*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I had not heard of this movie until recently. It looks awesome on Bluray.
Let's get it out of the way, this is beautifully shot, it's very interesting, and the music is good too.
However, please, we should all (including the film makers) stop pretending that this represents human life. In real life, no matter where in the planet, things don't happen in slow motion, with "world beat" music in the background, and in optimal lighting. Same goes for the time lapse stuff. And don't get met started on the film maker's own admission (in the bonus features) that they staged some of the scenes. You can film many things in every day life, using the techniques of this film, and give an audience a completely different point of view than this film does. And if you don't think this film is trying to promote a particular point of view, then you really shouldn't vote or reproduce. Look at what the movie shows. They cut from crowds of humans in a large city, going through their daily routines, to crowds of baby chicks being sorted. You really don't think they are trying to tell you something and influence you?!?! Or when they cut from an aerial shot of a massive field crammed with US war planes to a Jewish soldier holding a rifle at the wailing wall and then to the burning fields of Kuwait, you really don't think there's a meaning in there? You think that order is a coincidence? Hmm, why is it that the footage of the native people is shown in slow motion, with beautiful harmonies in the background, yet the scenes in the cities are sped up and accompanied by frantic drums? If this film is supposed to be a representation of human life, why not show both at regular speed? Because if would be boring and not make any money for the film makers, who pretend to only be in it for the art.
This movie is beautiful to watch and shows cultures from around the world doing interesting things. But don't forget, it's footage from selected cultures, in selected countries, put together in a selected order, with music meant to manipulate your emotions as you watch. Don't take it too seriously, real life is quite different from this, that's what makes the movie fascinating.