Product Description

FULLY RESTORED - THE FIRST MOVIE EVER TRANSFERRED IN 8K ULTRADIGITAL HD!

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

Eco-friendly packaging
-100% recyclability.
-20% post-consumer waste.
-Prints using soy based inks.
-Greatly reduces green house gases.
-Forest Stewardship Council (FCS) certified
-Weighs less than conventional plastic and therefore costs less to ship

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2671 in DVD
• Brand: MPI HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2008-10-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 97 minutes

Features

• 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. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MISCELLANEOUS Rating: 

Review
Awesome --The New York Times

Review
Magnificent --The Los Angeles Times

Review
Extraordinary --The Washington Post

Customer Reviews

No plot. No dialogue. Just beauty.
BARAKA is a beautiful travelogue directed by Ron Fricke, the cinematographer of KOYAANISQATSI. It is similar, but superior, to KOYAANISQATSI and its sequels, largely because it doesn't have quite as much of a political axe to grind, and because it is not designed to highlight the music of Philip Glass.

Instead, BARAKA is a profound, moving experience. I guarantee you will find in it at least a half-dozen moments of pure wonder, and probably many more. You will also see images of things you've never seen before, or even imagined. BARAKA explores natural wonders, religious practices, and humans in harmony and in conflict with nature and themselves. In many ways it remains me of the PLANET EARTH series, but focused on humanity, and with no narration.

BARAKA contains scenes of great beauty, great ugliness, and great humor. It is also a spiritual meditation, and I make it a point to watch this movie every Easter season, even though it is not particularly Christian in its outlook.

Buy it. Watch it on the best movie system you or your friends own. You will certainly enjoy this film. What I can't say is whether this new DVD release is superior to the old one, which is no longer in print.

Landmark film offers last peak for DVD in Hi-Def age.
Much has been said in the past 16 years of the film itself, so I review the specifics of this version. The newest (and likely final) DVD edition comes from the transfer intended primarily for the Blu-Ray release. By all means, if you possess a Blu-Ray player, get that disc. (I suggest you look to the numerous videophile magazines slowly putting out reviews on that format).

The boasted 8K UltraDigital HD transfer provides enough information for down-scaling to DVD specs without too significant loss, though the area of greatest benefit from the transfer is the color saturation. The special features are contained on the second disc, allowing room on Disc 1 for the movie's generous bit-rate and the DTS 96/24 5.1 audio track. The high bitrate for the video allows for great detail contrast with surprisingly little visual noise, preventing any jarring artifacting in the scenes of high detail in movement (compare the distant shots of large flocks of birds in this DVD versus similar shots in the DVD version of Planet Earth, and the difference is clear).

The surround mix itself is perfectly immersive, and the music could have been done no better justice than to have the new mix restored and overseen by score composer Michael Stearns.

Regarding the special features, I'll first touch on the lesser bonus documentary for the restoration and scanning process. It starts out feeling like an industry advertisement for overscanning with an 8K machine. Soon, they demonstrate and justify the necessity, artistically, for all this "technological back-slapping". And at six and a half minutes, doesn't overdo it.

The main documentary, "A Closer Look", is much more satisfying and steadily interesting. At an hour and sixteen minutes, this covers the full scope of the entire history, from Fricke's early work with Reggio, to the development of the technology for creating this film, to the many experiences in filming and traveling. It ends with a few points on the scoring, and a brief discussion of the film's reception and impact. This documentary benefits strongly from the extensive amount of behind-the-scenes video, as it provides a firm visual anchor for the numerous anecdotes the crew has to tell, and frequently offers touching moments between the filmmakers and the peoples with whom they interacted.

Overall, this DVD is a great piece that shows the strength remaining in the capabilities of DVD in spite of the growth of Blu-Ray. For the videophiles with an HD monitor not yet buying into the Blu-Ray market, consider this a cornerstone of your "show-of" set, yet buy it also for the film's stunning beauty.

...from ArtsyFartsy News, September 2008
This month's highly recommended DVD is Baraka. I've watched and showed this dazzling film to my painting students over the past several years. I can tell you the power of this visually enlightening film by describing everyone who has watched this to the end. When Baraka was over, no one moved, or even spoke. They simply sat, staring at the screen - then composed themselves and eventually filed out of the room. That's the strongest testimonial I can give you!

Baraka is powerful... no dialogue. It's a visual documentary of a poetic tour of the globe set to the rhythms of various religious and spiritual rituals, spanning diverse locales as China, Brazil, Kuwait and major US and European sites. The soundtrack will lubricate your mind. If you are an artist, you will want to own this DVD! Hint: To fully enjoy this experience, turn off the phone, sit quietly and close to the ones you love for just a few minutes before pushing the play button. It will be memorable. Baraka must be seen, felt and experienced to be understood.