Vajra Sky Over Tibet
Release Date: September 8, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatPhil Hall
It is not only the year's best documentary, but it is also among the finest films ever made about religion. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
Filmed only with direct light and sound, Bush's stunning camerawork adroitly captures the majestic landscapes and icons of Buddhism: its murals and artworks, monks and nuns. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
There's an Impressionistic feeling to all this, and sometimes it plays like a travelogue -- Bush is trying to do an awful lot at once. But the material is so compelling that we keep watching. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A gorgeous, meandering travelogue that only gradually bares its teeth. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJohn Patterson
Bush's stunning camerawork adroitly captures the majestic landscapes and icons of Buddhism. Not incidentally, the film also offers a compact primer in the ways of dharma. A tonic for Buddhists, no doubt, it offers many pleasures to atheists as well. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
A well-photographed inside look at a fascinating culture and its people. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Endorsed by the Dalai Lama and narrated by his nephew Tenzin L. Choegyal, this delivers an impassioned plea to save Tibet's endangered culture but little new information. Read full review
70
VarietyRichard Kuipers
An illuminating meditation on that deepest of Buddhist philosophical concerns -- impermanence. Study of a threatened culture and people is beautifully shot inside Tibet's most sacred sites and arrives with the blessing of the Dalai Lama. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNathan Lee
Limited almost exclusively to tourist attractions, this documentary glimpse at the sights and sounds of occupied Tibet amounts to a rhetorically inflated vacation video. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The images of gods and ordinary Tibetans that Bush captures are more eloquent that his turgid narration, and overall the film works better as a travelogue than an introduction to Tibetan Buddhist beliefs or history. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
There is a lot of history to be learned here, but the teaching is so slow paced that the most alert student may fall into a stupor by the end of class. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Too often the film itself simply shuffles the postcards of Tibetan scenery, Buddhist rituals and the Tibetan people (many amazing faces on view, to be sure). Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
Though Bush’s aims are admirable and his ability to slip into the cracks of an ancient culture impressive, one can’t shake the feeling that the tale of Tibet’s struggles against communist injustice deserves the attentions of a truly great documentarian, not merely a sympathetic one. Read full review
More From This Movie

61 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL