8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Filmed over a period of five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on 70mm film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.
Director: Ron FrickeDocumentary | 100% |
Nature | 67% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (96kHz, 24-bit)
Music: Dolby Digital 5.1
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
When the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, each carried a golden record etched with an eclectic collection of world
music, greetings in several languages, sounds from earth, and 115 photographs documenting life on our pale blue dot. The
hope—and this is a long shot in more ways than one—is that eons from now they might be discovered by an extraterrestrial
civilization significantly advanced to decipher the records' contents. We can imagine the aliens puzzling over the depictions of
these strange earthlings, with their Chuck Berry and Johann Sebastian Bach songs, their unusual anatomy, their
supermarkets and highways and rocket launches. What would they make of us?
I like to think that the non-narrative, experimental documentary films of director Ron Fricke and his longtime producer Mark
Magidson may eventually serve a similar function, if not for aliens then for distant human historians making visual sense of
the state of Earth circa the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. The two first worked together on 1985's
Chronos, an IMAX movie that—as the title implies—examines the passage of time, on scales both large and small,
using innovative time-lapse photography. They followed this with 1992's magnificent Baraka, which Fricke describes
as "a guided meditation on humanity," shot in 25 countries on gorgeous 70mm film. And now, using the techniques they've
honed after a career of working together, they've delivered the 5-years-in-the-making Samsara, their most epic and
affecting production yet. Part National Geographic-style travelogue, part buddhistic reflection on the cycle of life, death, and
rebirth, the film is a rare pure-cinema experience that engages both your lizard brain and the higher states of your consciousness. That
is, you'll spend most of Samsara in a kind of primal awe at the sheer splendor of the imagery, while another part of
you is busy pulling together symbolic associations and ruminating on the nature of mankind. What should we make of
us?
This is your new high definition demo disc. It's as simple as that. Shot in 70mm, scanned at 8K, and mastered at 4K, Samsara outdoes even Baraka—it's spiritual and technological predecessor—with a 1080p/AVC-encoded Blu- ray presentation that's start-to-finish gorgeous. The screenshots really do speak for themselves; for clarity and color and sheer jaw-drop factor, this transfer is unparalleled, even among other 70mm productions. The large-format cinematography here has such dimensionality and presence that the image nearly passes for 3D. Stone busts seem to loom out of the frame, and the water-sculpted walls of a canyon recede with near-tangible depth, to give but two of many possible examples. Each and every frame is strikingly defined, revealing the finest textures of rock walls, human faces, and intricate clothing. In the mandala sequence, individual grains of sand can be made out, even in longer shots. Color is just as striking—dense, vivid, and anchored by deep blacks and perfect contrast. Besides two or three instances of extremely slight aliasing/moire on fine patterns—where the sharpness of the 70mm picture is effectively outresolving 1080p—there's nothing here whatsoever to mar the picture. Grain is extremely fine, there's no banding or errant compression artifacts, no digital noise reduction or unnecessary edge enhancement. Samsara looks pure, and as far as I'm concerned, it's now the film to beat when it comes to picture quality.
One aspect of the film I neglected to mention in my review above is the emotive and propulsive score by multi-instrumentalist Michael Stearns, singer/composer Lisa Gerrard—who had both previously worked on Baraka—and Marcello De Francisci. The music borrows from numerous world traditions without being able to be pinned down, and it suits the film wonderfully. It also sounds great, premiering on Blu-ray with a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track that reproduces the breathy flutes, ambient droning, and choral expressiveness with ease. While there are no words—no narration, no interviews, no conversation—this is definitely not a silent film. The mix is constantly alive with both the music and washes of natural—or manmade—sound, filling all channels with excellent directionality and immersion. Wind whipping off the tops of sand dunes. The deep LFE-assisted rumble of a volcanic eruption. The tiniest servo noises of professor Ishiguro's robot. The sounds of typing emerging from a sea of cubicles. Soldiers marching in rigid unison. Everything has tremendous clarity and presence, and I'd recommend listening to the film loud to get the full effect.
Samsara is gorgeous and thought-provoking, even more so than Baraka, Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson's previous non-verbal documentary film. I went in expecting more of the same—a contemplative experience with trance-inducing imagery of the natural and manmade world—and I definitely got that, but I also got a more meaningful, even-handed look at humanity, its triumphs and failures, its depth and variations and universality. On top of that, Samsara might just be the most jaw-dropping high definition experience yet, unrivaled in clarity and color. (I'm withholding final judgement until I see the Blu-ray of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, which was also shot on 70mm.) I know we're early in the year, but I'm fairly confident Samsara will go down as one of the best Blu-ray releases of 2013. Highly recommended!
1992
IMAX
1985
2009
BBC
2011
The Complete Series
2006
1988
2002
1982
2016
The Original UK Series
2011
2001
2013
BBC / Narrated by David Attenborough
2009
2006
2007
2023
2008
2007
IMAX
2010
2016