Maori Action Movie

Just saw this article: http://www.salon.com/2015/04/16/a_maori_action_movie_hell_yes_its_the_crazy_gory_gleeful_martial_arts_movie_you_didnt_know_you_needed/

Whatever you want to say about the chaotic action sequences, cartoonish special effects and tattooed beefcake on display in New Zealand director Toa Fraser’s “The Dead Lands,” it’s no good yawning, acting bored and announcing that if you’ve seen one Maori martial-arts movie full of stamping and hooting and tomcat mockery and war-club bloodshed, you’ve seen them all. It’s reasonable to assume that Fraser and screenwriter Glenn Standring paid attention to Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” – one of the weirdest works in movie history, made by one of the weirdest people in movie history. But even allowing for that kinship, “The Dead Lands” is a distinctive concoction, part comic-book fantasy, part mythical quest narrative and part cultural reclamation project. (It arrives in the United States with an endorsement from James Cameron, and once you see it that makes a lot of sense.)

Once you get past an awkward and artificial beginning and roll with the movie’s crazy rhythm, “The Dead Lands” is also a blast, and one that delivers an unexpected emotional wallop along with gore, thrills and spectacular scenery. This isn’t the first feature film made entirely in the Maori language (which is often used as an authentic flavor ingredient in Anglophone New Zealand cinema), but there haven’t been many, and I doubt the existing examples come anywhere near the delirious trash quotient of this one. I won’t claim to have seen the Maori version of Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” made in 2002, but now I really want to. I’m tempted to get distracted onto the undeniably fascinating topic of movies in unusual or obscure world languages – I have seen films in Basque, Welsh, Malagasy, Berber and even Limburgish; I don’t think anyone has ever made one in Romansh – but let’s keep going.

Within the context of New Zealand, this movie’s attempt to connect traditional Maori culture to both Hollywood action spectacles and East Asian martial-arts films may be meant to serve a didactic or inspirational function for Maori youth. But that’s only a guess, and for the rest of us “The Dead Lands” offers an intoxicating journey into an imagined past. This story appears to take place in the islands later known as New Zealand before the arrival of Europeans, but it certainly does not depict that era as one of idyllic peace and plenty. Hongi (James Rolleston), the teenage son of a tribal leader, must embark on a fateful journey of discovery and revenge after his tribe is betrayed and massacred by a rival band led by Wirepa, a fierce and arrogant warrior played by Te Kohe Tuhaka, who has the impressive build and ironic sneer of a Maori Dwayne Johnson.

If Wirepa is one scary dude, he’s not quite prepared for the infamous and possibly supernatural ally that Hongi makes in the “dead lands,” an accursed zone of rainforest and lava field where another now-vanished tribe used to exist. This guy, known only as the Warrior (Lawrence Makoare), has numerous nubile wives and is said to be a monster who subsists on human flesh. He ultimately agrees to help Hongi rather than just eat him, while issuing a dire warning: I’m a bad man who has done bad things. Don’t trust me, and don’t turn your back. Indeed, the Warrior’s dark secrets turn out to be doozies, and even amid the sub-Joseph Campbell macho quest narrative of “The Dead Lands,” I found his tormented struggle for redemption unexpectedly moving.

But let’s be honest: Emotional depth is not the principal selling point of “The Dead Lands,” and neither is its old-fashioned gender politics. (Women appear solely as seductive snares or wise advisors, in the roles pioneered long ago by Circe and Athena.) While early action scenes rely too much on lightning-fast cutting, perhaps to cover for their basic incoherence, Fraser eventually delivers several terrific battle sequences in the gloriously theatrical Maori tradition. Makoare and Tuhaka, in particular, are so much fun when it comes to the crazy-face making, the taunting, the tongue-sticking and all the other bravado and showmanship of Maori combat that I never wanted their characters to meet their gruesome ends. But as the Warrior mutters to one of his numerous adversaries, while impaling him on a sharpened wooden post, “Tell the dead I am coming.”

“The Dead Lands opens this week in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and Winnipeg, Canada. It opens April 24 in Albuquerque, N.M., and May 1 in Santa Fe, N.M., with more cities to follow. It’s available nationwide on VOD from cable, satellite and online providers.

I remember this one. There was a thread on it last December. http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=48551&forum=1 I even emailed the production company asking about their home video prospects but never got a reply. I hope it does well for them.

So far there's a German blu ray: http://www.amazon.de/The-Dead-Lands-Blu-ray/dp/B00R4QR4U2

And an Australian one. The German disc is less expensive, strangely. So far I have had better luck ordering from Germany than Australia. Both of them are region-B locked.

It's probably just too soon for a US dvd/blu-ray release. However, it is available on demand through a number of outlets such as Amazon, iTunes, Google Play:
Details here http://www.magnetreleasing.com/thedeadlands/

Here's a preview on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GYStOd0H78

I'm a shiny disc guy, personally. If they don't release it here on blu-ray, I'll just import. Trailer looks good to me, and I want to support them on general principles, 'cause Maori warriors are awesome.

Hey what do you know, Magnet aka Magnolia, replied:

**Thank you for your interest. THE DEAD LANDS will release on DVD & Blu-ray August 9th. **

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg_D_R
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2015 8:17 PM
To: Magnolia Home Entertainment General Mailbox
Subject: The Dead Lands in Region A

Hi there, what's the status on a blu-ray release for The Dead Lands?

Coming soon to a theater near you? Seems like the kind of thing you would want to pay the 15 bucks and see on the big screen.

Extremely limited release: http://www.magnetreleasing.com/thedeadlands/

They're pretty much counting on digital downloads for distribution.

I'm only 200 miles from the nearest showing LOL

On 2015-04-26 21:06, MadDogMike wrote:
I'm only 200 miles from the nearest showing LOL

I'm out here in flyover country, I didn't even bother to look:D

I like their banner. If I had pull quotes from James Cameron and Peter Jackson about my movie, I think I'd use a bigger font. Hell, I'd tattoo them on my arms and consider my life well-lived:)

[ Edited by: Greg_D_R 2015-04-27 13:38 ]

I've never seen anything quite like this, and it's intriguing to hear about a different facet of something "Tiki." Even if I don't regularly watch many action-oriented films, the fact that it explores Maori culture at all compels me to see it.

This finally came out on blu-ray in the US, and it's very good. If you like action movies, and if you like Apocalypto, this is a safe bet for you. I was surprised at how emotionally effective it was. You could easily assign 'good guy' and 'bad guy' roles to the various characters, but the truth ends up being something greater. It feels like a look back in time.

Netflix has it currently, as a disk rental, not on streaming yet.

Edit: now available in streaming.

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2015-10-12 01:19 ]

I was stuck at work for 12 hours today and bored. Netflix now has it streaming but it's blocked at work so I found a pirated copy online. I cannot vouch for the safety of the website, it had some popups.

http://zumvo.so/watch-the-dead-lands-2014-6661

Scroll down a bit and click on the blue box that says "Full" to start. Not a very good copy, I will watch it again on Netflix on the big TV to appreciate the scenery. Also, the subtitles on this version uses "cl" instead of "d". clone = done, clays = days :lol:

Plenty of well choreographed fight scenes, good classic underdog plot, lots of Maori weapons and costumes.

Thanks MadDog for the heads up. I've always wanted to see this film and just saw it on Netflix and enjoyed it. It is not for the soft hearted because the Maori were a warrior race so there is lots of violence. But this indigenous film has great and real tiki representation.

bump