Product Description

SACRED PLANET is a journey away from the hectic "world" we live in. Through stunning cinematography, it transports you to some of the most fascinating, exotic, and remote sites on Earth, giving you new insights into her diverse landscapes, peoples, and animals. You'll be mesmerized by the beauty of these all-but-forgotten faraway places, the majesty of the creatures who live there, and the wisdom of the elders who hold the knowledge of the past. This magical around-the-world odyssey is an awe-inspiring wonder the entire family will enjoy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60195 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-05
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 40 minutes

Amazon.com
This 40-minute world travelogue made for IMAX theaters focuses on the few remaining people who still live close to the land. Narrator Robert Redford mentions we should listen to these folks since, as the movie seems to insist, they have some inner peace the rest of civilization does not (represented by sped-up clips of urban life à la Koyaanisqatsi). Certainly their worlds look lavish: the deserts America, the rain forests of Borneo, the rocky shorelines of Alaska, the plains of Africa. As IMAX documentaries go, this is one of the thinnest, and since you lose the impressive vistas from the gigantic IMAX screen (unless you have a monitor the size of a house), it works better as a diversion. Other films have stated this message more effectively and entertainingly. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

other reviews missing the main point
I agree with the other reviewers that the stunning photography could have had a slower pace, and that much of it was obviously inspired by koyannisqatsi, and even moreso by the outstanding film Baraka, but I think they have missed the main point of this film, which is a chance to hear the wisdom of traditional human culture from some of the few people left who are living it. Each section of the film combines photography with a voiceover by someone from the local indigenous culture, native american, or amazon tribesman, or Thai villager, and I found this wisdom to be simple, heartfelt, and profound, a refreshing alternative to the hurried, worried life most of us lead, divorced from nature and from reality, wrapped up in self, status, and materialism. Does this make the film 'new age'? What if it does? This perspective is vanishing, as the film points out, as native peoples are assimilated into mass culture. This perspective is ancient- it provides a glimpse into the way most humans have lived and felt about their relationship with nature for many thousands of years. This perspective is also completely rational, much more rational than the way we now live, destroying other species and the environment itself in an attempt to sustain a way of life that any objective analysis shows we cannot sustain. I am not saying this as a soft hearted environmentalist- i am saying this as a professional ecologist who works a lot in developing nations. Our civilization is sick- it is destroying the environment while creating tremendous unnecessary human suffering. One of the illusions at the heart of this sickness is that the earth is here for us to exploit, and that man is separate from nature. This film gives native people a chance to tell us in their own voices how they relate to the earth. The film is never schmaltzy or melodramatic or righteous. It is straight talk from sane people immersed in an ancient culture of appreciation for life. Westerners, especially children, should be exposed to this perspective, to see that our way of life is not the only way, or even the best way, to live. The film delivers this message in a beautiful package that celebrates the beauty of natural environments. It is a perfectly enjoyable, benign, and inspiring way to spend 45 minutes.

Deserves More Time And A Larger Screen
Originally an IMAX film, a lot of the impressive cinematography is lost on the small screen, but that doesn't mean the impact is affected. Robert Redford narrates this amazing beautifully filmed documentary on some of the world's most fantastic places and creatures. Scenes of thermal waterfalls from Thailand edit to massive glacial mouths, air-spouting whales in Alaska, flying monkeys in Asia, exotic undersea life, razor tipped snow capped peaks and more. The sound is spectacular especially in 5.1 DTS with nature sounds mixed with subtle native percussion. Although it only lasts forty minutes and the screen is smaller, the special effects of accelerated photography matched against normal paced scenes makes for an experience far too short for its greatness. One could watch this repeatedly.

More than good enough
I agree with previous reviewer regarding that the scenes could last longer, but nowhere is a 15 seconds fading in-out (and, in any case, it's not a blank screen); it also may seem artificial in some parts, and new-age style in others... BUT... there are many images that I've never seen in my life on any documentary (in an incredible quality). If anybody gets bored with this (only 45 mins. in any case), well, you may not be suited for documentaries. The buddhas statues in Thailand, the monkeys in Borneo, the amazing trees in many places, the canyons, the crystal-ice... There's much more to be thankful for than to be angry with. As I said in the beginning, it should have been better if the scenes lasted longer, but that does not prevent me to give this four stars.
(Excuse my poor english, not my native tongue.)