Honra E Liberdade

Boy did I enjoy River Queen. The scenery was stunning, the acting superb, the story brilliant, and the music was a hauntingly beautiful match to an incredible film. I always thought it would be great if a film was set during the Maori wars that was similar to Michael Mann's "The Last of the Mohicans". Well this it, with shades of Joffe's "The Mission" to boot.

River Queen grabs you and draws you into a world that you only learned about in history books. It does not take sides but portrays the beautiful and the ugly in both sides to the conflict. The chemistry between the main actors is powerful and moving and keeps the people of the story to the fore, stopping them from being engulfed by the powerful images of the war.

I always thought it would take our own Peter Jackson (should be Sir Peter) to make a film of this quality in New Zealand and about New Zealand. But I take my hat off to Vincent Ward. River Queen demonstrates that there is an amazing depth of movie making talent in this small country that time and again punches way above it's weight.

All Vincent Ward's movies have a heart, a visionary heart. It amazes me that he has managed to make as many movies as he has, as none of them have been block busters. They have all been personal and intense, and they have all added something to the world. None of them are just another genre type a,b or c movie.

I had heard conflicting reviews about this one, but given his previous films particularly Navigator and What Dreams May Come I just had to go. It really got under my skin, it's a historical drama, but dream, desire, and vision saturate the story, making it like no other.

Also being from Aotearoa and with Maori blood having been mixed into my veins, it was fantastic to see such a good film finally being made of that clash of cultures. How personal and close the wars were.

The landscape and the Wanganui River were filmed to perfection.

This movie haunts me. It's great to finally have another Vincent Ward movie. If only they released the other ones on DVD!

I did enjoy this movie. The depiction of early colonial New Zealand was fascinating and it had a foreboding feel to it. The scenery was the best part of the film, with the exception of one painfully obvious CGI sequence. The acting is varied and the story is historically one-sided but other than that, it was well made.

Peter Thompson, on this morning's Sunday show, gave River Queen a very favorable review; the review's timing was perfect because last evening Diane and I watched this new Kiwi film and drove home with mixed feelings about what we had just seen.

Thompson's reviews are usually spot-on for us but in this instance we are still not sure. Yes, Vincent Ward's story was superb: huge amounts of recognizable human drama, multidimensional characters, a gigantic historical background and everything framed by New Zealand's natural beauty. Vincent's direction accentuated each of these elements; he made great use of the land's physical beauty as well as the beauty and uniqueness of the individual Maori people. This last comment will take on meaning with the watching of the film because certain Maori characteristics play a huge visual as well as plot role in the film-perhaps unexpectedly for some viewers more than others. Alun Bollinger's cinematography beautifully captures Ward's shot selection; it is impossible to leave the theater and not have been captivated by the physical beauty of the New Zealand landscape.

I think the question must be asked: If I thought the film was so good, why did I only give it a rating of eight? The answer goes to the heart of why Diane and I were both uncomfortable with this superficially great film and that lies in the script, the third leg of Vincent's stool. We both thought the script was overly choppy; there were too many small pieces of story stitched together. I thought the film was too jumpy and that resulted in my concentration moving too quickly from one scene to another. I suppose that is just a matter of cinematic taste particular to one person and should not be used to paint an entire film.

River Queen is definitely worth seeing. The subject matter alone is worth the effort, with excellent acting by all concerned and magnificent scenery beautifully captured in thee film. The film must indeed be judged highly.

Very good film with interesting as well as attractive plot , nice acting and exceptional , colorful cinematography shot on location and it has the feel of a great epic fable . It begins with a real sense of wonder and intrigue when we become involved into a lush world with full of vegetation , rivers , mountains and dangers . An intimate and affectionate story set during the 1860s in which a young Irish woman called Sarah O'Brien and her family : father (Stephen Rea) , brother (Kiefer Sutherland) and son (Rawiri Pene) find themselves on both sides of the thunderous wars between British and Maori during the British colonization of New Zealand. A Maori village has so far been spared from the encroachment , but the villagers fear the imminent enemy arrival and subsequently seeking to defend themselves . Eventually , the Maori group will face the ultimate battle against the nasty colonialists . With darkness all around, only the heart can see ! . A kidnapped son ! . A nation at war ! . An epic journey !.

Gripping and evocative film about New Zeland's turbulent wars and full of enjoyable scenes when a group of natives from the wild emerge in a brutal battle against the white invaders who are causing ravage , massacre , destruction and high body-count . It is a genuine as well as imaginative tale written and directed with great sensibility , clarity , fairness and brutality too . This engrossing picture contains powerful and haunting images , it's plenty of images that stay in the mind . Main and support cast are pretty good , giving decent acting , such as : Samantha Morton as starring Sarah O'Brien , Kiefer Sutherland , Cliff Curtis, Temuera Morrison , Anton Lesser and Stephen Rea. The interesting perspective is intimate and it lends a great deal of excitement to the movie experience . Beautiful scenery , tense , intriguing and a moving climax lift this story . There's something for everyone here ; fans of history , fans of adventure , fans of gorgeous landscapes should all find something to enjoy about this film .

Wonderfully directed , and it is all strongest for being brilliantly photographed in splendid panoramic screen and boasting colorful imagines , excellently shot by cameraman Alun Bollinger , filmed on location in New Zealand : Rangitikei River, Ruatiti Domain,Manganuioteao River, Pipiriki, Wanganui River, Manganuioteao River, Wanganui River, Manawatu-Wanganui, Waimarino, North Island, Patea Bay, Patea, Manawatu-Wanganui and Wellington . Adding a sensitive , stirring musical score by composer Karl Jenkins , including native and folkloric sounds . The motion picture was stunningly written and directed by Vincent Ward , though on a limited budget . Ward's first big hit was ¨Navigator¨(1988) , It's a masterpiece who made his major impact gaining international acclaim, that was the movie what convinced the producers of Alien 3 (1992) to hire Vincent Ward as writer/director , although Ward would eventually leave the set of Alien 3 after many creative differences with the studio . Vincent Ward's won several prizes in a lot of Festivals such as Australian Film Institute , Cannes Film Festival , Fantasporto and Sitges Catalonian Film Festival . The great filmmaker Vincent Ward has produced , executive produced and/or written and directed feature films including ¨What Dreams May Come¨ , ¨The River Queen¨ and ¨The Last Samurai¨ , developing the underlying material , as he chose the director , before acting as an executive producer on this film . Ward's films have earned critical acclaim and festival attention whilst achieving a wide , eclectic audience, such as ¨Vigil¨ (1984), and ¨Map of the Human Heart¨ (1993) . ¨This River Queen¨ (2005) along with ¨The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey¨ (1988) are considered his best films . ¨River Queen¨ (2005) rating : 7/10 . Well worth watching . Above average but is deemed by many to be the Vincent Ward's best .