Without any single line of words, this movie's strength lies on cinematographic arrangement, musical composition, and viewer's own interpretation. Ron Fricke done a terrific job (especially on his city nightscape) and Philip Glass's composition is wonderful. However, viewers' unfamiliar with the film's narrative (post-capitalist critiques on technology) might find themselves' confused with a long still-shots, slow-motions, and fast-forwarded scenes the movie delivers. I personally need to take some time to connect the dots between the scenes presented.

The lack of dialogue, though, gives the movie more chance to be re-watched, as it presents an open-ended interpretation - which seems to be the director's intention. And if you can't watch it for the narrative, at the very least you can watch it for the wonderful music.

I think this film deserves more attention. Especially today.
All time favorite!

The barrage of image and sound that assaults your senses is not likely to be forgotten any time soon. It's hard to describe what the film is about or represents, as everyone can take away something different. Point is, you SHOULD see this movie.

maybe was impressive 40 years ago, but it's not breathtaking as it was before

If a movie gives you goosebumps the first time you watch it and the soundtrack keeps playing in your mind long after you've seen it, it's a 10/10 in my books.

The Qatsi Trilogy
Koyaanisqatsi (1982) https://trakt.tv/movies/koyaanisqatsi-1982
Powaqqatsi (1988) https://trakt.tv/movies/powaqqatsi-1988
Naqoyqatsi (2002) https://trakt.tv/movies/naqoyqatsi-2002

It literally leaves you breathless. Deep visuals and excellent accompanying soundtrack.

Hmm, probably more impressive 40 years ago. The formal elements here were done better elsewhere, for me, especially in Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera–here, the rapid procession of images never felt like they built toward anything. There wasn’t a sense of momentum, or of purpose. It all felt fairly random. And even watching the Criterion version, the film suffered from being shot on poor film stock at times and otherwise just looking aged. The score was repetitive and obnoxious too. I enjoyed the bits where you could really see the 80s happening–the fashion, the video games, etc. But otherwise fell flat for me.

This was really entertaining and eye-opening even though there wasn’t really a story nor dialogue the movie told enough with its beatiful cinematography and score.

A mesmerizing stream of photography, sans-narration, set to an unforgettable score. Breathtakingly composed, it's like a guided tour of a master photog's personal portfolio, with lingering still shots mingling beautifully with their moving brethren. High-shutter landscape panoramas, silencing animated time-lapses and fast paced long-exposure peeks at civilization effectively capture the wonderful beauty we take for granted every day.

A fantastically matched, epic-scale soundtrack by Philip Glass bumps it up yet another level, providing backbone and structure where it's most desperately needed. Midway through the picture, I was surprised to realize that I was thinking more during this sequence of mildly-related compositions than I ever had during a more traditional film. It's a stunner, something I can throw on at any time, in the middle of any chapter, and enjoy without hesitation. Pure beauty that's even more impressive considering its age, it's worth adding to any HD library.