Koyaanisqatsi - Ending Scene (Best Quality)

Koyaanisqatsi (1982) by Godfrey Reggio.
Music composed by Philip Glass.
Cinematography by Ron Fricke.

[@siugbait]

i remember catching this movie on television one day as a kid staying home from school with an awful fever. it's not too dramatic to say it was like a religious experience

[@joeribaeck9932]

siugbait You learned more that day, then that entire year in school

[@johnvincent1823]

I saw this when I was like 8 and it scared the living fuck out of me

[@bothersomebertie1195]

"wtf are we doing"

[@TheNefastor]

@@joeribaeck9932 must have been an American school, then.

[@Nine-Signs]

I'd have the DVD ready as you will be able to relive the experience shortly.

[@missselfdestruct9651]

i have to agree with a lot of comments on here. no standard horror movie has ever scared me. nothing supernatural, no serial killer stories, no gore, no creepy dolls, no clowns whatsoever. if anything, movies like these bore me, with how dull and predictable they are. but this one right here. this is horror. this scares the ever loving hell out if me. this is existential dread. this is art. this shakes me to my very core. barely anything or anyone can do that. what a gem. what a terrifying gem.

[@DrHotelMario]

I feel like Koyaanisqatsi is probably the best depiction of Humanity's epitaph we have at the moment. This ending is a cry for help. To God, to any other intelligence out there, to our future selves, and to anyone who can listen. This is our scream into the abyss, hoping that there's a way to survive this and that it hasn't all been for nothing. If Fermi is right and the great barrier exists, who knows how many other countless civilizations felt this exact feeling of existential fear. To bring all these feelings out with no more than footage and music is amazing to me. Transcendent film. A true piece of art.

[@hewasdeadwhenigotthere7109]

Couldnt agree more friend.

[@jagdpanther6327]

Eloquently put

[@DrHotelMario]

@Moustachehilarity This is Koyaanisqatsi ffs, if it were a Marvel movie, or some Oscar b8, then sure I could understand that, but Koyaanisqatsi is pretty much the definition of subjective art. I mean THERE IS LITERALLY NO DIALOGUE IN THE FILM lol did you just sit there and watch it and have no lingering thoughts about it's message? Seriously, absolutely WRONG film to call analysis of it pretentious. It was made for this kind of discussion.

[@DrHotelMario]

@Moustachehilarity Cool, what's your interpretation then?

[@DrHotelMario]

@Moustachehilarity Yup

[@TheToothMobile]

This puts me in a horribly tense mood, and the fact you never get to see the engine hit the ground makes me feel like it never ends.

[@TheRealSkeletor]

Don't watch Inception then.

[@viceroybolt3518]

It doesn't. We're still spinning out of control even now

[@MillennialMonk]

Great observation. I never thought about not seeing the engine hit the ground until now. And just like the other commenter said it's like we are endlessly spinning out of control.

[@thelatenightgamer2624]

@@TheRealSkeletor actually the it’s pretty clear he isn’t dreaming as the spinning top starts wobbling and about to fall

[@jkhaira4042]

thats not the engine

[@UnleashTheBlob]

This is one of the most depressingly beautiful thins I've ever seen.

[@Nine-Signs]

Full of educational fats.

[@cmkosemen]

Like Wheat Thins ?

[@sergeigarbar1948]

You should watch Tarkovskij. Solaris.

[@firstman9273]

Watch the whole movie on the big screen.

[@sluffnut7507]

Yea but have you heard of oreo thins

[@22over7aintpi]

In case you were wondering there are two rockets featured in this sequence. The first is a Saturn V on the launch pad, the second is the first Atlas-Centaur Missile launched on May 8, 1962. No one was hurt in that explosion and clues to why it exploded are a flapping liquid nitrogen line by the vernier engine and the venting liquid hydrogen some seconds into flight. The failure was determined to be caused by an insulation panel that ripped off the Centaur during ascent, resulting in a surge in tank pressure when the LH2 overheated. Beginning at T+44 seconds, the pneumatic system responded by venting propellant to reduce pressure levels, but eventually, they exceeded the LH2 tank's structural strength. At T+54 seconds, the Centaur experienced total structural breakup and loss of telemetry, the LOX tank rupturing and producing an explosion as it mixed with the hydrogen cloud. Two seconds later, flying debris ruptured the Atlas's LOX tank followed by complete destruction of the launch vehicle. The panel had been meant to jettison at 49 miles (80 km) up when the air was thinner, but the mechanism holding it in place was designed inadequately, leading to premature separation. The insulation panels had already been suspected during Centaur development of being a potential problem area, and the possibility of an LH2 tank rupture was considered as a failure scenario. Testing was suspended while efforts were made to correct the Centaur's design flaws.

[@rokuronzoni6274]

Thank you for posting this

[@nightcannotbesosky]

"total structural breakup" that's an excellent synopsis of the movie

[@MrTubular13]

So....Neil....what did you think of the music?

[@22over7aintpi]

@@MrTubular13 Incredible. The perfect marriage of sound and vision. Thank you for asking.

[@danieldolniczky2454]

Welcome back. You know there is something special about this considering you look up this video once in a while.

[@beanbagchair]

True

[@zirioz]

I feel that Hans Zimmer heavily borrowed from Philip Glass in conceiving Interstellar’s sound track. Especially this scene.

[@hussamalkaissi4453]

same thought when I saw it! the organ, the simple tune, the melancholic vibe

[@LukDerVog]

but the ting is... it kinda works! I couldn't help but notice the similarities but Interstellar is about mankind ruining earth to the point of no return so we'll have to look for another planet to survive. So, given the music, Interstellar actually proves to be kind of a story driven sequel to this film... doesn't change the fact that Zimmer said he came up with the score on his own, sadly...

