YMMV / Koyaanisqatsi

• Alternative Character Interpretation: The Movie. Godfrey Reggio said that the entire experience was up to the viewer. For instance, after "The Grid", there's a lone patient (whose arm is the only visible part of her) whose blood IV has come out, and is waving desperately for someone to help. Is it a stark look at isolation, or a Heartwarming Moment because a nurse comes to help her? Another shot is of a disheveled vagrant who seems to be a little mentally disturbed grinning at the few coins in his hand - is he happy at having some money to eat with, or is he pathetically deluded at the pittance in his hand?
• Awesome Music: The whole thing. One of Philip Glass's best-known works, and with good reason. The Anthem from Powaqqatsi is another Ear Worm.
• Do Not Do This Cool Thing: As Kyle Kallgren of Brows Held High pointed out, the movie supposes to show the dehumanizing aspect of the neoliberal way of life but seems like a celebration of it. He called it "one of the greatest texts in neoliberalism in the last half of the century." However, this indicates Misaimed Fandom.
• First Installment Wins: Koyaanisqatsi was and is far more famous and acclaimed than its two sequels (which many viewers have never seen and may not know exist). Some who have seen Powaqqatsi state it's better than the first film, however.
• Just Here for Godzilla: A lot of people watch the film patiently waiting for the penultimate 15 minute long "The Grid" sequence.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The haunting and ominous title track is sometimes used to convey Tranquil Fury. Fits even more if you have a shot of someone glaring, such as Fluttershy.
  • "The Grid", full stop.
• Newer Than They Think: Superspeed time-lapse photography was new. Only TRON and Pink Floyd: The Wall had employed it - and only briefly.
• Older Than They Think: Many viewers think the exploding rocket was the space shuttle Challenger, which was destroyed three years after this movie came out. The explosion filmed was with an unmanned Navy Atlas rocket, about 20 years earlier. Harsher in Hindsight too, especially considering the ominous song title; "Prophecies".
• Once Original, Now Common: The time-lapsed sequences of cloudscapes, scenery, traffic, and walking crowds have been very widely imitated, but you saw it here first.
• One-Scene Wonder: The boy walking on the side of the road and getting eclipsed by a dust cloud by a passing truck is so memorable it became the poster for Powaqqatsi.
• Sequelitis: Naqoyqatsi is often considered inferior, though not always considered a bad film, just not as good as the first two. Some have blamed it on the Sequel Gap of 14 years, while Glass' score was radically different from the first two films.
• Tear Jerker: There is a strangely moving shot during the "Prophecies" sequence. An unseen elderly person can be seen, their shaking, bandaged wrist bleeding and with an IV inserted, reaching out their hand. Moments later, the hand is grasped by a nurse. It's one of very few moments of genuine pathos in the film, and perhaps indicates humanity's capacity for compassion as well as destruction.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Released in 1983, but largely filmed in The '70s. It starts becoming a period piece when they begin showing people in dated clothing, and really dates itself when it shows the inside of an arcade (bridging those years in which the 1970s transitioned into the '80s culturally — one man is playing Q*bert, which was released in late 1982, and we see Stargate and Robotron: 2084, which were released in 1981 and 1982).

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