Simply Perfect

As Good As It Gets

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I have read reviews of this film and most of them seem to be negative. After being presented to Baraka in film class, I soon discovered the Qatsi trilogy (Ron Fricke being the director of Baraka and editor of Koyaanisqatsi).Many people who have watched Naqoyqatsi are disappointed because the film doesn't deliver what they expect/want. What people seem to want is another Koyaanisqatsi and I believe that is the driving factor behind these negative reviews.This film is different. It's images are fast, they are not slow like its previous counterparts. The meaning behind some images are even more vague and hard to decipher than the other two but are easier to tie meaning to.The film seems to have a strong pull on the concept that we are drowning within a sea of information (Beginning sequence with the numbers and the fade to the ocean) and that we are more attached to 'order' as is technology (Olympic ribbon dancer juxtaposed within a Grid). The film is more obvious but that's because it can't be helped. Technology is just recent an can't be represented through natural landscapes as the other two did. Therefore people feel like their being spoon fed what they already know, but that's because their not digging deeper. The film is visually abstract and looks great. The editing is insanely complex and it's a shame it's not getting the credit it deserves

The peace and beauty of Koyaanisqatsi was a powerful affirmation of the natural world. In Naqoyqatsi, we are assaulted by images of the synthetic, the competitive, the violent, and the digital -- the destructive constructs of our culture.Some liberties are taken with the images, with posterization, distressing, and much slow motion. The connections between the sequences are inscrutable, if there are any. Naqoyqatsi is defined at the film's end, a missed opportunity to place the images in context.The film is difficult to watch, the quality of the archival footage uneven, and it's most redeeming qualities are its theme and the hypnotic score of Philip Glass.

The film is worth a watch if you can hold on for the visual ride. A subjective plot leads you through a poignant journey of a violent and deadly future, present, and past. I found the film intriguing but visually and emotionally disturbing. The film relies on stunning visual imagery that never gives the viewer time to relax and reflect on the meaning of it all. The film is saturated with clever computer graphics. Without the use of CGI I don't believe the point of the film could have been made with as much depth as it had. The film attempts to give the viewer omnipresence over the world condition and how it got here and where it is going. At some undefined moment in the film the viewer 'gets it' but may find it difficult to put into words. The soundtrack for the film was excellent with work from Phillip Glass and Yo Yo Ma.

Following the masterpiece Koyaanisqatsi and the disappointing sequel Powaqqatsi, here we have Naqoyqatsi, "Life as War". Godfrey Reggio concludes his groundbreaking trilogy with a bang, but its a bang that leaves no echo. The film reaches levels of aesthetic perfection never dreamed of in the previous ones, but looking beyond the surface, one finds only a weak remnant of the poetry that tied together the first film and made it the masterpiece that it is. The problem is simple: both Powaqqatsi (Life in Transformation) and Naqoyqatsi (Life as War) are simply elaborations upon the theme of Koyaanisqatsi (Life out of Balance). Having squeezed this lemon for so long, there is little left, and one finds mostly pulp here. Yet the film is a masterpiece in its own right, albeit a shallow one. The Qatsi films have essentially been audio-visual feasts, and this one is so intricately polished that it soars above the previous two. While the previous two films relied on brilliant cinematography to weave there unreal realities, this one relies on digital effects and editing. Much is computer animated, and most real shots are altered with inverted negatives and colour saturation. Less credit belongs to the cinematographers than to the editors and the digital mixers. The effect of this, however, is a roller-coaster ride of earth shattering visuals, interwoven with Philip Glass' masterful score. Glass' music has always been elemental to the Qatsi trilogy, and here we have (in my opinion, being a huge Glass fan) his best work yet, not only in film, but in any medium. Working with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Glass creates what one critic accurately defined as "the first great cello concerto of the twenty-first century." With is organ/vocal minimalism, the score of Koyaanisqatsi was an esoteric Glass masterpiece, and, as with all his music, an experiment of harmony that some may have found alienating. In Naqoyqatsi, he achieves the perfect blend of mainstream/minimalist and creates a audio experience that, while unmistakably Glass, is receptive of larger audiences. To put it simply, like the film, this is Glass' most polished score, refined and tuned to perfection, and, while less experimental than his earlier work, is more satisfying. As with the previous films, the music and the visuals are interdependent. They respond to each other and are built upon one another. Thus, this is a fantastic aesthetic experience. After finishing Naqoyqatsi, one feels as if they have just taken an acid trip around the world. The film's major flaw is that, after the dazzling effect wears off, one finds little of value concealed behind the texture. Whereas Koyaanisqatsi achieved an unbelievable poetic flow, Naqoyqatsi is disjointed. Koyaanisqatsi evolved along a single thread, from the perfection of natural processes through the human world, through the Grid of human patterns, and back to the natural processes that eventually balance all excesses. Here, there are several fragmented segments, each one with a theme and pattern, but bearing little relation to one another, and with almost no sense of flow. In Primacy of Number, we have a dazzling display of a world as a binary code, almost like a real version of the Matrix, showing how all things are reduced to ones and zeros. In Massman, there is a close look at the human form (unlike anything in the Qatsi trilogy), and a shattering look at our desire to go faster, stronger, higher, concluding with the details of human emotions that appear through body language. The chapter New World is self explanatory, and is one of two cello intervals that occur in the film (the other being Old World). Religion is the artistic highlight of the film, accompanied by one of Glass' great works, showing the religion of the modern world, with devotion to country, sports teams, celebrities, money, and the new world order. Media Weather is a dull collection of images of world figures. The climax of the film comes in the Intensive Time and Point Blank segments. The former, accompanied by a brilliant soprano vocalist and cello, shows the accelerating pace of the modern world, moving toward a dim perfection, yet unheeding of the toll it may take. Point Blank is the one chapter in "Life as War" that actually deals with conflict. It is the most brutal, and unsettling item in the Qatsi trilogy, a frenetic display of hatred and violence that exists in the modern world. Finally, the Vivid Unknown (the best cello work of the film) shows us heading towards an unseen but trusted barrier. It is primarily a poetically rich display of images of space exploration, accompanied by aerial footage of skydivers falling towards earth.