Product Description

FULLY RESTORED - The only movie ever transferred with an 8K HD Scan

Shot in breathtaking 70mm in 24 countries on six continents, BARAKA is a transcendent global tour that explores the sights and sounds of the human condition like nothing you ve ever seen or felt before. These are the wonders of a world without words, viewed through man and nature s own prisms of symmetry, savagery, harmony and chaos.

BARAKA produced by Mark Magidson and directed and photographed by Ron Fricke, award-winning cinematographer of KOYAANISQATSI and creators of the IMAX® sensation CHRONOS has now been fully restored from its original camera negative via state-of-the-art 8K UltraDigital mastering to create the most visually stunning Blu-ray ever made.

INCLUDES OVER 80 MINUTES OF ALL NEW BONUS FEATURES:
Baraka: A Closer Look
Baraka: Restoration

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1379 in DVD
• Brand: MPI
• Released on: 2008-10-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.20:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.com
The word Baraka means "blessing" in several languages; watching this film, the viewer is blessed with a dazzling barrage of images that transcend language. Filmed in 24 countries and set to an ever-changing global soundtrack, the movie draws some surprising connections between various peoples and the spaces they inhabit, whether that space is a lonely mountaintop or a crowded cigarette factory. Some of these attempts at connection are more successful than others: for instance, an early sequence segues between the daily devotions of Tibetan monks, Orthodox Jews, and whirling dervishes, finding more similarity among these rituals than one might expect. And there are other amazing moments, as when sped-up footage of a busy Hong Kong intersection reveals a beautiful symmetry to urban life that could only be appreciated from the perspective of film. The lack of context is occasionally frustrating--not knowing where a section was filmed, or the meaning of the ritual taking place--and some of the transitions are puzzling. However, the DVD includes a short behind-the-scenes featurette in which cinematographer Ron 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 Lomacky Moore

On the Blu-ray Disc
Baraka is arguably the best Blu-ray disc yet released. Shot in 70mm and scanned in 8K UltraResolution (8,192 pixels across the frame, the highest resolution available), it looks incredibly gorgeous and detailed, and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 @96k/24bits is equally impressive. One early scene is representative: a Japanese snow monkey sits in a hot spring, and you can see the tangles in its fur and the water droplets in those tangles. Skip ahead and you'll see a waterfall that's as visually impressive as the scenes in Planet Earth. New supplemental material shot in high definition for 2008 are a seven-minute restoration featurette, and a 76-minute documentary Baraka: A Look Back, in which director Ron Fricke, producer Mark Magidson, supervising producer Anton Walpole, and others discuss the film, including how Baraka was the filmmakers' next step after Chronos and Koyaanisqatsi, and the challenges of traveling to 24 countries with 68 pieces of equipment weighing a total of 2,200 pounds. --David Horiuchi

Review
...the finest video disc I have ever viewed or ever imagined...Baraka by itself is sufficient reason to acquire a Blu-ray player. --Roger Ebert

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Customer Reviews

VASTLY IMPROVED VIDEO AND SOUND QUALITY!
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.

Mesmerizing, beautiful, astounding . . .
The words mesmerizing, beautiful and astounding cannot begin to describe this wonderful DVD. Ron Fricke is to be commended highly for this moving work of art. I have a wide-screen HDTV and found the DVD to be much more moving than the VHS version I had seen on old TV in the past. If you have a choice--definitely go to the widescreen DVD version. The Dolby sound also was much enhanced over the previous version.

I firmly believe ALL PEOPLE should view this film at least once in their lifetime--free from all external encumbrances--this film requires your undivided attention.

All of a sudden, the world becomes a much smaller planet--one in which we all live in our own way and one in which every living being is important.

If you are prone to cry at beauty--have a box of tissues handy. If you are not prone to cry at films, have a box of tissues handy anyway. You will probably need them. This is a very moving film.

I was particularly impressed with the burning oil field scene because of the intense feeling the film created.

Viewing this film should be a requirement for living on the planet.

The best movie I've ever bought
This is an incredible, serious, and beautiful film. The imagery is astounding and often thought-provoking. The music is also great and matches the film very well -- if you like Peter Gabriel's "Passion" (the instrumental soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ), you will like the score for Baraka.

I disagree with the reviewer who said that Baraka is just an imitation of Koyaanisqatsi. If you'd bother to read the credits, Ron Fricke (the creator of Baraka) was also responsible for ALL of the filming for the -qatsi trilogy (which includes Koyaanisqatsi). Baraka is a different kind of movie, with a different, more subtly communicated message.

Baraka was shot in the (very expensive) 70mm format, which yields a very high quality picture, especially when transferred to DVD. Ron Fricke is a master of the 70mm format, and he actually designed many of the camera rigs used in Baraka (including the very high quality time lapse footage). Give Fricke some credit for having learned something in the almost 10 years since Koyaanisqatsi was filmed.

If you are expecting vapid, New Age eye candy, this is not the movie for you. If you want a beautiful film that will change you, a film that you can watch again every 6 months without getting tired of it, then buy this DVD. I have the original DVD (very hapy with it), so I can't say whether the film transfer quality in the Collector's Edition is on par. Maybe one of these days I'll buy the Collector's Edition and see which one I like best.