Genres

Visitors Review

Aaron Woodin 2012-05-24 20:11:03

An overlooked gem of a film

Rapa Nui is more than just a bunch of Polynesian (and Hispanic!) actorsrunning around half-nekkid.It's an allegory about the dangers of theocratic government, and a taleof class struggle.Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name for Easter Island, that famous dot in thePacific Ocean with the mysterious statues. We get to see how these thingswere carved - and why. The Long Ear tribe has effectively subjugated theShort Ear tribe, forcing them to carve Moai (statues) in order to placatethe gods.Director Kevin Reynolds uses the island and the carving of statues as aneffective backdrop to illustrate the enmity between the tribes, as well as apower struggle for eventual spremacy of the island.The film is driven by visuals and ideas. The writing hardly ever risesabove so-so, and it's jarring to hear Polynesian-looking people withBritish, American and Latino accents.But the film has a certain power to fascinate, and for that alone Irecommend it highly.

ccthemovieman-1 2012-05-24 08:13:31

Grade B All The Way

I had two actors in here I usually enjoy watching: Jason Scott Lee("Map of the Human Heart") and Sandrine Holt ("Black Robe"). It hadalso had beautiful Easter Island scenery and it had a bunch of prettyhalf-naked women.What's not to like? Well, the stupid story, for one thing. The dialog was straight out of a Grade B flick, and that's beinggenerous. The characters also were totally unbelievable, thanks to theterrible dialog and fake accents. I couldn't enjoy the beautiful Holtbecause she was sent to a cave early on and wasn't seen again untilnear the end of the film.How people, including one of the few national film critics I like -Michael Medved - could rave about this film is totally mind-boggling.It was horrible.

Champion2k 2012-05-22 02:34:31

Involving storytelling that forces you to care.

I have no wish to comment on the historical accuracy or otherwise of thisfilm, as it is the story that held me enthralled, not the attention tofact.The first time I saw this film, I nearly had to pick my jaw up from thefloor. A hollywood movie.....that doesn't spoonfeed me the plot like someoverbearing nanny? An original (for a big studio) plot device? Whew, letme just sit down for a minute. Here's how it normally goes: Hero (young,handsome and likeable) must compete with rival (villanous, evil rogue) incontest of high stakes. Guess the outcome. But in this underrated gem ofastory, we find two equally heroic protagonists, all thoughts of friendshiplost as they are forced into a dangerous competition of courage andstrength. One, fighting for the woman he loves, the other for his life.This forces the viewer to watch in an agonized state of uncertainty. WhodoI want to win? Who deserves it more? What will happen to the loser? Thiswas the first film in a long time that truly forced me to get involved withthe characters, not in a cliched good versus evil kind of way, but a goodversus good "how the hell are they going to get out of this one?" kind ofway. Okay, so some aspects of the film do not deliver with the same power,and some of the accents do tend to waver a little, but the beautifullyconstructed central storyline held me until the end.

2012-05-21 15:02:41

"What Did You Think Salvation Would Look Like?" ~ Tale From The Navel Of The World

