I didnot like the beginning because the information provided is wrong. Buddha was born in Lumbini in Nepal. India has unsuccessfully tried to claim it many times but eventually the official stand of the Government of India is that the Buddha was born in Nepal. TV journalist from Nepal, Rabi Lamichhane, returned to his country from the United States determined to clear the record. He did so by staging a marathon talk show that lasted 62 hours and 12 minutes titled “Lord Buddha was born in Nepal.” The marathon was certified by the Guinness World Records. I am sorry to say that but the director should have done more research on his part. I am only correcting him. It is the truth. People watching the movie should not be misled. Even the abstract says Indian sage which is incorrect. It could have said Sage. Buddha is not worried about his nationality but his teachings is about truth and not lying.
Jai Nepal!
P.S. I didnot want to rate it yet but I could not proceed!

You know those bedtime stories that a child wants read over and over again? The ones that have something soothing about them and paired with the tone of your voice comforts them so they drift off to slumber in a calm, happy place. That's this story of The Buddha. It's become my nightly bedtime story. Many reviews have mentioned how it doesn't cover many principals of Buddhism but, its not the story of Buddhism...its the story of The Buddha. Its the story of Siddhartha Gautama's enlightenment and the path he followed to find it under the Bodhi Tree. And, as it's said, the story of The Buddha's enlightenment, is the story of Buddhism. And here that story is woven with history and mysticism and folklore. There's beautiful animation flowing between ancient and modern art.The narration is performed in different perspectives. Richard Gere tells the perspective of Siddhartha, Blair Brown tells the story of legends and interspersed within, scholars, monks and even HH The Dalai Lama interject commentary that interprets his story in an historical perspective. And I drift off...bliss awaits me in my dreams.

Firstly, who really cares where the Buddha was born? Do the Nepalese get any special recognition if he was born in Nepal? Cheers for them I guess. But missing the point is so typically human and it is also typical of humanity's attempts at creating religions. From the sound of it, the Buddha was a man who left his wife and child (as so many men do...must?) when his attention was drawn to the reality of suffering. He sought to escape suffering merely by understanding it. It's clearly a metaphor/allegory. And it's a wasted one at that. How should we respond to news that even the wealthy elites are unhappy with our state? By escaping the cycle of rebirth through ceasing to exist. Wow, that's great. Really great solution, just commit self-genocide. Brilliant. Not as action packed as awaiting Christ's return and the destruction of the world, but it still gets the job done.
Our lives are full of suffering, oppression, fear, ruin. If we truly acknowledged these facts we wouldn't attempt to glorify ourselves with some deluded sense of reverence or dress up our awareness in some mysterious sense of enlightenment or piety. We'd work to change our state as best we could while recognizing the universality of humanity and human needs. But that requires a messy political process and actually trying. It's much easier to meditate and pray and wait for oblivion.

The Buddha
{lotsa spoilers}

There's not much reverence in the film despite the constant whining of the sitar setting the mood for it.
E.g., 46m29s: In Bodh Gaya, Buddha figurines being sold right next to monster truck that has police light on top, a camouflaged jeep carrying a ROCKET LAUNCHER and camouflaged binoculars.
Commercialism of Buddhism at its best(worst).

Buddha was born wealthy beyond comprehension 500 years before Christ yet in thousands of years Buddha has failed to develop much of anything.
The people sought to settle conflicts are not Buddhists because the ambassadors of/to peace were never developed. This one thing could have changed the world.
Monks spend the entire day, every day focused upon self and yet never progress beyond the self gratification sought in self enlightenment.

Near the end, they said Buddha accepted and consumed what he knew was poisoned(spoiled) food. In short, Buddha committed suicide.

The miraculous teaching of "The Buddha":
No matter where you go, there you are.

...smh. IMO, it's not that simple.

If one knows nothing about Buddhism this is a good intro (if one can stay awake ...dear God it is boring) but further reading is necessary to have a working understanding of Buddhism and the Buddhists.

For those unfamiliar or curious about the beginning of Buddhism, a thoughtful and nicely illustrated introduction to the mythology of the Buddha. While the film does spend some time presenting the basic teachings of this philosophy, it doesn't so much offer insight into how Buddhism is practiced in the world today other than to say that every sentient creature has the potential to be Buddha. Nor does it explore how the Buddha's awakening freed him from the cycle of re-incarnation. Being a Christian myself, it seemed curious to me that Buddhism claims that such a life changing "awakening" could be accomplished without any assistance from the divine, simply by an act of will. Furthermore, the only mention of divinity in the film is a critical reference to the Vedic gods (re., Vedic ritual practice and the "demon" god). I suppose more comprehensive explanation needs to be sought from other sources. While much of the mythology can readily be understood as metaphor, the actual philosophy and practice requires more clarification. Even if it's not comprehensive, enjoy learning something new--- important to the people of many cultures.

This is a great crash course in fundamental Buddhist philosophy combined with the history of the figure himself. The music, the speakers, animation, and scenery are all well blended. It is a good introduction for people who have no background in any Eastern religion.
It is disappointing that Amazon is pulling it from Prime. The prevalence of Prime content that gets taken or switched to paid content is making me reconsider whether Netflix is the better deal.

to learn more about the Buddha. I loved how live action was weaved with animation. I loved hearing these versions of the stories and legends about him.

One thing I am wondering, all the art I have seen that depicts his death make him look like a young man. However, he was 80 years old when he died. Now, I am wondering why did the artists make him look so young?

I also wondered whatever happened to his wife and child? Did he ever see them again?

So much great information in this and an absolutely beautiful story of the Buddha. There was plenty that I didn't know and this was very inspiring for me. The people who are complaining about this documentary because of where they say Buddha was born are missing the entire point completely. We are all Buddha, IT'S ALL BUDDHA. Your Dharma will be very difficult if you choose to focus on only one thing that you have no idea for certain if it's accurate or not. Please grow up, and soon.