The dead lands ru
4 wins & 9 nominations. See more awards » Learn more Edit Storyline After his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery, Hongi, a Maori chieftain's teenage son, must avenge his father's murder in order to bring peace and honor to the souls of his loved ones. Vastly outnumbered by a band of villains, Hongi's only hope is to pass through the feared and forbidden Dead Lands and forge an uneasy alliance with the mysterious Warrior, a ruthless fighter who has ruled the area for years. Written by GFC Plot Summary | Add Synopsis Plot Keywords: tribe | maori | polynesian | See All (3) » Taglines: Where the warrior spirit was born Parents Guide: Add content advisory for parents » Edit Details Official Sites: Official Facebook | Official site Country: New Zealand | UK Release Date: ( New Zealand) See more » Also Known As: Savasçi See more » Filming Locations: New Zealand Opening Weekend: ,327 ( USA) ( ) Gross: ,426 ( USA) ( ) See more » Production Co: General Film Corporation See more » Show detailed company contact information on IMDb Pro » Runtime: 107 min Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1 See full technical specs » Edit Did You Know? Trivia Although the film is shot in Te Reo (the Maori language director Toa Fraser doesn't speak the language. See more » Goofs At the very end of the movie when the warrior rises up in the woods and stands there with a light on his face, a car drives past in the background. See more » User Reviews Contribute to This Page.
The Dead Lands has already had acclaim at Toronto Film festival and now its come home to Aotearoa! What a year it’s been for Kiwi film: The Last Saint, Housbound, The Dark Horse and What We Do In The Shadows have all won critical and box office success, can this Māori action flick make its mark? The Dead Lands sticks to a tried and tested good ‘ol revenge story set it pre-colonial New Zealand. Wirepa, played by Te Kohe Tuhaka, wants a fight so he accuses Hongi of disrespecting the remains of his ancestors and uses this as motivation to brutally murder the whole rival tribe. James Rolleston plays Hongi the lone survivor of this attack and the chieftan’s son, who is looking for vengeance. Hongi is only 15 and is not quite skilled in his warrior ways yet, even his dead grandmother speaks to him and mocks him for his violent ambitions. He is not deterred and he vows to kill Wirepa to avenge his fathers death. He travels to The Dead Lands which are filled with spirits and ghosts of a tribe know to have vanished. He seeks the excellently terrifying ‘ Monster’ played by Lawrence Makaore, who is feared as a beast for his cannibalism and violence, to help him on his quest. This is an unexpectedly successful partnership and the two set out to hunt down Wirepa and his men. The whole film is in te reo Māori and this aids the whole story in representing a spiritual and emotional coming of age for Hongi. The dreamlike conversations with the dead,and thoughts of the afterlife and ancestors, are poetically written and powerfully delivered. It is beautifully shot for both the epic battles scenes and spiritual journey shots. The skills of the warriors are shouted from the tree tops in this film. The combat sequences are displayed in as much precision as the fighters land their paddles on their victims. Rolleston once again delivers a mature performance. I very much enjoyed the bad.