[@Baugliir]

@@LukDerVog Yeah, in fact, in 2012 Nolan originally just asked Zimmer to compose some themes in one day around the idea of a father-daughter relationship and the first main organ/piano piece of 4 minutes asserted the feeling of what it meant to be a father for Zimmer.

[@MaQuGo119]

water is wet.

[@prunusserrulata6303]

@Mr. Flapjack Presents Indeed, even that stupid robot in the Interstellar is shaped like the monolith

[@evan480]

One of the greatest endings in cinema history.

[@michaelbagby7760]

yes... this whole movie changed my brain forever

[@holysh33pshit]

agreed to both of your guys comments and remember its all a GRAND ILLUSION

[@kaizersoze]

Ok cheech you made no sense but up in smoke was a great movie when I was a kid in the early 90's

[@holysh33pshit]

Kaos on a serious note : why do you think they chose this failed rocket ( rockets) to end the movie, instead of , OH I don't know , maybe THE MOON LANDING !

[@SolariaMaterian]

the story of Icarus and Daedalus ?

[@costas3953]

10,000 years of humanity's journey and trajectory summarised perfectly in 5 minutes. We aimed for the stars when we first looked up at the night sky but could never reach that dream. I cried when I first saw this 25 years ago and I cried even more when I saw this again in 2020.

[@adamjensen2304]

Our story isn’t over, I hope those are tears of joy.

[@landofthesilverpath5823]

We reached the moon. And then we gave up. We've given up on achieving the glorious for sake of glory. Thats all the moon landing was. This is the problem. We have become too comfortable and listless. We are creating the conditions of entropy which lead to destruction of our civilization by denigrating self sacrifice, and the drive for glory and excellence. In many ways, I take the opposite view of this film even if I do very much agree with the environmental theme.

[@kds5895]

@@adamjensen2304 awfully optimistic

[@decimated550]

@@adamjensen2304 The rules of the universe say that everything falls into disorder in the end, and even organized conscious life cannot overcome that. We have made such a colossal mess that even PFAS, that cancerous firefighting foam chemical, is present even in raindrops and the ocean spray at our beaches. It's not just the visual arresting scenes of large pieces of garbage blowing around or full to the sky landfills, but our planet is already polluted at a chemical molecular level from the sky all the way to the groundwater. And as a recent study in Europe showed everyone's feces and therefore their bodies are full of plastic particles microscopic of course

[@MrSilk13642]

Stop crying so much.

[@moscanaveia]

I watched this movie when I was a teenager. A teenager with undiagnosed ADHD, who was also a gay boy in the closet, and with a really hard time building meaningful connections with people my age. It is baffling to me how this film managed to keep me watching from begining to end. But what I remember most is how this scene made me cry so much when watching it. And coming back to it, after not having watched it for well over a decade, I cry again and am amazed by how much my view of the world was informed, partly, by the unspoken narrative of the bafflingly beautiful imagery and the hauntingly profound music in this film.

[@Gurimwaru]

This movie is the realest horror I've ever seen. I've been through the goriest films, and... This one, with no harming images, no gore, disturbs me and haunts me as hell.

[@connor828]

It's quite possibly the ultimate existential horror.

[@piergiorgio919]

I think this movie involuntarily exalts humanity, the shots of the cities at night are just beautiful

[@viceroybolt3518]

@@piergiorgio919 What it has to say can't be said without saying that what we built IS beautiful.

[@Goldsrc17]

"oh noo im so scared of modern society and shit"

[@kormannn1]

@@Goldsrc17 you should be. Modern society has its horrific downsides that can drive you out of your craziness into other one, even scarier, if you are not careful

[@johnvincent1823]

This is without a doubt one of the darkest films of all time. This is the type of movie where you feel depressed for days after watching.

[@carlosantuckwell]

You can't tell from that short ending (the film was about 2 hours long), but that was the most powerful environmental movie ever made. No dialogue, no main characters, no actors, just mostly sped-up (some slowed-down from memory) time-lapse scenes starting with the natural world and moving into ever-more urban scenes. Those urban scenes made us look just like scurrying ants, and the kind of ants that destroy all vegetation in their area.

[@moscanaveia]

I have a recommendation for you. Happiness, by Steve Cutts. Ants are not exactly the metaphor I would use to describe the height of human industry and ingenuity

[@user-yp7rn6tb2t]

Humanity won't reach 2080

[@thaDjMauz]

​@@user-yp7rn6tb2tbut some humans might...

[@homeworldmusic]

Undisputably a life-changing film and soundtrack.

[@holysh33pshit]

AGREED

[@JeromeGentes]

I saw this when it first came out in 1982. I was 19 years old, and my moviegoing experience was pretty limited. But it sounded cool, and a friend and I went. We were wrecked by it. We tried to leave the theatre, and couldn't. We couldn't talk or think of what to say. I remember not knowing what to feel. The staff finally had to kick us out. We went out to the parking lot and starting crying. Then laughing. Then crying some more. We eventually recovered ourselves, and were able to talk or try to talk about what we'd just seen. I saw it again not long after the Challenger space shuttle disaster, which gave this ending new resonance. I have seen this film several times now--as well as the full trilogy--but this one haunts me more than the others. And this ending haunts me more. I think if I try to say more, it'll sound pretentious, so I'll leave it there.

[@1988mib]

Thats such a cool experience.

[@Axel10Endercat10]

tell us more, we have to know, please :)

[@asylalim]

Your comment'd given me some kind of inspiration. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pavafah3q7J7ns0

[@Sebastian-eg5iu]

Thank you for sharing~

[@stadjestem]

I saw it in my early twenties, in cinema, about '90 in Poland. I also couldn't leave, so much touched I was. This is a true piece of art.

[@zolarczakl3880]

This chillingly tragic ending aside, this entire movie is wonderful in that there is no dialogue, so nothing to distract you from your own thoughts and meditation on your own relation to our collective place on this orb as a species and our affect to this orb. Add to that the mesmerizing music. I was pleased to be able to watch this movie on a giant screen with the Philip Glass Ensemble playing to it live. I don't recall if the choral singers were present, but the ensemble surely played the score flawlessly.

[@dingdong1519]

Wow I didn't know they showed movies with a live ensemble. Must have been a great experience.

[@donr6705]

I saw it with the Glass Ensemble also, in 2002 in Boston.

[@Coasterdude02149]

@@donr6705 I wish I had known about that, I'd have given almost anything to see it that way. I was living just outside of Boston in 2002, where was it shown?

[@donr6705]

@Coasterdude, this is a big ask after 20+ years! The Orpheum entered my mind - does this sound like it could be right? It was a big, old venue with a full orchestra pit.

[@trextle_gsr8391]

I remember how I decided to watch this movie, looking at his assessment and not at all imagining what he is like. I'll be honest that I was almost asleep by the middle of the movie, but it's worth watching in its entirety at least for this final scene. This outburst of emotions and stupefaction immediately after the dragging scenes of the film is perhaps the best thing that happened to me when watching)

[@PrinceZakariyya]

This film changed my life.

[@Ben-zn8pe]

How?

[@galaxyman2007dtl]

GIVEN THE CURRENT WORLD SITUATION...THIS FILM SHOULD BE RE-RELEASED IN EVERY CINEMA...

[@jaswati]

Now more than ever.

[@EnvisionerWill]

@@jaswati If it was released in theaters today nobody would be allowed to go see it....

[@galaxyman2007dtl]

@BADSPOCK Human failure is inevitable...

[@randydelabarcena4988]

Now what do you think? “GALAXYMAN” 6/26/2020 13yrs past !

[@jobob47]

mandatory viewing.

[@suttree3233]

There is something at once terrible and beautiful about this ending. Watching the collective dreams of the human enterprise near satisfaction and then burst into flames and hurtle back towards earth. Like some mad hominoid fantasy that got out of hand and had to be put in its place.

[@22over7aintpi]

In case you were wondering there are two rockets featured in this sequence. The first is a Saturn V on the launch pad, the second is the first Atlas-Centaur Missile launched on May 8, 1962. No one was hurt in that explosion and clues to why it exploded are a flapping liquid nitrogen line by the vernier engine and the venting liquid hydrogen some seconds into flight.

[@moscanaveia]

@@22over7aintpi Way to kill the mood. Take in the significance, not the technical explanation. We live in an era after the Challenger explosion. We touched the stars. Where has that got us? To a never-ending crisis, a crisis of the self, where we are entrapped by the technologies we made to make our lives more comfortable or connected. A crisis of the collective, where people care nothing for the woes of others, and fight over petty shit. And a crisis of existence, where the height of human industry and ingenuity has produced horrible inequality, misery and a climate crisis that will be the doom of us all. We were promised the stars. We were given death, famine, disease and hatred. It even empties the atavic wonder we have for the skies with dreams of plucking its stars to line our own pockets.

[@kds5895]

@@moscanaveia Jesus christ all he did was clarify which rocket this was. You sound insufferable. Get over yourself

[@thelosttraveler5808]

@@moscanaveia Touching the stars have nothing to do with this, actually touching the stars gave us a better appreciation for nature. Undestanding how small we are, sure we have many problems to solve still, and we will always. Or maybe not if we go extinct before, but that's part of the game. Humanity will always be destined to search for truth, with ingenuity and curiosity into the unknown of knowledge. This is just a small stepping stone.

[@mr.melendez3872]

Damn mothafucka.. I just finished this and this comment is amazingly put. God damn! Thanks

[@Nine-Signs]

Koyaanisqatsi = Life out of balance. It sure is now.

[@thebammer5166]

Totally true! I couldn't agree more.

[@venator5890]

It has always been true.

[@Nine-Signs]

@@venator5890 Actually it hasn't, the making of the film was timely if coincidental, as it was around that time that capitalism blew past sustainable planetary limits. Today due to incentivised perpetual economic and biological growth we now take in excess of 30 billion tonnes more resources than the 50 billion the planet can sustain indefinitely without permanent ecological damage. And due to the doubling demanded by capitalism over 30 year periods, done so to stave of its collapse by giving "return on investment" at a globalized 3% long term average, we will be taking close to 150 billion tonnes of materials by 2050. We were not always out of balance, but we have been incentivized to be so by a globalised economic belief system in complete defiance of the immutable physics governing a finite world. Native peoples have often written of first worlders as knowing of the price of everything, but the value of nothing.

[@venator5890]

@@Nine-Signs Bud, capitalism apart, life is chaos since its starts, it's not about capitalism and economic belief system. I got your point, but mine is more about intrinsic life mechanics of unpredictability and state of inner disorder of fact, at all levels and on all planes of existence.

[@Nine-Signs]

@@venator5890 Well on that I would say the existence of anything is chaotic be it from an atom to the largest black hole and entropy over time eventually claims all to bring existence to a final state of nothingness which is perfectly natural. But to my mind and my general point, I see no reason why a species as clever as we are would intentionally shorten our own existence within that window of everything. We are terribly clever, but not very wise.

