Whale Rider
by Niki Caro
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DVD details
Actor: Cliff Curtis, Grant Roa, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky HaughtonDirector: Niki Caro
Brand: CASTLE-HUGHES,KEISH
Writer: Niki Caro
Producer: Bill Gavin
Producer: Frank H?bner
Producer: John Barnett
Producer: Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Producer: Reinhard Brundig
Writer: Witi Ihimaera
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-10-28
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product features:
- $20 off any order $100+ use BYDP20
DVD Reviews of Whale Rider
DVD Review: simply amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
beautifully filmed, beautiful moral. i watched this movie when it first came out when i was 11. i didn't pay much attention and thought it was boring. after watching free willy with my sister about 2 months ago, they mentioned a story about someone who rode a whale. i didn't think much of it until i had a dream that night about the whale rider. so what did i do? research! i realized i had seen whale rider before when i was small. anyways got it, watched it, cried tears of joy. WORTH EVERY PENNY. plus the new zealand accent is amazing, makes the American one sound horrible. :)DVD Review: One of my all-time favorites!
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently watched this again. The magic of this movie is that it moves me each time I see it, as if I'm seeing it for the first time. The first time was in the movie theater, and I knew very little about it then. I knew from the opening scenes that I was going to love it. The atmosphere created by the scenery, the musical score, and the acting leave no doubt that it is a movie with a lot to say. It is about many things - tradition, family, hope, and acceptance among them. Keisha Hughes gives a mesmerizing performance, among the best of a young actor/actress I have ever seen. She steals every scene she is in, with her presence and sincere portrayal. The ending is unexpectedly powerful, and moved me for reasons I was not entirely aware of until later. There is not a weak moment in the movie. Every scene serves a purpose, and contributes to the overall mood needed for the ending to work so well. I'm not crazy about all-time favorite lists for movies, because there so many great movies out there. If I were to attempt one, I'm confident this would be very high on the list. DVD Review: decent dvd; came on time, and plays fine.
Summary: 4 Stars
the dvd had more scratches than i would have liked, but played fine on the dvd player. DVD Review: must add to DVD collection
Summary: 5 Stars
I had seen this movie on TV and loved it and wanted to add this DVD to my collection. The movie introduced me to a culture and country I knew very little about. The acting is superb. A wonderful change from some of the crap we see in movies these days.DVD Review: The Whale Rider reveiw
Summary: 4 Stars
The whale rider is a movie possibly placed in New Zealand based on the language accent I heard in the movie and by seeing the kitchen tapestry with New on it. The plot has to do with a Patriach/Chief of the village towns people wanting desperately to follow in the sacred spiritual ways of the spiritual ancestors and fulfill his duty of passing the history of the people and the responsibility of leading the people to an heir preferably a male. He is set in his ways and tradition and doing so with such a tunnel vision perspective that in his attempts to fulfill this leadership void he fails to see the special gifts and destiny of his grandaughter a true bloodline decendant of Paikea.
The chief's name is Koro and he has pushed his eldest son so hard in trying to get him to accept this role and responsibility to the point of running his son away from the village and the people. The son's wife died in childbirth while delivering fraternal twins where the male child died with the mother but the female lived. The female child was named Paikea nicknamed Pai. This is where Koro believes the trouble starts. Koro loves his granddaughter however, with many of the world's customs unfortunately the men tend to make the women take back seats to the males and this is very unfortunate. Koro rejects the idea of his grandaughter being the next spiritual leader even though she is of the bloodline of their ancestors and well God Paikea. Tradition says that Koro has to pick a male. Koro attempts to school several young boys in the ways of the ancestors and they failed so Koro has failed. All the while Paikea is trying to tell Koro, in her actions, she believes she is the next chief. She even retrieves the chiefs well tooth that he throws in the ocean for the boy trainees to retrieve to show themselves brave, strong and approved by the ancestors. Pai actually retrieves it and summons the ancestral whale Gods for help. They listened and came to her aid even after Koro, in a state of failure and distress, failed to do so.
A pod of whales supposedly beached themselves but they were actually an opportunity for Koro to see that Pai had spiritual power and connection to get the entire herd back into the sea. Koro saw Pai riding the whale and then he believed. This movie also showed the breakdown of predjudiceness, tradition, and familiarity with love, determination, diligence and destiny. Pie helped to heal her people and her father returned home. This movie relates to world religion by showing how tribes and cultures have continued ancient ways and beliefs in connecting with those whom have passed on. They have given them power and spiritual significance by labeling them supreme beings. This significance and power have also transcended to the peoples every day lives. World religions have taught people that the ancestors are in control of their everyday lives and futures and that the ancestors should be respected and consulted for directions. In the Whale rider the supreme being was Paikea ironically the same name of the girl descendant and main character of the movie. Pai, even though at the end of the movie proclaims that she is not a prophet (probably at the behest of Koro), does in a way assume the role of a Shaman. Not that of a medicine woman but that of a healer because Pai healed her people.
Description of Whale Rider
There is a legend that Paikea rode on the back of a whale and led his people to New Zealand. Since that time tradition has decreed that the first-born male descendant will become chief of the tribe. Then Pai is born...and she is a girl. She grows up within a close-knit village which retains the tribes traditional spiritual relationship with the sea and their warrior values. Although loved by all, Pai faces rejection from her grandfather, Koro, who is brokenhearted that there is no grandson to carry on the line.One of the most charming and critically acclaimed films of 2003, the New Zealand hit Whale Rider effectively combines Maori tribal tradition with the timely "girl power" of a vibrant new millennium. Despite the discouragement of her gruff and disapproving grandfather (Rawiri Paratene), who nearly disowns her because she is female and therefore traditionally disqualified from tribal leadership, 12-year-old Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is convinced that she is a tribal leader, and sets about to prove it. Rather than inflate this story (from a novel by Witi Ihimaera) with artificial sentiment, writer-director Niki Caro develops very real and turbulent family relationships, intimate and yet torn by a collision between stubborn tradition and changing attitudes. The mythic whale rider--the ultimate symbol of Maori connection to nature--is also the harbinger of Pai's destiny, and the appealing Castle-Hughes gives a luminous, astonishingly powerful performance that won't leave a dry eye in the house. With its fresh take on a familiar tale, Whale Rider is definitely one from the heart. --Jeff Shannon
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