Why so much hype?

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's the rare documentary that is a therapeutic experience but I felt soothed and comforted by this gentle examination of the life of Buddha, the young Indian prince who abandoned a life of privilege to seek enlightenment. It surprised me to learn that, according to legend, the young prince Siddhartha had a kind of immaculate birth -- springing from his mother's side!Narrated by Tibet advocate Richard Gere and the actress Blair Brown, whom I had not heard about since her "Molly Dodd" days, this film offers all manner of colorful and thoughtful commentary from a variety of monks, scholars, and writers. In one segment, an impressively agile practitioner of yoga -- a means of "harnessing the energies of the body to tame the mind," which can be "as restless as a monkey" -- performs stunning breathing exercises and some impressive physical contortions.The Dalai Lama explains how enlightenment can be the hard work of each one of us, with the Buddha a presence to light our way.In all, this was a tranquil and thought-provoking excursion.

"The Buddha" is an interesting, PBS documentary tracing the life story of the Buddha. It is good for an introduction to Buddhist mythology, but could benefit from a bit more depth.Through the use of animation and interviews with figures such as the Dalai Lama, the documentary explains what Buddhists believe the Buddha went through, and what his significance to them is.The film itself is well done, with some good animation. However, I was left wanting more. It would have been better if they had provided more information about the development of Buddhism after the Buddha's death. Even if they did not have time to discuss all the different schools of Buddhism, it would have been beneficial to have more in depth commentary from representatives of the various schools. Most of the people they talk to seem to be adherents of Tibetan Buddhism, leaving one to wonder what a Zen or Shinto perspective would be.

This is a very informative documentary, and one that doesn't try to shove anything down your throat. Nor does it try to use guilt or fear in an attempt to sell some sort of moral message to the viewer. It simply just gives you as much info that is known about the life of the Buddha. It also explains some of the teachings and beliefs that the Buddha went on to develop and share. This film gives a general overview of the Buddhist way of life and thought. The pace of this documentary is also very good, this aspect makes it very easy to pay attention. Richard Gere with his smooth voice also suits the film perfectly as the narrator. And of course he is also a Buddhist himself. The visuals are great here as well. I highly recommend this to everyone. Whether you consider yourself a spiritual person or not, this is certainly worth a look. It is very interesting stuff, and this is well crafted material. Check it out!9/10

David Grubin's "The Buddha" is rather awful. It's the kind of pseudo-documentary infotainment that's prevalent on the History Channel or the Discovery Channel, and it's perhaps more suited to such venues than an outlet as committed to educational programming as PBS ostensibly is.The narration here is vapid, the images of art or landscapes are rarely identified, and the animations are juvenile. Though the music strives to feel momentous, it's actually generic Asian-sounding New Age pap. Perhaps the worst element is that so many of the talking heads are frankly annoying. Despite apparently formidable credentials, their commentaries -- whether discursive observations from the academics or musings delivered in a tone of wide-eyed wonder by the deep-thinking spiritual types -- are superficial and simplistic.Increasingly PBS seems to underestimate the intelligence and education of its viewing audience. It's a shame such a respected institution has become part of our culture-wide trend of dumbing down instead of maintaining the standards that its contributors have a right to expect.For all but the most undiscerning and undiscriminating, this film is likely to be found to be an exasperating waste of time -- or a two-hour snooze.