[@nomad_boreal]

"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which would burn the land and boil the oceans." - the Hopi Prophecies

[@urszulapietka9636]

Life changing, entire trilogy.

[@hewliganhaircut]

It is unbelievable how the cameraman did not flinch *AT ALL* when the rocket exploded. Nerves of steel I cannot imagine. Hats off to him/her for filming one of the most profound scenes in cinema ever.

[@vladimirrodionov5391]

It's a radar controlled automatic camera ;)

[@citizenhal]

No, it's not. The telephoto tracking cameras were manually operated by people. The Apollo and Shuttle long range telephoto cameras were also manually operated. Automated tracking was just not advanced/reliable/practical enough to pull off these kind of shots back in those days.

[@josephastier7421]

That cameraman was an artist.

[@leesully1669]

That was a missile with a satellite on top. I don't know what kind. It was from the NASA archives. As was the Apollo footage.

[@starman_217]

That was an Atlas-Centaur

[@davidmurphy8364]

Just watched Interstellar and the music just reminded me so much of this piece and this scene. I just think it's pretty cool how one made it off the earth and one didn't

[@niamor314]

Hans Zimmer was inspired by Philip Glass when he wrote the music of Interstellar.

[@_demitri]

Hans Zimmer ripped off the soundtrack by Philip Glass when he wrote the music of Interstellar.

[@vnloya]

Same here. Happy (and surprising) to know that I was not the only one who recall this...

[@binaryum]

демитри николаи йочансон fuck you piece of shit

[@holysh33pshit]

Fake Name Fake Space

[@philjohn1960]

I showed this film in class yesterday. I just love this ending. i'll be watching the dvd and my wife will say, 'are you watching that movie again?' then I have to turn the volume down. so elegiac and beautiful.

[@marcobeltran2872]

I watched this film at the age of 10, and I lost all hope in humanity. It did make me more aware of human nature, but this movie is disturbing to say the least, but it is perfect to show to everyone, because everyone needs to wake up and realize that Koyanisqatsi it our reality.

[@holysh33pshit]

i have owned this since it came out , it taught me to be an independent thinker , and question authority so the word NASA definition 1 to lift up 2 to deceive. nasa=satanasa=female devil is that a red snake tongue on the logo of nasa . gravity or i should say , the THEORY of gravity since it is STILL a THEORY . sea LEVEL not sea curve , HORIZON not curvizon the horizontal eye zone, the horizon enters your eye zone. the UN flag is a flat earth map ,why? remember that scene THE GRAND ILLUSION think hard about all of this please and remember to follow the money . how much have they got from us taxpayers since they started and what have we got besides tortured animals to the death and CGI cartoons including THE INTERNATIONAL FAKE SPACE STAGE . Maybe you should show this comment in class and find out what your students can dig up with ,follow the money detective work. keep the peace teach .... i love all you kids, dont fall victim to deception. and do your own experiments.

[@crankbrankle5107]

If this poor commenter showed your garbage fire of an essay to his class, the students, their parents, and his superiors would all be mutually appalled. Your links between points are somewhere between schizophrenic and evangelical cult-like in logic, and your understanding of the words you have been fooled into believing are dead giveaways of a sphere earth conspiracy is vastly below that of any third grader who can multiply two numbers together. Do you know where the money for NASA goes? The money given to NASA goes to science that allows the USA to develop better weapons and better economic opportunities so that the USA can get a leg up on their rivals. The only thing that you've said that I can agree with is the advice to do your own experiments, but I can't even fully agree with you on that point because under your supervision, the math and rational habits that you would instill in these children would leave them too painfully stupid to pursue engaging and well paying careers instead of living lives of intermittent homelessness and odd - job lifestyles which cannot support rent anywhere, let alone artistic or creative pursuits and social hobbies with mentally healthy individuals. I know more people like you than I am comfortable admitting, and this is the reality for their kids if they can't find someone sane to anchor themselves to. I hope you can appreciate how formless and ugly my response's structure is, after all, I modeled it after your word salad that you just served to every remotely functional individual who will laugh at you for it as they pass through these comments.

[@holysh33pshit]

Crank Brankle and satan deceived the whole world

[@holysh33pshit]

Crank Brankle you obviously support the cult of NASA , how much money do they give you?

[@alessiosem2238]

Godfrey Reggio was recognized by Coppola, Luca and many others gifted movie directors who wanted promote his trilogy. I think everyone may recognize how his work influenced many of our favourite movies nowdays. Recognized only by gifted movie directors while the rest of the world snobbed his work. His message. But that massage will crawl underneath your skin, you can feel it, you can sense the power of this images and the message hidden behind. But this message is revealing itself in these dark days. We are condemned and no one or nothing can help us to meet our self-destructive fate.

[@HenrikM48l]

The prophecy only tells us we have weapons that will turn against us.

[@marcobeltran2872]

Our minds are our most powerfull weapons, and its creepy because what you say its true

[@shiningarmor2838]

Glad I'm not the only one that thought "koyaanisqatsi" when watching Interstellar

[@semtexzv]

Oddly enough Koyaanisqatsi is one of Chris' favorite movies.

[@abdullah-il8go]

Hans Zimmer himself told that he was inspired from this movies soundtrack.

[@loge10]

Interesting also that this was made before the era of out of control CGI and the loss of more effective and human images for their own sake....