This review is from: Rapa Nui (Import, All Regions) (DVD) Mythic tale of what life might have been like for the inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) long before the coming of the white man. 'Rapa Nui' means, "navel of the world," a concept found at the basis of every archaic, shamanistic based society. Rapa Nui is a tale of young love fighting against the political, religious and social constraints of life at "the center." (SPOILER ALERT!) Noro (Jason Scott Lee) is a long-ear, a member of the tribal upperclass and the Grandson of the tribal chief. He is in love with Ramana (Sandrine Holt), a short-ear and member of the lowerclass of laborers responsible for the carving of the monolithic statues required by the religious elite. The chief agrees to let his grandson break the taboo and marry his true love if he enters and wins a yearly intertribal competition which would bestow upon the chief the coveted "Birdman' title for the eighteenth time. It's a dangerous endeavor and he would be competing against many who would do whatever it takes to win. He will also be competing against Make (Esai Morales) his childhood friend who must win, or die. He agrees to his Grandfather's conditions and enters the race. Thus the adventure begins. While the great day of competition approaches the aging, mentally degenerating chief dreams of a destiny of sailing away on the great white spirit canoe to the "Home of the Gods." When a giant iceberg appears in the bay at the very moment the competition ends he believes his day has arrived and has his warriors canoe him out to the ice block. As he floats away to his death he calls out to those who refused to join him, "What did you think salvation would look like?Wonderful movie that is virtually unknown in the U.S.A., and is only available in a all-region import edition. 'Rapa Nui' has a great cast: Jason Lee Scott, Sandrine Holt (Black Robe), Esai Morales, Anzac Wallace (Utu), Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors) and Cliff Curtis (Whale Rider and Once Were Warriors) are all accomplished actors who have specialized in roles dealing with indigenous cultures. The import disc is great, don't bother to wait for the region 1!

KFL 2012-05-19 16:54:08

A weird mix here: deadly-serious story with wacky comedic touches

There seems to be some doubt among posters here as to the broaderoutlines of this story--the religious motivation for building thestatues, and the environmental disaster this wrought. However, in broadoutline this agrees with the best educated guesses of recentanthropology; see for example Chapter 1 of Clive Ponting's _A GreenHistory of the World_. After noting that by the time of the firstvisits of Europeans to Easter Island in the 18th century the island hadbeen stripped of all its trees, and that some of this lumber would havebeen used for building, cooking and the like, Ponting continues: "Themost demanding requirement (for lumber) of all was the need to move thelarge number of enormously heavy statues to ceremonial sites around theisland. The only way this could have been done was by large numbers ofpeople guiding and sliding them along a form of flexible tracking madeup of tree trunks spread on the ground between the quarry and the(site). Prodigious quantities of timber would have been required and inincreasing amounts as the competition between the clans to erectstatues grew. As a result by 1600 the island was almost completelydeforested...."Thus in its broadest outlines the story told here is correct, and theremust have been a kind of apocalyptic dread among the more enlightenedof the residents, as the island was inexorably denuded.This portrait of a dying society, if done well, would have alone beenenough to make Rapa Nui a highly interesting movie. But unintendedcomedic elements prevent us from taking it very seriously. On being presented with a huge statue, the result of months of work,the chief simply says "not big enough! Build another one!" ...hecouldn't be bothered to vet the project in the design stage? Lines likethis, and "don't bother me, I've got chicken entrails to read", andother idiotic plot twists that would constitute spoilers, dash coldwater on this film as the tragic if formulaic reenactment of the finaldays of a doomed civilization.As others here have said, Easter Island itself is breathtaking; thebeauty of the setting is one of the better things about Rapa Nui. Andthe story had great potential. But this movie is impossible to takeseriously, and that is a shame.

2012-05-19 13:09:17

Good plot woven into accurate Rapa Nui history and legend.

After visiting Easter Island (Rapa Nui) I wanted to see the movie. For the most part, the movie takes the actual known facts about Rapa Nui history and creates the story around them. Much of Rapa Nui history is still a mystery, so the "gap" filled in by the authors is both entertaining and possibly how history really unfolded. Personally I do not like movies that change history to make them more entertaining, but there was very little of that here. The only thing that was known to be wrong was that the Virgin Cave is really at the other side of the island, but that is only a small detail. Definately an exciting film, but I still recommend visiting the island!

John Gold 2012-05-17 21:21:34

If you missed it, it is well worth a rent !

I am saddened that so few people seem to have seenthis film; It is worth watching for the lush photography alone.. It takessome getting used to the accents of the actors, and many lines may not beclear on first viewing.I have read many books about Easter Island and themysterysurrounding its statues.. This film attempts to answer some of thesemysteries (how the statues were moved, why work stopped so abruptly on then,what happened to all the trees on the Island,etc.)First read up in an encyclopedia on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and thenwatch history (or at least a good guess at it)come to life. Film making and story telling at it's best,alongwith an athletic competition at the end unlike any you have ever seen.

