"Chariots Of The Gods" not exactly accurate but still....

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Taurus, Apr 3, 2006.

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  1. Taurus

    Taurus Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    I was wondering if anyone had this version of this 70s controversial documentary, and if so, what was the video/sound quality like.

    I bought another version of this program a few months ago for a whole $2 :) as part of a double-feature dvd along with some cheesy sci-fi movie. This is one of those bare-bones dvds with no extras, and it doesn't even have chapter stops: pushing >| sends you all the way to the second movie! The company that made the dvd is East West Entertainment in North Hollywood CA (their website eastwestdvd.com doesn't load).

    While I wasn't expecting pristine picture or sound, this version looks like a VHS video copy of a film copy.....of a second dirty film copy. It's slightly blurry, has dust/hair crop up regularly, the color is washed out, and the sound is like an old ferric cassette played way too many times.

    I grew up reading/watching sci-fi of every kind and this show made a big impression on me as a kid when I saw it in the theater, and though I know Eric Von Daniken was pounced on (rightfully so) by critics for the many inaccuracies in his book this is based on, I still would like a nice copy of it.

    Here's the entry for it on IMDB.com.

    BTW: the credits mention the soundtrack by Peter Thomas being avalaible on Polydor LP - anybody ever see such a thing, or on CD or cassette? I like the music quite abit, though don't know exactly how to classify it.
     
  2. audiodrome

    audiodrome Senior Member

    Location:
    North Of Boston
    WOW - I loved this movie when I was a kid but I haven't seen it since it came out in the '70's!
     
  3. Taurus

    Taurus Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    Yep, it's definitely a thought-provoking movie. And not *all* the details in it are manufactured: some of the paintings & other historical objects and literature in several famous museums, cathedrals, etc have illustrations and/or literature that are really hard to explain as just the artist's or writer's imagination. The music, the ancient stories and artifacts and all the modern day scenery of many amazing places all combined together make for a memorable film, even if you don't agree with its basic premise.
     
  4. FLEMKE

    FLEMKE Senior Member

    Location:
    CROOK COUNTY IL
    I remember seeing this at the theater and when I left,just staring up at the sky for the longest time. When is the end of the Mayen calender,2011 DEC.24? Nope,2012 DEC21.
    Funny how I remembered that.
     
  5. Christopher J

    Christopher J Norme Con Ironie

    Location:
    Fort Worth, TX
    I loved this movie as a kid, too. I haven't taken the plunge on getting Chariots of the Gods on DVD, but I know I've seen a review of the release of the movie from VCI. I thought it was in Video Watchdog but I can't find it in their review database; I'll keep looking. I have the OOP soundtrack CD(big Peter Thomas fan), titled Erinnerungen an die Zukunft - it's Polydor 557 350-2. Unfortunately, the cues are arranged into two side-length suites. The US Polydor LP was split into individual cues, which is helpful when you need to tell if you're listening to "Chichenitza: Temple of the Virgins" or "The Obelisk of Karnak." :) There was a two-disc Polydor Peter Thomas comp called Film Musik that contained some individual cues from the score, but it too went OOP and a single disc distillation with no Chariots tracks took its place.

    "The calendar stone of the Aztecs weighs 24 tons. Exact dates for thousands of years - without telescope and mathematical instruments?"
     
  6. Taurus

    Taurus Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    Christopher: thanks for the info. I'll have to start poking around the used CD shops for the soundtrack. You think soon they'll remix into it into hi-res 5.1 along with original album art and.....nahhhh! :D

    That Mayan calendar spooks me just a bit - how did they create it & even more to the point, what's up with its last date entry? And those old frescos (IIRC in Yugoslavia) showing what appear to be small personal spacecraft have always stuck in my mind.
     
  7. Christopher J

    Christopher J Norme Con Ironie

    Location:
    Fort Worth, TX
    Still trying to figure out where I saw that DVD review, but in the meantime I found that there's at least one more Polydor CD edition of the soundtrack. Not sure about the print status of the second one. (the one I have is the German one at the top.)
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Also, this site has the entire album in streaming Real Audio.
     
  8. Taurus

    Taurus Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    Thanks again Christopher. :thumbsup: Listening to the streaming version right now (it sounds better than the dvd!). That bottom graphic is the one I remember seeing when this came out over here (&the addition of the question mark makes the title's meaning a bit different I think).

    edit: wow, either they didn't iclude all this music in the film or the narration obscured it! The first portion of track #3 for example, which is sort of a jazzy piece with NASA(?) engineers talking through it - very cool! To hear the entire song is very nice - thanks again. some of this is like prog rock mixed with classical and.....I don't know. :) Now I really have to track this down.
     
  9. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I'm watching this on Netflix. It's just a damn good documentary about interesting places in antiquity. Lots of rare footage like the moving of Abu Simple (sp) and far flung monuments, wall drawings from the neolithic period to NASA footage. A nice leisurely travelogue told in vintage footage that journey's to lots of fascinating places. The extraterrestrial element is actually very understated.
     
  10. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    NYC
    Plenty we don't know, but to jump to extraterrestrials as the obvious answer, with anything possible, is presently still unwarranted.
     
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