Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Janet Maslin, New York Times: A crazily mesmerizing pop artifact that ranks alongside Herman Hesse's novel Siddhartha in terms of extreme earnestness and quasi-religious entertainment value. Read more
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Bertolucci's celebrated burnt-orange-and-burnished-lemon look remains handsome, and the story itself still commands some interest as a pivot into daunting material. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: As beautifully photographed and intelligently-written as the movie is, it has no emotional depth or appeal, and is often as cold and clinical as its gray depiction of Seattle. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The modern sequences lack realism or credibility. The ancient sequences play like the equivalent of a devout Bible story. Read more
Joe Brown, Washington Post: Though uneven, the film is engagingly moving and often humorous. Read more
Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Little Buddha succeeds precisely because of its guileless innocence. Read more