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Powaqqatsi (1988)
Powaqqatsi (1988) poster

Powaqqatsi (1988)

Documentary • 1h 40m

Director: Godfrey Reggio

Cast: Christie Brinkley, David Brinkley, Patrick Disanto, Pope John Paul II, Dan Rather, Cheryl Tiegs

Arrow Blu-ray

Best English-friendly & video release · updated 6 months ago

Video notes:

> Criterion

Overview

An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.

Release details

Additional Info

Criterion has more extras

Length
100 mins
Type
Movie
Alternative Titles
Powwaqatsi: Life in Transformation

More from Godfrey Reggio

See more →

Director: Godfrey Reggio

Best English-Friendly:

Arrow Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Arrow

Video Notes:

Arrow has better encode than Criterion

Additional Info:

OOP IRE DVD is open matte, Criterion Blu-ray has more extras than Arrow

Director: Godfrey Reggio

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Criterion or UK Miramax Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

US Criterion or UK Miramax Blu-ray (UK has the OAR of 1.85)?

Additional Info:

Criterion has more extras

More from Arrow

See more →

Director: Federico Fellini

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Fellini's segment on Spirits of the Dead

The Toby Dammit segment is also available in Criterion boxset but seems to be SD, so Arrow Blu-ray > Plaion Blu-ray > Criterion boxset Blu-ray

Director: John Woo

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

US Shout! Factory or UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

> Disk Kino/WCL China import

review: Disk Kino

better encoding, some shots are better on Shout! Factory, others on Arrow

Audio Notes:

Shout! Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray has the original mono

Director: Lewis Teague

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Disappointing
Upcoming Release:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray disappointing

Best Audio:

R1 DVD

Audio Notes:

R1 DVD sounds best and has the original mono and a Dolby Stereo remix

Director: Ron Shelton

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK Arrow Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray disappointing, nice new master, but poor encode, grain completely crippled in some scenes, artifacts abound, etc, makes Kino Lorber look like FiM.

Director: Claude Chabrol

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK Arrow DVD

Director: William Friedkin

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Additional Info:

Plaion have also released a BD sourced from Arrow's recent 4K remaster, holds up strongly in comparison https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=19341&d2=19005&c=5415

Director: Preston Sturges

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Arrow Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Arrow Blu-ray slightly better than Criterion Blu-ray, not sure about France Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

(Arrow Blu-ray better than Criterion)

Director: John Carpenter

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:
Audio Notes:
  • the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.

Director: Tony Scott

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Director: Rob Reiner

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026

More Documentary on Blu-ray

Director: Leos Carax

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Hal Ashby

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has excellent master in SDR and a good encode. BD caps here.

Audio Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor audio: The 2.0 is fine but unremarkable, the 5.1 is presumably an upmix with a botched, strongly raised LFE channel which makes the entire track unlistenable on well-tuned equipment. Audio graphs here.

Director: Preston Sturges

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray extras

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

While it's included on both Criterion The Palm Beach Story extras and Arrow's Sullivan's Travels' extras, Criterion uses a different source and is vastly superior, see caps

Director: Mitra Farahani

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Ebrahim Golestan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Ebrahim Golestan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Ebrahim Golestan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Ebrahim Golestan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Forugh Farrokhzad

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Ebrahim Golestan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

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Researched and maintained by

tyyuxJojoTheMovieOtter

· last reviewed 6 months ago

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.