Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I will not attempt to extol the virtues film itself (what more can I say than has already been said?), but of the new collector's edition: I too have the original DVD release, and the VHS release. This new transfer is AMAZING, and is exactly what the first DVD release should have been... PRISTINE video (very few artifacts, little or no pixelation), and IMMACULATE audio (crisp, clean, and great presence without sounding "over-processed"). If you have both versions and can't tell the difference, then it's time to watch it on a large screen TV, and clean yer ears out! The improvements are painfully obvious. This is a truly incredible film, and finally justice has been done with the fantastic quality of the consumer version. Like someone else said, give your old copy away, and BUY THIS VERSION now! I'm glad I picked it up, and you will be too.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Baraka (1993)
The word "Baraka" means "blessing" in several languages; watchingthis film, the viewer is blessed with a dazzling barrage of images thattranscend language. Filmed in 24 countries and set to an ever-changing global soundtrack, the movie draws somesurprising connections between various peoples and the spaces they inhabit,whether that space is a lonely mountaintop or a crowded cigarette factory. Someof these attempts at connection are more successful than others: for instance,an early sequence segues between the daily devotions of Tibetan monks, OrthodoxJews, and whirling dervishes, finding more similarity among these rituals thanone might expect. And there are other amazing moments, as when sped-up footageof a busy Hong Kong intersection reveals a beautiful symmetry to urban life thatcould only be appreciated from the perspective of film. The lack of context isoccasionally frustrating--not knowing where a section was filmed, or the meaningof the ritual taking place--and some of the transitions are puzzling. However,the DVD includes a short behind-the-scenes featurette in which cinematographerRon Fricke ("Koyaanisqatsi") explains that the effect was intentional:"It's not where you are that's important, it's what's there." And what's here,in "Baraka", is a whole world summed up in 104 minutes. "--Larisa LomackyMoore"
