Naqoyqatsi

Rating:
Summary: Not quite the same as the first two, but the spirit is there
Review: I saw this film three times. The first time I was greatly disappointed by the visual style of the film. It is full of digitally manipulated images with colorized and solarized images. Many images are stock images and not original cinematography. This was very disappointing to someone who is very interested in the visual aspects of the film. So be prepared that the visual style of this film is much different than the first two.

At the second and third viewing I warmed to the film. My desire for visually stunning images gave way to the ideas behind the film - the push of technology, globalization, competition. I would still use Koyaanisqatsi as a best intro to the series. Naqoyqatsi is more for people who are already hooked. The score really carries the film. If you liked the first two scores then you will find Philip Glass' third score to be equal to the first two. It is a master work.

As a final comment I saw Baraka for the first time late last year. Although I was very impressed by the images and the film I felt it was a bit of an imitation of the qatsi series. It didn't have the philosophical depth or soul of the qatsi project. It also lacked a very key component - the Philip Glass score. However, if you love the qatsi trilogy and are looking for something to complement this series, then Baraka is worth a look.

Rating:
Summary: Slightly dissapointed..
Review: well to be honest I expected better.. did not live up to the standards of the original two 'qatsi' films.. the effort put in was great.. but this film could have been far more dramatic than it was.. the juxtapositioning could have been improved.. the theme was nice but you keep getting the feeling that there isnt one at all.. some visual effects were nice.. others 'cheap looking'.. alot of images/shots were draggedddddd.. even though most of them were great.. the film has that 'amateur film' feel.. primarily because of the constant usage of effects and video filters.. philip glass and his music get five stars though.. i wouldnt see this one again.. go see 'Baracka' if you need to see a masterpiece..

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the 2 before it
Review: I'm sorry to say this, but this film was not all that great. I own the other 2 films, Powaqqatsi and Koyaanisqatsi, and I felt those were very impressive. Seeing the trailer for Naqoyqatsi, I knew that this would be a film like no other and knew I HAD to see it when it came out. Now, I know it's supposed to be a film about how technology is moving so fast and all that, but all the digital manipulation in the film is overkill. There were many, many great aerial and tracking shots, but there's this ridiculous solarize/negative effect that has been put on almost every single shot, literally. There are a few television commercial clips in the film, and when they were on, I was like Thank God! Seeing a normal image took so much strain off my eyes. Unfortunately, seconds later, back to the overused effects. There's also way too many superimposed shots, too much footage from news stations, and a posterize effect that was highly overused. Even though it's 2002, it looks like a film from the 80's with "too much" going on all the time. The music doesn't help either. It looks like early MTV footage. I'm not saying this guy sucks by any means, this film just isn't very good at all. I know there's a lot of people who disagree with me, and thats fine. But to all you artsy-fartsy "film students" who think this is a beautiful masterpiece...it's not. If you want beauty, see BARAKA. THAT is a beautiful film. BARAKA alone is better than all three films in this trilogy. Go buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Part three is a mixed blessing
Review: Like its predecessor films, this is an exquisite blend of sight and sound, featuring eye-popping imagery and gorgeous music. Once again, composer Philip Glass (accompanied by master cellist Yo Yo Ma) brings his minimalist stylings to bear on a score that is almost perfectly married to the visual content. (The soundtrack is available, and I highly recommend it). It is the music that ultimately distinguishes this film, because director Godfrey Reggio comes very close to sabotaging an otherwise excellent effort. The message here--that the forces of information, technology, and violence are threatening the continued existence of life on this earth--is almost drowned in a sea of flashy graphics and hyperactive camera work, processed imagery and synthetic visuals, all connected by sometimes thin narratives. It borders on overkill, like an MTV video gone mad, and there are points where the message gets lost in a sea of graphic imagery. That's a shame, because Reggio's previous efforts ("Koyaanisqatsi" and "Powaqqatsi," both highly recommended) made extraordinary statements about social justice and humanity's place in the world. This one does as well, but comes very close to missing the mark.

In addition to this trilogy, I also recommend Ron Fricke's "Baraka," another mesmerizing blend of sight and sound.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing...If they showed in on MTV it would change the world
Review: I caught Koyaanisqatsi on PBS one Saturday evening and it literally changed my life. I bought the DVD and was very impressed; then I went and saw this at the Angelika in NYC on the last day of its run. Oh my God...I'm still absorbing. I've got to see it again.

What Reggio has done with this one is update his style for the MTV generation. Just as Koyaanisqatsi set new standards for deep focus and time-lapse work, Reggio takes digitally-altered filmmmaking to a new level with Naqoyqatsi. Shots that stand out in mind time (after one viewing) are a human face dissolving into the ocean, a pan-out of babies on a beige background and a breathtaking swoop through an infinite fractal. The opening sequence, which zooms a giant 0 onto the screen Star Wars-style and then pays tribute to our absolute dependence on 1s and 0s, is an instant classic.

This movie is not really about war (Naqoyqatsi="Life As War"); it's about technology. And so Reggio used technology to make it. It's only fair. The gorgeous slow pans of Koyaanisqatsi are dead. 19 years later, the human attention span demands something different and Reggio humors us and makes fun of us all at the same time with his hyperactive vision.

The human form is shown in such precise detail and emotion, it is almost religious. The score is phenomenal (a BIG leap up from Powaqqatsi); Yo-Yo Ma makes his cello an ominous instrument of our future struggles.

I'm 21 and I hope every dumbass in my generation sees this movie because this is what we are going to have to deal with.

Rating:
Summary: Eye Candy & Great Music
Review: This afternoon I saw Naqoyqatsi.

Koyaanisqatsi totally amazed me, when I saw it in the mid 80s. Because I hadn't seen the kind of imagery- the amazing visions that movie has - and hadn't heard Phillip Glass before. None of us had seen the kind of images now common in tv commercials. The time-lapse photography. The infinite depth of focus shots over crowds, freeways and landscapes. I suspect someone seeing Koyaanisqatsi for the first time now wouldn't be as impressed, because the camera techniques are now commonplace.

Making Naqoyqatsi, they faced a big challenge to deliver visions we've never seen before. Ive absorbed lots of images & video and musical genres since the mid 80s. Could they create a movie that was a commentary on war, technology & modern life without it being familiar? Tough order. Could they do it without being preachy or blunt?

Answer: they did a great job.

And for you who are tired of Phillip Glass music, don't let what you've heard from him before discourage you from seeing this movie. His style has completely evolved, and is no longer a repetitive, familiar and derivative. (Don't get me wrong, after Koyaanisqatsi, I obsessively listened to PG for years, but eventually it wore me out.)

For me, the music was the most impressive part of the movie.

Now, _I want the soundtrack to Naqoyqatsi._ I was super-impressed. It was totally fresh and wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: masterful
Review: Having just attended the premiere in New Orleans I am still taken aback two days later. This being the third part in the Qatsi trilogy Godfrey Reggio completes the cycle of films showing man and the changing face of technology on man. The film is almost entirely a series of digitally manipulated images of the modern icons of image that have become a part of our daily existence reanimated to be seen in a new way. Like the earlier two parts of this trilogy there is no direct meaning forced upon the viewer, but rather allowing the viewer to draw their own conclusions. The score by Philip Glass is excellent. The cello work by Yo Yo Ma is superb as well. With his new film Godfrey Reggio poses challenging questions about the way in which we form the world around us and how that world affects us in turn. The images, being of such radical design, are at times extremely complex. The art of recreating images is brought to a high level. These images drop away to reveal a mirror held up to our faces. The imprint technology leaves on the human face is what remains in this film. A strong sense of urgency is conveyed in this film, as in the previous two. I cannot recommend this film highly enough. With these three films a vision previously unseen in the world of film is brought to light in amazing clarity.

Rating:
Summary: The final spin in a bizarre trilogy
Review: I just saw a preview screening of this in NYC tonight. It incoperates the same techniques of the previous films in the series (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi) which although may seem unconventional or strange in comparison to what we see see these days, is altogether enjoyable. In my opinion the visual narrative fails this time around but the soundtrack absolutely surpasses the others due to the contribution of Yo Yo Ma and another unflawed outing from the masterful Philip Glass. Naqoyqatsi intends to muse on our planet's war culture but get often mixed up with an ulterior commentary on technology (Although what I saw may not have been a final cut). Still worth seeing if you can find it come October. Also glad to see that the 3 will be making to DVD- a tremendous thank-you to those responsible for that!

Rating:
Summary: Psychonatigated blissfulness of the holly allah [gati]
Review: A Journey for the minds eye, portal to the unknow. This shows you nothing and everything. Projecteed in a way to let you interpret the data in your own way. To view in as they say [eye candy] A psychodelic exploration of our world as a whole, a raw naked experience of our existence and fetish love. Or as a vissual interpretation of the spectrum of our world and what we do to it and or create. I do not believe in any way that watching all three of the films you are missing much that is out their in terms of what everything is catogorized in all of our american lives. Corperate greed, lusk, ideals, growth, poverty, raw, over stimulization, love beauty, hate, audio and visual awakenness, To really show us who we are and what we saposidelly need. The film is pressented in an all visual scences, some things we can just see to fully comprehend, some things are better unspoken. If you get tired of the current sound track change it feel free to breath new life into it everytime you watch it, our world changes why shouldnt this. Jah Wobbles solaris works very well, Or any Bill Laswells records. This Is by far the most raw psyconavigated piece of work ive ever come in contact with. Be awaken by this reality dream of beauty and dismay. Dont be afraid the future is hear now.

Rating:
Summary: Spectacularly disappointing
Review: Having enjoyed Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqatsi I was looking forward to this third part of the Qatsi trilogy. Rarely has a film so spectacularly failed to live up to its predecessors. It tries to represent "civilised warfare" as sport, science, trade and competition, but lacks the global scope or coherently developed themes of its predecessors. It is a chaotic melange of images and so insular that I had to remind myself that I wasn't watching an advertisement for the American way of life! When representing "sport as war" all logos ensured that the USA was shown as the winner. It missed the opportunity to snapshot some of the many sports around the world i.e. humanity being united in using sport as civilised warfare. The Philip Glass soundtrack sounded like every other Philip Glass score I've heard. The featurette commented that some people would dislike the balance between natural and technological, but the real imbalance was the marginalising of all things non-American. Apart from newsreel, the footage seemed to have been shot in the confines of New York with little recognition of "life as war" in the rest of the world. The gallery of faces (waxworks) gave only a nod to the existence of important personages outside of the USA. The makers missed the point that globalisation does not mean Americanisation.