This documentary is a real quick way to understand Buddha. A lot of money around 4 million dollars are spent on the project. For me, Buddha has always been a mystery. This is most because of very complex teachings (or translations) which don't make sense if you don't know the real life of Buddha. I would prefer any new comers into understanding Buddhist to first see this documentary before going on to some advance level material. You would easily get the know-how and maintain your interest for advance levels. By technical standards this is brilliantly made documentary and presents an open view of Buddhism and life of Buddha.
