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Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 4006680030821
Format: PAL
Region Code: 2
Running Time: 101 minutes
Sales Rank: 197698
Theatrical Release Date: July 04, 2003
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Whale Rider Review
I have seen this movie once before, and it was nothing short of inspirational the second time around. The Whangara tribe's faith derives from Paikea, the first Whale Rider. Like many tribal religion, their tribe faces the threats of extinction when the Koro's son fails to give him a male heir to the tribe. Pai, his only daughter, not only faces being orphaned by her father (who left the tribe not being able to face his wife and son's death), but the rejection of her grandfather as the one who would ... Read More
Rating: - Maori Power
Whale Rider is the story of a young girl whose mother and twin brother died at her birth. This tragedy has profoundly affected her family, which includes her grandfather, who is chief of a long lineage going all the way back to the Maori ancestor called the Whalerider. Her grandfather is strong but stubborn that only a male can be the next chief. He cannot look to his two grown sons for this, and so he creates a school to teach the first-born boys in his village the secret ways of the Maori warrior, ... Read More
Rating:  - Erica Asahan Top 50 Movies Of ll time
Erica Asahan Wrote:
This movie was probably one of the best I have seen in decades! I love the main character. Her determination and courage inspired me. I have watched this movie at least a dozen times since I bought it and I just love it!
Rating: - A beautiful and magical movie
This is a story about the Maori tribe's struggles to carry on their traditions as they have for the past thousand years. However, when the first born son dies during birth and his twin sister, Pai, survives, it creates much tension in the tribe since females are not allowed to be chief under any circumstances. She is constantly shunned as an outcast by her grandfather and most of the tribe. Her grandfather attempts to train their indigenous ways to the other boys while Pai secretly watches from afar. ... Read More
Rating: - The Human Cost When Ancient Cultures Die
The Whale Rider is fundamentally a beautiful and sad rendition of what happens to men and women when their culture is overcome by a more complex and expanding new culture. What makes this film special is the certainty of the love among all the generations in the community and family, even when individuals are making bad mistakes in how they treat each other. No matter these mistakes, the deep love remains and somehow enriches everyone's lives.
There is a feminist message in the story, but not ... Read More
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