The New World is Alive and Breathing

A couple of times the sentiment has been expressed that The New World would be just as good as a silent film. Perhaps I'm interpreting the words too literally, but I beg to differ. I would say that it's the first film I've ever watched where I noticed sound editing without actually paying attention to it. The visuals are stunning, yes, but only when combined with the power of the not-silence of nature--the frogs, the bugs, the breeze, the gentle lapping of water--does The New World gain the ability to truly hypnotize.