[@FearMonarch]

@@abdullah-il8go makes a lot of sense, thats the only real redeeming part of the whole thing XD

[@michelveraliot]

Yup we're here

[@bughunter94]

"I prefer the stillness here. I am tired of Earth. These people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."

[@RikkiiZ]

Who are you quoting?

[@tsogobauggi8721]

That is something what Doctor Manhattan says the movie Watchmen.

[@redle0pard]

@@RikkiiZ Public Restroom Stall-Wall Poetry. She left out the ending; "It All Ends with a Royal Flush".

[@RikkiiZ]

@@redle0pard Thanks!

[@willg4802]

Natalia Oliveira were tired of your complaining!

[@harmlesscreationsofthegree1248]

One of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces of music. The visuals make it heartbreaking. An amazing film indeed

[@seanharrison4817]

Haven't watched this in 30 years. I watch it now, and I am so sorry as our world burns.

[@chocolatetampon4492]

one of the best cinematic experiences ever...

[@nevoobrazimiy]

THE ONE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL MUSIC PIECE IN CINEMA HISTORY

[@ferreira991]

Nope, for me it will always be Hymn to the Fallen.

[@tysond9447]

It is as if we (the human race) are a living embodiment of Icarus.

[@ConstantinPhillipou]

Masterpiece movie + Masterpiece music. And yes Koyaanisqatsi: in 2020, life is beyond out of balance.

[@lullsbaby9321]

Is it though? Im getting used to isolation and wearing masks and disinfecting everything all the time.

[@ConstantinPhillipou]

@@lullsbaby9321The masses have zero savings, a lots of debt, "living life"at the edge lonely and shellfishly with disregard for the common good and others. Eating junk food and slaughtered animals, working a job they despise, sleeping around and then having kids in a relationship that will most often end up in divorce. I can go on and on.... And BTW, disinfecting * and wearing a mask (breathing your own co2) is not living in balance. *Overuse of antibacterial products can reduce the healthy bacteria on your skin

[@lullsbaby9321]

@@ConstantinPhillipou I agree with you, bud. Its horrid that a lot of people dont save money, there's ton of unemployment, hospitals are overrun and our diets are disastrous. Thousands of innocent people dying each day. People have always worked jobs they hate, though. That hasnt changed. My point was: this chaos around the world has been going on for so long that its becoming normal. Its not like the world was all daisies before Covid, either.

[@ConstantinPhillipou]

@@lullsbaby9321 Great point, however you have to look at imbalance in terms of increase as time goes by. Eg. The power of nuclear weapons is increasing exponentially year after year while we only change for the better ourselves with baby steps. Guess what gets more powerful day by day, the good or the bad and ugly?? On top of that, if we throw the nukes tomorrow it's pretty much game over Something that all our ancestors combined could never do remotely combined. In terms of change for the better however, they could equally do the same baby steps we take.

[@johnspooner1403]

Saw this in theatre in '83 with college friends from our photography program. Needless to say we were euphoric afterward. Saw it again with a pristine film print or restored digital version a few years ago and The Phillip Glass Ensemble performing the score live.

[@polarnadir2368]

I watched this documentary over 30 years ago... the end! Oh, my.. still impresses me ... goosebumps, philosophical thoughts of life, our place in the universe, progress, humanity, greed, love, war, and all that jazz that we come to experience in this so tiny path we call life. We come, we go, others will and have... Koyaanisqatsi remains.

[@DemPilafian]

Documentary? Just because the footage is real, does not mean the movie is a documentary. The launch was of a Saturn V while the explosion was an Atlas missile. The footage was edited to make it look like the same rocket. That's make-believe storytelling not a documentary.

[@nyrongristwood]

One of the finest closing images and soundtrack of any movie ever made Simply superb

[@formatcforcortex2465]

that organ sounds like pure black metal...

[@Bernholesurfer]

Master's Hammer definetely took a hint

[@galaxyman2007dtl]

As a fan of Arcturus' 'Aspera Hiems Symfonia'...and Borknagar's debut album...I agree...

[@johnm2576]

Moog Synthesizer

[@valkhorn]

We are accelerating towards that now more than ever, aren’t we?

[@Silverlining1111]

Just saw this in cinema. One of life changing movie. The ending is so beautiful and sad.

[@ninosawbrzostowiecki1892]

5:00 back to the humble beginnings. If only it was just a dream..

[@micmul23]

The exceptional ending of an exceptional film.

[@markwessels3182]

The images of the falling, burning engine remind me of the story of Icarus. His father, Daedalus, builds for his son a pair of wings - made of wax. Icarus sets off for the heavens, attempting to reach the sun (the god Apollo, actually). As Icarus approaches, the sun's intense heat melts the wings. Icarus plummets from the sky, falls into the sea, and dies. The question here is: will humanity's efforts to leave this Earth - our home in the Universe - also be in vain, as Icarus' efforts were?

[@davidvonch8223]

It does give the same feeling.

[@johnm2576]

Hubris. That is the significance of the Icarus story, and to me, the warning of this film. "We shall go to the stars..." but reach carefully and deliberately, not rashly and impulsively.

[@danielbedoni4844]

The answer is YES, our efforts will be a failure. We'll never leave the Solar system before it destroys us somehow. Nature destroys especies all the time and keep being the same. Our lives mean nothing in a (not so) big picture. Don't even bother yourself trying to find a solution, cause there's no solution. Enjoy your days in serenity by knowing Mama Nature doesn't need us... At least I love to know our lives mean nothing. It brings me calm and serenity.

