BARAKA

I was already a huge fan of Ron Fricke's BARAKA when I first saw it in 1992 -- it's a beautiful, non-narrative visual tone poem, with unexpected emotional context weaved into its staggeringly gorgeous visuals from around the globe. And as a film-tech buff, it was exciting to see something filmed in the rare 65mm Todd-AO format, with unique time-lapse and motion-control sequences to boot -- all shot on location, in 24 different countries. An emotional and technical jaw-dropper.

With this the new Blu-Ray release, I'm an even bigger fan. The filmmakers painstakingly scanned and restored every single one of its 150,000 65mm Todd-AO frames at a whopping 8k each, creating a digital master that far exceeds HD standards.

Quite literally, this is the most perfect HD release currently available for home viewing -- and the best digital media I think I've ever seen. Really.

The disc also has an hour-long behind-the-scenes documentary, detailing the fascinating production and restoration. The film's small, dedicated crew of five built the cameras from scratch and hopped the globe schlepping sixty cases of equipment -- on a miniscule budget of about $4m. It's like the most impressive indie film you've ever seen.

If you have a Blu-Ray player, it's a required purchase -- even if you don't have one, check out the equally stunning (but technically not HD) standard DVD release, which uses the same remastered version.

PIE?

PIE?
Originally uploaded by davecobb

At DuPar's