The Movie:
After his work on Godfrey Reggio's famous visual arts experiment Koyaanisqatsi, cinematographer Ron Fricke parted company with the director and branched off to develop his own films in a similar vein. Whereas Reggio's follow-ups Powaqqatsi, Anima Mundi, and Naqoyqatsi have grown progressively preachier and less interesting, Fricke has quietly but successfully refined the formula with his two directorial efforts, the 1985 IMAX production Chronos and the 70mm extravaganza Baraka in 1992. The latter is my pick for the best entry in this small subgenre, but Chronos contains more than its share of visual wonder.

Running just 45 minutes, Chronos could be considered sort of a dry run for Baraka. Both borrow the basic concept and cinematic language from the original Koyaanisqatsi. These films are essentially wo...Read the entire review

Cry foul if you'd like, but I've never been much of an audio or videophile. Sure, I appreciate a digitally scrubbed transfer and an immersive soundscape as much as the next DVD addict, but I've never been as nitpicky as most reviewers on this site or elsewhere ("not that there's anything wrong with that", for you Seinfeld fans). I can tell if a disc's color palette looks a bit on the warm side, the framing is incorrect or the rear channels are too overpowering, but I usually won't flip out over a bit of edge enhancement or slightly thin dialogue.

As such, I've never been overly inclined to rent or buy a calibration disc for my modest home theater setup, much less shell out the money to have it professionally tweaked. I've got a fairly good eye for composition and color despite my less-than-perfe...Read the entire review

As a free-flowing marriage of visuals and sound as pure atmosphere, John S. Banks and Fritz Heede's Illuminated Manuscripts series is fairly satisfying in both departments. This project is described as being "part of an ongoing series of works that deal with sacred spaces and journeys of discovery"; the visuals combine processed video and photography with computer generated elements, while the audio closely resembles a mix of ambient, electronic and new age. Though many will find that Illuminated Manuscripts often works best as background material, the production quality of the animation and music holds up well to closer attention.

The self-titled 2002 release apparently began the journey, taking the viewer through various atmospheres and fantasy-like settings. It was a relatively abstract ...Read the entire review

As a free-flowing marriage of visuals and sound as pure atmosphere, John S. Banks and Fritz Heede's Illuminated Manuscripts series is fairly satisfying in both departments. This project is described as being "part of an ongoing series of works that deal with sacred spaces and journeys of discovery"; the visuals combine processed video and photography with computer generated elements, while the audio closely resembles a mix of ambient, electronic and New Age music. Though many will find that Illuminated Manuscripts often works best as background material, the production quality of the content holds up well to closer attention.

This self-titled 2002 release apparently begins the journey, taking the viewer through various atmospheres and fantasy-like settings. It's a relatively abstract experi...Read the entire review

Almost immediately after the surprise notoriety of Koyannisqatsi, cameraman-editor Ron Fricke embarked on an IMAX effort that took him around the world. Chronos is on of the first and one of the best-remembered of the early IMAX films.

IMAX is that large-format film process that has persisted as a special-venue attraction in special theaters equipped with gigantic movie screens and an audience seated in stadium seats canted at an extremely steep angle. Whereas much of the footage in Koyannisqatsi was off-the-shelf stock from the government or shot by the Energy stock footage library, everything in Chronos was new.

The unusually small crew (most of the creatives doubled as camera technicians trying to shake down their custom-built rigs) travelled around th...Read the entire review