) flashing throughout it the entire time--and no, they are not supposed to be there. Reggio and Glass created a brilliant short subject that should have won an Oscar. Perhaps a reissue could be coupled with Reggio's unreleased shorts _Evidence_, and music video "Patricia's Park" could be included, if the rights were available, but more important would be a DVD without such heavy "artifacting," "pixillation," "blockiness," whatever you want to call it. Those of us with the Apex that can play anything and anywhere are particularly screwed since it's not as good at hiding such defects. This is the sort of film that only film conoisseurs are going to appreciate it, so why not give it a high quality release?
| 
