Koyaanisqatsi / Powaaqatsi 2 pack now available for pre-order! (1 Viewer)

[Paul D G]

This just in from Amazon:
I know that MGM announced Koy today, but I didn't see anything about Pow. Not sure if you can order them seperately either.
-paul
edit to change the link in case it was directed somehow to my account and to add:
I would expect these to be pretty much movie only releases but remixed in 5.1. Perhaps the trailers. I can't imagine extras such as director's commentary and behind the scenes stuff here. A short documentary on the making would be interesting but I doubt anything like that exists.
BTW - This is supposed to be released to coincide with the release of the final film in the triology...

 

[West]

Holy screamin' crap!! At LONG last, two outstanding pictures make their way to DVD! (I've had Koyaanisqatsi on laserdisc for so long, it's like a member of the family.) According to recently posted news on DVDFile.com both discs will have spiffnificent new anamorphic transfers (1.85), 5.1 sound, new documentaries (!!!) and trailers. (Wouldn't it be supercool if they included a trailer for the forthcoming third film in the trilogy, Naqoyqatsi? Keep yer fingers crossed!) Each will be available separately for twenty bucks, but ya gotta have 'em both! I was lucky enough to see Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi with LIVE musical accompaniment from the Philip Glass Ensemble at UCLA, and the only thing that would be better than that would be the ability to watch them whenever I want!! Hot diggity, this is great news!!

Now where's The Thin Blue Line...?

 

[Tom Oh]

Wow! 2 pack pre-order on Amazon for only $22.49! A must buy for me. I too had a wonderful opportunity to see Koyaanisqatsi with live musical accompaniment by Philip Glass in Ann Arbor, MI. I have also watched it on big screen in Brazil. It is a sensory experience with beautiful images and hypnotic score. I can't wait til Sept. 12th. I'm excited but my wife will most likely fall asleep watching as usual.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Sign me up for this pack - two spectacular films really deserving a large-screen and LOUD sound!

 

[John Berggren]

I'm thrilled. I've been waiting for these since seeing the Baraka clip on Short CJ 1:1. I need to upgrade my Baraka to the new edition as well, perhaps all three will have to be picked up when K/P come out.

 

[Bill Huelbig]

With KOYAANISQATSI, POWAQQATSI and the entire first season of THE OUTER LIMITS all being announced on the same day, MGM is my new favorite DVD provider. Thanks!

--Bill

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Can't wait. I didn't get the limited release of Koy... bcs it wasn't 16x9 WS. Now this is DEFINITELY a film to view 16x9 WS OAR.
Will be wonderful to have it to sit along side Baraka

 

[John Geelan]

Thanks for the heads up!
Just pre-ordered the disc from Amazon and got to use my coupon I've been saving for weeks.
Got the set for $5.47!
JohnG

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

This seems interesting.

BTW, could someone write (in phonetical-like spelling) how these titles are pronounced?

 

[NickT]

Koy an eh skat si or something along those lines. The only word ever said in the entire movie is Koyaanisqatsi during the 1st and last songs.

Pow ah skat si I think that's how, but I've never seen more than an excerpt from Powaaqatsi, so I could be wrong.

 

[West]

Koyaanisqatsi: Coy (like the word "coy"; accent on this syllable) / ann (like the name) / iss (as in "miss") / kotsee (rhymes with "Potsie" from "Happy Days"; accent on "kot")

Powaqqatsi: Pow (like the Batman sound effect; accent on this syllable) / uh / kotsee (see above)

I've occasionally heard the first syllable in "Powaqqatsi" pronounced "poe", as in Edgar Allen; both may be acceptable, but I prefer "pow".

I'm no English teacher, but I hope this helps!

 

[Kurt N]

Mine! One's mine--all mine and you can't stop me.

I had the honor of seeing Mr. Glass in concert in the 80's and that concert still stands out in my memory for 2 reasons:

1-the most diverse crowd I've EVER seen at any event...men in their 60's dressed formally sitting beside blue-haired teens in jeans held together by safety pins.

2-I really thought it was an intermission when the concert was over--the hypnotic quality of the music made nearly 3 hours seem like--maybe--1 hour. Perhaps the most amazing concert I've ever seen. I'd pay big bucks to see him again.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

These should really include the original soundtracks in PCM, or at least 384k DD 2.0.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

or give us the 5.1 in 448 kbps. Does MGM do that ever?

 

[Michael St. Clair]

David,

How about 'and', not 'or'. Increasing the bits of a 5.1 track is never a substitute for including the original soundtrack.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Well agreed but depending.

If a mix was intended for mono, then I want it in addition to a 5.1 remix. If a mix was intended for 2-channel stereo, then that would be nice to have too.

Where I start to not feel an alegiance to the original mix is when it was 2.0 but intended for Pro Logic playback. In that case, if the master stems exist, and the engineer wants to give me a discrete 5.1 mix, then this is a better approximation to what the original artist intended as the 2.0 "surround" mix was a necessary compromise of the limits of surround encoding/decoding technology at the time.

If these films had true 2.0 stereo mixes not intended for ProLogic surround decoding, then I'd love to have a 24/48 PCM soundtrack (or at least 20/48) like we do with many music video DVDs.

-dave

 

[Michael St. Clair]

David,
I am virtually certain that these films had non-surround Dolby Stereo soundtracks.

 

[Paul D G]

You could be purist in complaining that a 5.1 mix is not the artists intent, thus be disappointed in the disc. But, since the director is involved in it's production (at least he was for the limited and even autographed the discs), and especially since Phillip Glass has been performing the movie live for a number of years, who's to say this isn't what they would have preferred had the technology/money been available at the time? Glass even re-recorded the soundtrack and released is as a 5.1 DVD Audio disc... A little on the revisionist side. Sorta like Lucas.

Just to note: the limited has a 5.1 mix, and I would like to see a 2.0 stereo mix as well.

-paul

 

[DaViD Boulet]

What astonished me was that the "limited" release by the director was 4x3 P/S. Odd.

-dave

 

[John P Grosskopf]

What astonished me was that the "limited" release by the director was 4x3 P/S. Odd.

My understanding is that the limited release was done in order to raise money and awareness that the title(s) were indeed wanted on DVD by the public, and utilized the previous masters of the Pacific Arts tape versions which were in 4X3 AR asthaey were all that were available at the time.

This show of demand would get a distributor interested, and the money earned could be used to offset the expense of creating a new high definition 16X9 transfer.