[@FearMonarch]

so i downloaded a really weird torrent copy of this and the entire movie is backwards never seeing it before and knowing its weird film with no spoken words, i thought that was just the charm of it. it starts with the opening fade out of the cave painting until it fades out into the remains of the shuttle spinning. not knowing what i was watching, i was memorized as this unknown object that looked like a goblet or torch falling through the air spun until as it started to piece together. i also pieced what i was seeing together as the fireball reverses into the rocket. i watched the whole thing, backwards, just astonished and amazed at everything i watched, thinking that the only flaw on this masterpiece was how it started so amazing and never topped that finding out it was the ending made a lot of sense, but it robs the entire experience of this bizarre visual that i know was never intended to be seen like that, and thats what i think really defines how special and unique this movie is, that you can watch it completely reversed and get an entirely different perspective on it and not even realize that the movie wasnt intended to be watched like that

[@philrichardson8974]

I saw it that way cause it is posted on KZbin like that 😒 spoiled the ending

[@tedsmith6137]

That 'goblet or torch' was the bottom of the Atlas rocket body with the central motor attached and both outer booster motors and skirt missing.

[@FearMonarch]

@@tedsmith6137 i realized that eventually (i did need to research what the actually rocket was) but it was just so interesting and bizarre to see it really sucked me in

[@f0cks]

I love this film and I find it amazing that the photographer managed to keep his/her camera on this the entire time. Throughout the horror of that situation, s/he didn't forget his/her job; s/he didn't forget how necessary to history this footage would be. I find that remarkable and I don't think people recognize this often enough.

[@f0cks]

Hi! I found your question interesting. So I had a look around. So, the video is two separate rocket sequences. The first is a Saturn V, manned. The video is made to imply / look like a single sequence, but it isn't, as this rocket in the 1st sequence is the one which made the first moon landing. The rocket shown in the explosion was an unmanned Altlas-Centaur in a test launch. When this film was made, no astronauts had yet been killed by a spacecraft exploding in e.g. the fashion of Challenger. So thanks for the question. This is something I should know (it's my field, kinda, and also a huge interest of mine) and it was nice to have a good excuse to dig deeper. So, I stand corrected! I don't know if the film was intended to imply that humans had been killed by the rocket or not. I think if it was, it certainly adds more power to the message of the film. But either way, an incredible scene for sure. At least in my opinion.

[@wYeL333]

+Samantha Stever I always saw the Atlas-Centaur explosion in this film to be tragic on a larger scale, regardless of whether it was manned or not -- it shows the futility of civilization. Sure, we may THINK we've conquered the air, but everything we've built is unstable and flimsy (hence life out of balance), and the footage of the burning debris falling back down to Earth is the future of civilization as it is. At least that's what that scene communicated to me. Not saying you're wrong; this film is deliberately left to interpretation. Hope none of this came off pretentious.

[@jam99]

+Yuriy Lehki Don't speak for me. I think we have conquered very little so far. What we have done is primitive. We can't even control our own population size!! How basic is that for a civilised society? We have not touched evolution.

[@vasilstanev4234]

The [Men yelling indistinctly] quote on Your twitter made my day :))))) *tips hat*

[@maria510flores]

Samantha Stever k

[@TheImmortalSorrow]

This is the real horror. More horrifying than ghost, monster, or murderer.

[@ChristmasCrustacean1]

we will never get off this rock

[@holysh33pshit]

not that way anyway , nasa liars all space is fake

[@smartalek180]

"we will never get off this rock" Of course we will. At any given point, whatever the situation is, seems as if it will always be that way. But there has been progress, and there will be again. We are still in our infancy; we WILL grow up. Some day.

[@smartalek180]

"nasa liars all space is fake" You are a remarkably stupid person.

[@holysh33pshit]

smartalek180 don't tell me you live on planet CGI with 1969 cellular technology that can reach fantastic distances. Maybe you should take advice from the meaning of the word of the movie you just watched and become an independent thinker. question everything

[@TheCoolermaster24]

Came here after the failed launch of SpaceEx’s Starship…. 💥

[@joaquinvaleri7022]

Underrated Comment

[@devilgene7330]

Beginning to feel a bit scarier with that war showing up…

[@stuartsewell8133]

Koyaaanisqatsi and the Phillip Glass soundtrack is possibly the greatest piece of art ever created. It is particularly revelent in 2021 Man destroying the planet?? NO, the planet will destroy man. Do we really think we are more poweful that nature!! We are but a mere plague of tiny transient ants that the planet will dispense with when it's had enough!

[@seveneleven6213]

First viewed it in the early 80's on the big screen. Sat and stared in awe the whole movie. Then...this ending. Wow...just...wow..... Bought the soundtrack and cranked this end music in the halls of the military barracks I roomed in....weirded some people out...but what an awesome sound.

[@user-ep8uw6ic1r]

Imagine how it feels to be a cameraman catching this falling detail of a rocket after great and unexpected explosion all the way down to the ground. Just imagine how cathartic it could be

[@thomasoring]

Why cathartic?

[@nguyenhoanglong420]

Yeah feels like we have shattered the world by our HANDS !

[@hot2warm]

Thanks for the upload! One of the most haunting sequences that I can recall in any movie I have watched.

[@EmergentPhenomenom]

I can't hear this music without getting the most horrible chills

[@marcobeltran2872]

+John Roscoe yea bro, I watched this movie when I was like 10, and it fucked me up for good. I lost all my hope of humanity then, and as time passes, its just reinforcing that feeling.

[@Guadeloop]

+hot2warm I remember I had quite some trouble sleeping after watching that movie. It's very scary in a very different way, it's not the kind of feeling you get in an horror film, it's worse.

