Total cinema for your home theatre - Part 1

In this series I will look at some of the best films that will showcase your new high-definition, wide screen home theater system to its fullest. Films you may not have considered before but are truly awe-inspiring in their scale, beauty and clarity. From a select number of conventional Hollywood big budget films to BBC Wildlife documentaries to IMAX and 3D documentaries and finally computer animation. Whatever your home theater system, these movies will wow your guests. For the cinema purist with a high-definition home system, blu-ray disc is the format of choice when viewing any of these films. (see sidebar for movies being released in blu-ray format)

‘Sound is at least 50% of the experience’. Anyone who has a home theater knows that when it comes to enjoying movies to their full immersive potential, just how true that statement is. To experience a movie the way it was intended by the film makers it is essential to have a surround sound system. The best sound systems not only give you the big sounds in a big way but also reproduce the silences and softest sounds with absolute clarity. Effects heavy films are especially good for taking advantage of the new home theater technology to give one the closest experience that matches the cinematic. But there is also another type of movie that showcases the potential of the home theater system even more beautifully.

Non-verbal visual documentaries are filmed in the most exotic and sometimes isolated locations around the world and accompanied by only an eclectic soundtrack of music and natural sound. With no story or dialogue, the awe-inspiring images take on a profound and heightened sense of wonder, while at the same time showing our destructive impact on the planet.

These films are a small niche sub-genre within the documentary genre made by only a hand full of very dedicated, independent film makers. People you have probably never heard of but sound vaguely familiar, people who have, with their visions, influenced many conventional filmmakers and television commercials. These people want to make you think about what you’re watching and you can see something new with every viewing. These films are timelier now than ever and have lost none of their significance.

People who watch these movies rarely see them only once. The timelessness, pure beauty and thought provoking nature of these movies makes people want to see them over and over again. There are people who have reportedly watched these films 50 or 60 times if not in the hundreds. I consider them must viewing at least once every year.

Godfrey Reggio, Philip Glass, Ron Fricke, Alton Walpole, Mark Magidson, and Lawrence Taub are just some of the people involved in the production of these amazing films.

If you love beautiful cinematography of exotic locations put together in thought provoking ways and accompanied by a broad array of eclectic music, you will love this non-verbal, visual form of Total Cinema, where sound and image is everything. Don’t miss these amazing films.

Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance                       1982       Godfrey Reggio
Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation                      1988       Godfrey Reggio
Naqoyqatsi: Life as War                                       2002       Godfrey Reggio
Anima Mundi                                                         1992       Godfrey Reggio
Chronos                                                                1985       Ron Fricke          
Baraka                                                                 1993       Ron Fricke

The following movies are more silence than sound but are wonderful visual meditations on life.

Into Great Silence is a documentary without narration or a soundtrack and has long scenes of stillness so it can be challenging to watch for the modern audience who is used to a faster paced action packed movie.  But this documentary has its rewards for the patient and curious as it reveals the daily life of monks living in what must be one of the, if not the most, isolated monasteries in the world.  Nestled high in the French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse monastery of the Carthusian Order - founded by St. Bruno of Cologne in 1084, is completely restricted to outsiders and has some of the most stunning picturesque scenery. Its monks are totally dedicated to the service of God and practice permanent silence. Only after years of persistent requests was the German director Philip Groning finally given permission to film inside the monastery. What is revealed is quite amazing as monks in complete silence go about their daily routines of worship and we are shown a world untouched by technology and stunning beauty.

Babies is another excellent documentary with very little dialogue and no soundtrack as it follows four babies from four different parts of the world (Kenya, Mongolia, Japan and USA) from birth until they are one year old.  This interesting experiment reveals how different cultures treat and raise their infants and the impact that our environment has on us as we learn to take our first steps. I like this movie because of the interesting differences in cultures and environments, and the different personalities of the babies themselves.

JP

Tron Legacy IMAX 3D

A video game designer is accidentally sucked into and trapped in his own video game and thought dead for years until a cryptic message sent to his teenage son with instructions, opens the possibility that his father may still be alive and living inside the game. The son discovers a living virtual world when he steps inside the game that his father created.

This is a great visual treat for anyone who has ever wished they could live inside their favorite video game. Tron Legacy was not a great movie, but it was a great spectacle. If you saw it in IMAX and 3D as I did, it was an amazing sensory experience of light and sound which made you feel fully immersed.
 
One thing I noticed about Tron Legacy is how much some of the story elements reminded me of Star Wars. Being a lifelong Star Wars fan I didn’t mind this so much except that Star Wars did it so much better and it is now a 34 year old movie that is still being copied but not bettered. Star Wars just had so much more going for it that this movie didn’t. Some of the elements that Tron Legacy borrowed from Star Wars are as follows.

  • The father son relationship, with the son redeeming the father’s sins in the end. 
  • The apprentice who turns against the master or teacher and becomes evil in pursuit of order/perfection. Clu in his pursuit of perfection saw his master as being part of the imperfection he is charged with eradicating. Vader also seeks to restore order in the Galaxy and eventually views the Republic and the Jedi Knights as being the obstacle to that order. He must now join with the Emperor to eliminate the Jedi and restore the order that the Emperor promised him if he joined the Dark Side. 
  • The stealing of secret plans that hold the key to power and have potential for miss use by evil apprentice.
  • The color scheme of red for bad guys and light blue for good guys when using flying disc weapon similar to the light sabers in Star Wars. 
  • The vulnerable girl who is the last of her kind after her people are destroyed by the evil apprentice, similar to princess Leia who’s planet was destroyed by the Empire. 
  • The video game quality of the action scenes and flying scenes with the hero fending off the bad guys, who are in pursuit after escaping their stronghold, with a laser turret mounted on the back of a flying vehicle.  
  • The father in this case is also part Yoda and Obi-wan Kenobi with an interest in Zen and meditation philosophy. He also has special powers as the creator of a digital world in which he is trapped. 
  • The creation of an invasion army of programs is similar to the creation of the Droid army in The Phantom Menace, and the Clone army in Attack of the Clones.

Anyone who knows the Star Wars films as intimately as I do will immediately recognize these story elements from the Star Wars saga.

But Tron Legacy has some excellent visual flare of its own, especially during the motorcycle racing sequence on the grid with multiple levels that allow for more suspenseful and visually interesting racing action. 

Tron Legacy also has a beautiful futuristic set and vehicle design with glowing stripes that gives it a clean and sleek feel which I like. Unfortunately there is not much contrast in the design, nothing to balance it with a rougher, more organic look except during the beginning of the film which is set in a city of the 80s. But this is also a little too sleek for that time period.

Other things that caught my eye was the digital version of a younger Jeff Bridges who was a little off putting at first as you could tell he was a digital creation although it was extremely realistic. There was just something about the movement of his mouth that gave it away.

The costumes and make up were also very cool and I noticed some influence of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in the Jeff Bridges hide out apartment that looked very similar to the room where the astronaut finds himself after his psychedelic ride through space with antique furniture and lighting coming from underneath the floor and ceiling.

The ending being quite similar to the ending of Lost in Space (1998), emotionally and visually, it was quite derivative but overall a fun light and sound show.

JP