EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Diagonaldi Very well executed

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Tockinit not horrible nor great

sirindell Galadriel the Noldo, the oldest of all living Elves in Middle Earth, recounts the Music of the Ainur, the creation of Arda, and the subsequent fall of Melkor. All living things are contained in her speech, and the magical images she creates for us speak of her immense power and knowledge, bathing the experiencer in a divine light. Upon watching this, one may put to rest his burden and plight, and with renewed vigor come to see them as a simple stepping stone in the Voyage of Time. The Valar are not represented in their physical image, but as allegories. The coming of Iluvatar's children and the corruption of Morgoth is also told in a symbolic fashion, presented by a handful of adventurers who wake in the desert and are drawn to Morgoth without first possessing the eyes to see the Evil and Malice he brings. Those who understand what I'm saying will also understand the documentary, for it is Wisdom condensed into 90 minutes. If you do not see it, I can only say that you are well off your path, seeking entertainment and plot, instead of investing your heart and soul into a transcendental experience. Immersing yourself into the film is a prerequisite, and if you are too proud or too ignorant to do so, be as you are. You will also come to know the Abyss which lies beyond Arda. Of the Fourth Age, the Age of Men, nothing is spoken, for it is still shrouded in the fog of the Future, and Mandos would not speak of it - not even to Manwe. Still waiting for the Quenta Silmarillion, hope Malick jumps on to that next.

mdeth-15394 Like so many other reviewers have mentioned, this movie was an annoying waste of time I couldn't even finish as it was inducing narcolepsy.*Nothing new stated, so no learning potential *Some simulated graphics segments were beautiful, some look phoned in *Above mentioned work juxtaposed with cheap attempts to "imagine" early man, earth, etc. *Pointless segments with poor Cate desperately trying to whisper metaphorical crap in hopes I guess of stimulating existential thought(this worked only long enough to wonder why this film exists) *Above segments admittedly written by Malick, which serve as notice to Hollywood to never allow him to write anything like this for screen again.I don't want to take away from some of the obviously hard work done by others on this film, but overall, I get the feeling good talent was wasted on this sophomoric attempt at a documentary.Honestly, you'd get more out of re-watching anything like The Universe, HTUW, or anything Brian Cox has done.Terrance, if you're reading this...science doesn't need metaphors...it's not throwaway drama, it's reality, act like it when you do a project like this.

petrplavec A gorgeous and visually perfect documentary, that is not educational, but it's kind of art, meditative and lyrical essay on the deepest possible theme - astonishment over nature, space and life on Earth. Just few words, mostly narrated by very fascinating and impressive visual. I like Malick's poetic art a lot, it's hard to find in the whole cinematography a director who could create at least a similarly fascinating visuals as this genius. Its close to be perfect, I only miss stronger emotions or better story, e.g. The Thin Red Line (best antiwar movie) or Days of Heaven I find phenomenal.

annasthasya3 This movie is very beautiful. Truly, magnificent images and colors. But oh, so boring. It took me half of the movie to catch what it was about, since I barely glanced at the summary beforehand. I love nature documentaries, so I decided to go watch it without really looking it up. I mean, you should be able to understand a movie without having read a 1000 words summary beforehand, no? Anyway. Very beautiful, but. Implied philosophic ideas, which feels a bit cowardly since nothing is actually said, Cate B. says maybe 50 disjointed words during the movie with very little interest, we might as well have no narrator, it would have had the same effect. There are many time jump back and forth with zero warning. I loved watching the space and ocean pictures, it was magnificent. (I could have done without the insects, lol) Some animals are seriously freaky, wow. One of my biggest problem is that since there's not really a narrator, you're show many beautiful places and animals... but you have zero context, you don't know where, you don't know what. I feel like I should have stayed at home. The most beautiful parts were the space images, which I already have since my computer's backgrounds are Hubble photos from the NASA, and there are a lot of nature docs on the net which would have fulfilled my ocean needs. I liked the parallels between nature is beauty/don't mess it up/people should care for each other and nature, but I was so bored halfway through that I ended up barely paying attention. I was writing this review in my mind...