[@KatherineUribe-1]

+LuPe Yes, because it's not fictional in any way. It's the bare, naked, horrifying truth.

[@canniballecter2000]

+hot2warm Hairs. Standing. On. End.

[@rosswhitehill3207]

Best soundtrack to a movie ever.

[@linnealager6146]

This ending made me cry so hard

[@coachmen8508]

This is beyond film...

[@richardhiglett1944]

Saw it performed live infront of movie in Cardiff, thought my head would exploded, the fast parts were played incredibly, I felt soo alive. But this is the key scene of the movie, so affecting and resonant today

[@trollerpilotxiv3079]

Somehow the distorted audio makes it even better

[@arithearriana4938]

The goosebumps I had is immaculate

[@Usualyman]

2021 relevant feeelings

[@anon-rf5sx]

I discovered this because I was looking for Philip Glass music (contrary to many others I guess, who speak about the movie and the great impression it made on them). I wasn't disappointed. About the movie, I can't like it as a whole and I don't agree with its overall message. But I do find this scene very powerful and moving. Image and music perfectly unified, they reinforce each other. And to me this whole sequence is an image of modernity and technology, and all "real", but at the same time it has all the force of a symbol or the myth (for example, to me Icarus comes to mind). I consider that a truly great achievement. Recreating the mythical through - or better, seeing it in- our actual, everyday reality, using that and symbolism to communicate something "true" or "profound" about human nature or the nature of reality. It seems to me that this could be what true art is all about. *I hope this doesn't sound pedantic. I have tried to express what I feel and think in the most plain, clear way I could. I don't know if I succeeded.

[@Swiatlocien]

Profound and extremely moving stuff. Shows you the irony of us being torn between demigods status nad our eternal proness to mistake and vice.

[@kaimiar]

Almost made me cry ;_;

[@mamue2003]

The burning debris tumbling down reminds me of the Plastic Bag Scene in American Beauty

[@existentialerasure]

I saw this at the Inwood Theater in Dallas. Giant screen and a great sound system. One of the most beautiful movies I had ever seen.

[@MoKhera]

Scott Manley brought back the memory and I have to say thank you. This is a magnificent piece with thought provoking ideas on humanity's future.

[@susanf.7737]

Exactly right for this moment.

[@zeekan3000]

The rocket shown blowing up was an ATLAS ICBM which had a second purpose of orbiting astronauts in the Mercury program. They watched these blow up and they were scheduled to ride on top of one. So this was a test firing that went wrong. This used to come on TV at 2:00 AM in the 80's on Much Music. Usually during Christmas Vacation.

[@xpainsteiner5630]

Really? Wow, I thought this was the Challenger explosion. Hey, the more you know, am I right? :)

[@writershard5065]

+X Painsteiner Nah, the Challenger looks nothing like this rocket.

[@michaelclentworth1283]

Actually it was the first launch of the Atlas-Centaur.

[@funkydozer]

@@michaelclentworth1283 Yep, Atlas Centaur, 1962. Cursed project.

[@sevy1one]

J'adore ce film, la musique est géniale.

[@artao5]

I remember this. Live. In study hall. They brought in a big TV so we could all watch the historical launch. Utterly SHOCKING and mind numbing at the time. Koyaanisqatsi is such an AWESOME ... er .. "movie" .... as is Poyaanisqatsi, the "sequel" Might could oughtta watch it in this time of abject madness.

[@JCrashB]

9.2020: This is now more relevant than ever.

[@leechurchill1965]

A musical and visual masterpiece.

[@mrbluedudelazer1992]

Thank you for existing PB&J

[@antoinerhumbstet8028]

😊🎉😊

[@olcuqap1789]

😊🎉😊

[@olcuqap1789]

😊

[@Phil_Taz]

Beautiful. Still brings a lump to my throat after 1000 listens.... Oil painting with music.

[@slyboneslowthrob115]

koyaanisqatsi thank you...

[@lifefunseekertoday154]

I saw this fantastic film at the Ridge Theatre in Vancouver BC.....in 1982.....with my friend Tony Roberts. This film is utterly mesmerizing.The launch portion of this scene is a Saturn V, but the explosion is actually an Atlas-Centaur missile which malfunctioned......its all stock footage folks. Try Powoquatsi and Noyoquatsie too

[@ryandozier8053]

Someone here said that it was almost as if the entirety of humanity might be destined to parallel the famous Greek myth, ‘the flight of Icarus.’ And while you can dissect this film’s meaning for hours on end, each facet: it was that comment and parallel that struck me most. Is it possible we must first undo the senseless automation and production of weapons of minimal/mass destruction before we can move up and beyond? If we cannot contain ourselves, here and now- stop that senselessness. The killing and lust for greed- can we only THEN ascend into those heavens? Or are we destined to simply fail, here. To live in this state of Koyaanisqatsi?

[@kakhak]

What an incredible part of that strongest masterwork! My beloved and absolutely number one part from any kind of cinema.

[@MillennialMonk]

The ending scene gets me every time. It's so chilling to think about those early humans. They probably couldn't have imagined the things we have today. Also that art has stood the test of time yet nearly all the amazing complex stuff we've made could be brought down easily. The message to me is that despite thinking we've finally advanced we still stand on a delicate platform of technology. Take away the platform and we in a way are still the same people as our early ancestors. This is scary yet peaceful to me.

[@megakev321]

I just wasted 1 hour of my life watching the movie in reverse on youtube, I was wondering why the soundtrack was in reverse the entire time. Now I know its not how it was intended to be watched lol.

