Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, July 11, 2003
I warmly recommend this DVD for anybody who wants to know more about crop circles. It is a thorough and cool-headed overview of the various aspects of this amazing phenomenon, and it also contains many beautiful shots of many of the most striking crop circles of recent years. Don't miss the DVD Extras! Some of the best material is in there, including much evidence of a big orchestrated campaign to discredit the phenomenon of crop circles as a mere hoax in the public eye. Film maker William Gazecki does a fantastic job, and I am looking forward to whatever he does next.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Documentary on Crop Circles, November 27, 2005
"We're being forced to consider that this universe has all kinds of intelligences all around us that we've been ignoring...mysterious other intelligences." - From the DVD
Director William Gazecki highlights the science and art of crop circles in his 120 minute DVD Crop Circles: Quest for Truth. This levelheaded DVD interviews crop circle expert Colin Andrews as well as scientists and crop circle enthusiasts.
Before 1990, crop circles were simple and scattered. However, as time went on, they became increasingly complex in the form of insectograms, fractals, and other geometric patterns. In fact, at the crux of sacred geometry and crop circles is the Golden Mean, which is a ratio of "small to the large is large to the whole".
Interviewees relate fascinating stories of crop circle sightings, including seeing infamous glowing balls that often float around the circles. For example, Andrews relays a story about flying over Stonehenge, photographing the stones, then going back to refuel the plane. On his way back-a mere 25 minutes later-there was a spiral crop circle amidst Stonehenge...in broad daylight!
There's a liberal amount of science in the Crop Circles: Quest for Truth DVD. For example, scientists discuss how seeds from crop circle plants grow differently than the control group. According to one scientist, there had to be some kind of strong energy-perhaps microwave-pulse or plasma energy--to turn parts of full-grown corn into "exploded nodes".
One fascinating account told of 109 circles made one rainy night-with nary a broken plant, footprint, or trail!
While hoaxsters make some crop circles, the question that many have is at 200+ crop circles every year, what is the payoff? No money is involved and supposed hoaxsters remain largely anonymous.
There are tons of extras in Crop Circles: Quest for Truth, including:
* Colin Andrews talks about the CIA (He says that they tried to get him to say it's all a hoax)
* Mysterious magnetic particles left at the scene of circles
* Military helicopters arriving at the same time as the balls of light
* Extensive photo gallery of hundreds of crop circles
* Interview with the director
The best part of this DVD, in my opinion, is the jaw-dropping crop circles in the photo gallery. Whether made by man or something else, there's no denying that these beautiful displays of organic art touch the soul and evoke feelings of wonder. A nice mix of science, speculation, experience, and intriguing footage, Crop Circles: Quest for Truth is a great DVD for those interested in the crop circle phenomenon. The crop circle photo gallery alone is well-worth the price!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An intelligent and probing film, December 16, 2005
Complex geometric linear and circular patterns in which vegetation is squeezed flat against the ground have appeared overnight in wheat and cornfields in 70 countries worldwide over the last 25 years. These designs, generically referred to as crop circles, seem to be created out of nothing and originate from nowhere. They are exquisite works of art but who is the artist? In his documentary, Crop Circles: Quest for Truth, Oscar nominee William Gazecki (WACO, The Rules of Engagement) interviews researchers, scientists, philosophers, and laymen in an attempt to unravel the mystery of their origin and nature. Gazecki does not approach his subject from a journalistic framework, presenting pros and cons in a conventional matter, but as a filmmaker who is telling a story with astounding implications. There are no easy answers. The formations reflect a Sacred Geometry incorporating the Phi or Golden ratio that exists in ancient architecture and art and throughout terrestrial biology including human body structure. As one researcher states, "there is a force or energy at work that is governed by principles that are beyond the capacity of human beings".
Crop Circles: Quest for Truth begins with archival footage of single circles from the 1980s, and then continues through the next decade, showing the deepening intricacy of the pictograms. The patterns have now evolved to the point where in August 2001 a formation appeared at Milk Hill, Wiltshire containing 409 circles making up a wheel design that is larger than two football fields. The film displays the largest collection of crop formations ever seen on screen and includes footage of strange balls of light hovering above the ground in areas where crop circles later appear. Though the documentary is a bit academic in places, tending toward the scientific and technical, the formations themselves are so breathtakingly beautiful that the film becomes an awesome experience.
Gazecki interviews scientists who look at changes in the plants or soil that are both physical and molecular, characteristics that have yet to be reproduced by man-made designs. They also discuss germination anomalies, cellular anomalies, intricate and well-structured lengthening of the nodes, exploded nodes, burn marks, and even unnatural radioactivity, all of which cannot be the result of simple mechanical flattening. The documentary considers alternative theories such as plasma vortex, the circles as three-dimensional shadows of a four-dimensional object, and electromagnetic energy from the Earth but does not spend much time with them. Also mentioned but not probed is the possibility that the patterns are man-made. It would have been interesting to hear from those who openly create circles and see how and why they do what they do. One researcher mentions that if crop circles were to be hoaxed, they would all have to be done night after night without any mistakes or partial designs and completed in five hours. This is without being discovered, leaving footprints, or being detected in any way.
Gazecki is not in doubt that some kind of conscious intelligence is at work, dancing with us, playing with us, allowing us to confront what is possible in the universe. The film, however, does not support oversimplified hypotheses like ETs or UFOs but prefers to view the phenomenon as simply an unknown. As one researcher explains, whether or not we ever succeed in unraveling the code, the very act of asking "why" allows us to expand our consciousness, and this may be the real purpose behind it. The crop circles may indeed be "mandalas of the mind", a term that Buddhists describe as "a representation of the universe, a consecrated area that serves as...a collection point of universal forces guiding man towards a state of enlightenment or awakening". Whatever its ultimate source, the appearance of the formations has made us aware that we live in a universe full of mystery and wonder, that science and conventional religion may not have all the answers, and that we all have a cosmic source that is now beckoning to us. Crop Circles: Quest for Truth is not a slick entertainment package and it does not always flow smoothly, but it is an intelligent and probing look at one of the most intriguing mysteries facing our planet. If you see this film and I recommend that you do, please watch it with an open mind. It may be the most important film you ever see.
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