"Life As War".

Sure, the above title is given away on the cover art, but that's the underlying theme (and literal translation) of last year's Naqoyqatsi, a strange trip through our modern world by means of digital photography, film stock, and an eye-opening score by Philip Glass. It's truly a stunning overall effect, but would it be lost in the mass of current commercial releases…or is that the general point?

This unique combination of sensory overload had been done more than once before by Reggio, chiefly in the film's two predecessors, 1983's Koyaanisqatsi and 1988's Powaqqatsi. Each of these roughly translates to "Life Out Of Balance" and "Life In Transformation" from the Hopi language. Koyaanisqatsi in particular was hailed as a masterpiece, a ground-breaking picture of spiritual proportions…it featured a perfect blend of photography and music to immerse the viewer in its ambiguous meaning. Both were elevated to "cult status", but were obviously never destined to succeed as commercial successes, as this wouldn't be necessary…these are some of the very few films that you wouldn't care if your friends liked or not; they possibly hold a greater personal meaning for you alone.

These were both released before I was old enough to really develop a taste for such movies (I was watching cartoons), but they were thankfully released on DVD last year by MGM, in time for the theatrical release of Naqoyqatsi. Interested in the concept alone, I hunted them down and chewed through every frame. It truly was a moving experience, and will especially open the eyes of anyone who's never left their home country. It would benefit anyone remotely interested in this release to hunt down both Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi prior to this release. For more information, DVDTalk.com reviews for both can be seen here. In short, I could write for hours and dig up tons of meanings found here in these movies, but I wouldn't want to overshadow your viewing experience. If you truly appreciate Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, you'll want to reflect and analyze what you've discovered long before you move on to Naqoyqatsi.

Moving on, I'm assuming at this point that you're familiar with the first two in this "trilogy". Widely ignored by the general public since their release, both Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi were gambles themselves, although Godfrey Reggio didn't create them to turn a profit. To revisit similar ground with a third effort (almost 15 years later, no less) would be considered suicide to most movie studios. Thankfully, the project was backed by many, including producer Steven Soderbergh, and Naqoyqatsi was released theatrically last year. Sadly, it didn't receive a very wide release (surprise!), so I never got the chance to see it. Once again, DVD comes to the rescue! Although many other fans of this series had been waiting for much longer to see this important release, I was still eager to give it a spin.

Obviously, a lot was riding on this one. In particular, I was very interested in seeing what would be shown from "my time"…this plays like a fractured composite of a time capsule. How have things changed since Koyaanisqatsi?

To begin, the only hint of Naqoyqatsi I'd seen prior to this was the trailer found on the other two releases. In short, "Life Is War" was no understatement…this was the bigger, angrier brother of Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, and really had more bite. Recent times have reflected a more aggressive world view, ripe with fear and paranoia. While not exactly apocalyptic, the modern world seems a little darker than five years ago, let alone fifteen. This is largely in part from the barrage of media and news reports (as well as political matters and terrorist threats) existing on every scale. We're scared, we're angry, and yet we sometimes still can't admit there's anything wrong. Naqoyqatsi looks this fear right in the eye. While it certainly doesn't tell us anything new, it presents it in a truly eye-opening way. As mentioned earlier, Philip Glass (assisted by celloist Yo-Yo Ma) has returned with another brilliant score, both calming and spiritually jarring at the same time. Images flash and blur across the screen like a slightly muted version of A Clockwork Orange. Once again, there's no narraration, no plot, no character development. This is a personal journey…if you have an open mind and 90 minutes to spare, it'll change how you see things.

In the end, does it deliver? That's really up to you to decide, but I think it fits in quite nicely with the other two, while isolating itself at the same time. With the aforementioned barrage of media, most of the footage has been seen before (in one form or another), but this still remains a stunning vision. Naqoyqatsi won't break sales records, but it will affect you on some level. On a personal level, this is a great work of art, and this is one of the many reasons I love movies…it's a collage of everything that's both right and wrong with the world, and I'm glad I finally got the chance to see it. Of course, this is a DVD review, so the real question is: how does the DVD stack up? Let's find out…

Video:
Comprised mostly of stock photography, Naqoyqatsi was not meant to be clean, sterilized, and pretty. With personal visions aside, what we do see looks as good (or as bad) as it ever did. Since I never had the chance to see this theatrically, I can't compare the two, but it looks good to me…this is a newer release, and is in excellent shape. Once again, virtually all dirt, grain, or other ugliness is meant to be there, so digital-film-Episode-II buffs might be a little disappointed. Naqoyqatsi was filmed in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, and the DVD thankfully preserves this. For what is presented, I can't really find any major faults with this release.

Audio:
The audio, in short, sounds awesome. Of course, there's no dialogue present, so we've only got the music to grade here. The 5.1 mix really shines, and makes great use of all channels. Since the music plays a greater part here than most other movies, it had to deliver. As it stands, it really pulls you in to the experience, and won't disappoint in the least. An excellent job by Miramax!

Extras:
The first two DVDs in the "trilogy" didn't get many bells and whistles…a few trailers and a short interview or two, but nothing major. While a step in the right direction, Naqoyqatsi is still a little thin on the extras. Included here are Trailers for both Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, but not for Naqoyqatsi itself (strange, since the previous two contained all three trailers). Also on board is a Conversation with Philip Glass and Yo-Yo Ma, where they share a bit about their experiences with scoring the fantastic images. The ambiguously-titled Life is War is a very brief overview of the movie (similar to the "foreward" in a book), and features Soderbergh and Reggio sharing a bit of personal experiences. Although these three are much too short to go into any great detail, a pleasant surprise is the NYU Panel Discussion of Naqoyqatsi, featuring Reggio, Glass, and the film's editor, Jon Kane. This runs for nearly an hour and really goes into some nice detail about the underlying themes of the movie. Although a scene-specific commentary would have been nice, this is an excellent addition. Overall, not a bad mix of bonus materials.

Menu design and presentation:
Menus were a little plain…they feature collage-type imagery of certain scenes from the movie, but I was hoping for some music to go with it. Navigation is plain and simple, as it should be. The cover art is also pretty neat (a crash-test dummy in a business suit), and fits the theme of the movie. I don't have the full packaging, so I'm not aware of any insert material (although the first two didn't have anything), but I'll update this section when the full packaging arrives.

Should anything else have been included?
It's a real shame this couldn't have been part of a box set. Rights issues aside, it would have been awesome to have a 3-disc Special Edition box of the Qatsi Trilogy. By itself, Naqoyqatsi features a nice little set of extras, but it could have had a little more. While the NYU Panel discussion features Reggio quite prominently, it's a shame he couldn't have appeared more often…he's an excellent, intelligent speaker. Overall, though, this is a more satisfying release than the other two DVDs in the extras department, and the audio and video are great too.

Long story short---if you liked the other two movies is the Qatsi series, you're bound to get something out of this. If you're unfamiliar with the first two, I'd advise you to check them out first…viewing this outright might be a little too disarming (unless you're up for the challenge!). Even so, this is a nice little package for a pretty decent price…the Amazon link above is just over $20, so it's a good value for what you'll get out of it. This is truly a rare movie…everything you see is true, and it's all around you. You just have to look a little to find it. Naqoyqatsi is Highly Recommended, and needs to be seen…it's required viewing for any citizens of this planet.