[@dommu9377]

😂😂😂

[@c0mpu73rguy]

I just discovered this movie. And this ending was terrifying. I didn't saw it coming. Indeed this music sounds a lot like Interstellar. They analysed its music in the TV news and that's what made me discover this trilogy. But by God, this ending!

[@Darkside13190]

simpsonofan I was so shocked that I was dumb, tears from both eyes ...

[@smartalek180]

Nobody died in this incident; that was an unmanned launch. If that makes you feel any better.

[@c0mpu73rguy]

smartalek180 It does. Thank you (answering one year later because KZbin never notified me and I wanted to see that ending again).

[@bentleyscarton5377]

San andreas introduced a lot of people to pruit igoe which led them to koyaanisqatsi many roads to get here

[@c0mpu73rguy]

Bent Ley Did you meant GTA IV?

[@TheKingDrew]

Never once have heard this movie but to me this seems like a masterpiece, the rocket, Both a symbol of destruction and peace I don’t want to survive a war if we lose it, the thought of the loss of freedom and the fact that people don’t have it is horrible, people automatically think that if you don’t agree your their enemy While we are on the verge of all out war all times,

[@theyweredeadwhenigotthere1391]

It's a very thought provoking film to say the least

[@DemPilafian]

The rocket? Singular? The launch footage was of a Saturn V while the explosion footage was of an Atlas missile. The footage was edited to make it look like it was all the same rocket.

[@snootzie78]

1:54 ironic that this came out 3 years before the Challenger explosion.

[@joaquinvaleri7022]

Wasn't 4 years before?

[@plinid]

This last fallen explosion debris reminds me of a camera. A camera that is left from our exploded civilization, still burning, but rotating trying to capture the truth around it. This last fallen explosion debris is, I believe, how Godfrey Reggio is viewing himself into the world. It is such a profound and powerful scene. And Phillip Glass score amplifies all to a heart tearing level!

[@safasaleh3010]

A devastating masterpiece

[@Emppu_T.]

I'll never forget seeing this the first time as i randomly decided to check it out as it aired at yle theme.

[@juuso4939]

I watched this as a child. My parents had it on VHS. But I usually fast-forwarded the building demolition part because I found it too scary, especially with that music

[@vladimirchernenkov]

Perfect song to 2020

[@joachim2464]

Rocket magicly transforms from a Saturn V to an Atlas rocket.

[@ifaeeafiify]

You mean before/after liftoff? Yes, but impressive visual footage and montage anyway.

[@CombraStudios]

Since they couldn't find a footage of a Saturn V failure... oh the superiority

[@miklosgotzy5095]

Yes, you are right and that fact does not matter in the context of the movie.

[@scoop4363]

Yeah, noticed that.

[@carlosantuckwell]

It's an allegorical warning that our technology will NOT save us from eco-death (which is a lot nearer now than in 1982). Do you have Asberger's Disease?

[@dav77h]

So all the interstellar soundtrack was just based on this? 🤔

[@AntonFetzer]

Until 1:08 we see the launch of a Saturn 5 rocket and afterwards it cuts to an Atlas rocket. This is the only problem I have with the scene, because the two launches are not connected in any way. But still a powerful montage and watching the falling center rocket engine is a deeply moving, almost spiritual experience, especially because I am studying space science and technology and this reminds me painfully how despite all the progress, we are still so limited in our desperate attempts to reach for the skies. A deeply humbling experience.

[@viceroybolt3518]

With the format of the film, it shouldn't matter. It's the rocket. Just like how pictures of the Pasadena freeway blend seamlessly into shots of NYC. The rocket is just a line in the poem, it could be any rocket.

[@DA-js7xz]

What's worse is that we're wasting our money so that privileged folks can venture into space, meanwhile billions are barely surviving down on earth.

[@KreemieNewgatt]

That was footage of the first Atlas-Centaur rocket in 1962. It was the first launch vehicle to use liquid hydrogen plus liquid oxygen as a propellant, and they had all kinds of problems with it (a bit of an understatement given the outcome.) It was only partially fueled, too.

[@francoisleveille409]

The original Koyaanisqatsi was shot with 16mm and 35mm film in 4:3 format. This transfer to HD digital is in 16:9 and the top and bottom part of the image was cut off to do this. Very sad.

[@scottslotterbeck3796]

An abomination

[@SolariaMaterian]

Superlative and incomparable for a hundred years

[@JG-dx5wi]

Fitting that this music was used for Dr. Manhattan in the Watchmen movie

[@nikoscuatro7251]

the deep of this end, and the whole movie, is because you are watching and your subconcience is catching the inevitable of the disaster, and your heart get the alert that we are going to the catastrophe.

[@shiddy.]

this really was the best quality

[@mauvenumnum5320]

when covid was just annonced i was riding my bike home and was listening to this and it felt unreel,

[@asachildtobecome]

The theme of doom is so prevalent in our history that in a way, I feel it is a shared certainty of our our personal and ultimate death.

[@ShutterSnapped]

+asachildtobecome It's one of my favourite scenes to ever come out of film. It's incredibly poignant and sad. But I hope, if to take anything from it, it is a warning rather than prophecy.

[@galaxyman2007dtl]

Note how the debris looks like a human form...a perfect symbol of our POSSIBLE failure as a species...BUT...the game is not over...yet time is short now...

[@dutchflats]

Yeah, everything and everyone dies eventually even the universe. It's how well you live with the time that's given to you that matters!

[@TSFboi]

I feel like obsessing over doom will only bring you closer to it.

[@Arda.D]

This kind of documentary is what kids needed to be shown in school