For anyone following the ongoing legal troubles with the release of Koyaanisqatsi , I received the following e-mail from the director, Godfrey Reggio this afternoon :
:droool:
Thanks, Euty. I just wish to hell I lived in a town where I could have a snowball’s chance of seeing NAQOYQATSI in a theater.
Ah well.
Wasn’t the first release of this film a limited pressing of 200 DVDs, sold at a premium price of something like $200 each? I hope the re-release will be a bit more, shall we say, accessible than that…
It wasn’t actually “sold” for $200, but if you donated $180 to the IRE legal fund, you could get a copy.
More details are (I think) still up at Koyaanisqatsi
Thanks for the link.
Great movie!
Thanks for the update and thanks (again) for introducing me to this phenomenal film.
Damn you Euty for beating me to the punch! 
I just got the same e-mail myself. (Yeah, I did shell out the $180 for the DVD, well worth the money, and I’ll buy the mass-release version too.)
Hey. I went there the last time that Euty mentioned the site and made the donation and got the DVD. Why didn’t I get the email as well? Like Tuckerfan, I’m sure that I’ll buy the mass market release as well. I wonder if there will be a market (collectors) for the $180 version?
What can anybody tell me about POWAQQATSI? Also, has anyone who is a fan of KOYAANISQATSI seen BARAKA or recommend movies of a similar ilk?
They pressed 200 DVDs, and (at least) two of them were purchased by SDMB members? What are the odds…
At least three. Euty, Tuckerfan and myself.
If I’d had $200 that wasn’t otherwise earmarked, it would have been four.
I’ve seen Baraka and the whole time I watched it I couldn’t help but think: Whoever did this must have seen Koyaanisqatsi, but just didn’t “get” the film. There’s some lovely cinematography in it, but it lacks the unifying theme that Koyaanisqatsi had. Of course, one of the guys who worked on Koyaanisqatsi, is the guy who did Baraka, so it must have been really interesting dealing with him during the original project since he obviously didn’t understand what was going on.
My local public library once had a tape of Koyaanisqatsi, which is the only reason I’ve seen it. I didn’t know there were more, & find it hard to imagine a sequel to that.
Oh God, now I finally have a reason to get a DVD player. Man, I’ll be keeping an eye out for those discs! drooling
Say, any Metro DC Dopers out there, what do you say we try to get the Arlington Drafthouse & Cinema to pick up Naqoyqatsi when it comes out? It’s probably the only place in the area that would run it now that the Biograph and the Key are long gone…
Euty, as you know, I live under a rock. I’m not familiar with these movies, and the link you posted was broken. Could you fill me in on what I’m missing?
Wisest Novel, try this site. It isn’t up to date but has decent information on the movie.
Thanks for the link, adam. I have to admit, it didn’t do much to whet my desire to see the movie. What does is the fact that so many smart Dopers are so, well, fanatical about it. That, and the fact that it appears to be poorly funded and limited in distribution. Makes me want to resolve the apparent disconnect for myself.
I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me earlier, but I recall someone (Euty, I think) saying there was an earlier thread on the movie. Maybe the server speed is causing me to repress memories of search capability. But I’ll go look there now.
Bumping this up because the release date for Koyaanisqatsi’s been announced as being 9/12/02. Reel.com is taking pre-orders for it, and I’m sure folks like Amazon.com are as well.
Could someone explain what is that movie about? I went to the first link posted, but couldn’t understand how to navigate the site to find the information I wanted…
Karl, the movie is a “documentary” of sorts. I say that because there is no narration or dialog whatsoever in the film. It is essentially, a series of linear images, set to the music of Philip Glass, with the central theme taken from a Hopi word meaning, “Life out of balance.” One could almost call it the world’s longest music video, but that simply doesn’t do justice to the film. It is simply something that must be seen to be understood and appreciated. When its released, find someone who’s got a giant TV and watch it. If you’re not moved by at least part of this film, you’re not human.