2012-05-17 15:25:07

the star is easter island

This review is from: Rapa Nui (Import, All Regions) (DVD) we were at easter island last year and we greatly enjoyed the movie. the story was incidental but the scenery, the scenes showing the moving of the moai (statues) and the recreation of the bird man race were wonderful. i'm delighted to have bought the dvd and am sorry that the movie didnt have more resonance. i'm afraid easter island and its culture was just too strange for the general audience. as my husband and i have been fascinated by the island and the statues since we were children -- it said much to us. for someone who expected a typical polynesian paradise romance -- it would have been a disappointment. though there was an environmental message -- it was a true one as the island still bears the scars.

AInK 2012-05-17 06:22:59

less than you expect but more as has been said

You have to look at this film differently; of course you can not take whatis being showed to us as the true history of the easter island, but youalsocan't look at it as just some failed flick.No, this movie is taking as little as we know and fills therestwith partly far fetched, partly very realistic developments ofevents.We know, there is no more forest there, we know they've builtthesestatues, we know that they couldn't survive.It would be different if any of them would have written a diaryofthe events taking place, but that hasn't happened.Whether long or short ears, whether upper or lower class:To build the statues they most likely used all the little foresttheyhad left... surely an act of hopelessness... that in such asituationof distress there is competition and different ideas on how toreactis obvious. The "egg"-race is also very believable.Less likely is the story about the iceberg... while they doindeedshow up there from time to time the particular timing is over thetop.With what they have filled in the blanks has already beendiscussed:Competition between two rival tribes, political problems that eventuallynotonly end up in the deforestation and the ecological disaster related toit,but also degrade of a civilization leading thembackwards even as far as cannibalism. History has shown what cancauseuproars: from class-systems, lack of food, but also fight over awoman.Here all three aspects have been mingled up, blurring what we donotknow anyways. And as far as nudity goes: guess what - we all bornthatway - believe it or not! As far as language goes: I had preferredifthey tried to talk in some sort of made up language and thensubtitled.This movie is a gem in its own right, but you will have to watchit- sceptically, yet with a mind open for fantasy - for yourself toseeif you agree or not.

2012-05-17 04:55:58

A Story With A lesson For All

This review is from: Rapa Nui (Import, All Regions) (DVD) Rapa-Nui was a good entertaining film. Also one can'nt overlook the historical importance and lessons to learn from this film. Its about now a people destroy themselves by using up their natural resources and destroying their environment. A problem that humans seem unable to correct to this very day. There is a also a love story and the race to become the tribe who wins the birdman competition. For winning the tribe's leader will control all the other tribes on Easter Island. This is one of those films that should have gotten alot more attention when it came out but I don't believe it did. And that's a shame because I think its quite good. Their is a little topless nudity but it's not done in a disrespectful way. Merely a way to give the viewer a more real idea of what people dressed like in those times. But something to think about if your uneasy about that. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.

2012-05-13 15:51:35

Scenes from the Class Struggle in Polynesia

While it lacks some important facts that were the primary reasons for the destruction of Easter Island's decline, the film "Rapa Nui" makes a modest attempt to try to recreate life on the most isolated piece of land on earth.Called "Rapa Nui" by its' Polynesian inhabitants, the island was named "Easter Island" after being discovered by a Dutch schooner on an Easter Sunday in the 18th century. Produced by Kevin Costner ("Dances With Wolves"), and directed by director Kevin Reynolds ("Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves") "Rapa Nui" stars a young cast and features breathtaking scenery.Jason Scott Lee ("Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story") and Esai Morales ("La Bamba"; "My Family") star as members of rival tribes. When Jason's character falls in love with a woman (Sandrine Holt) from the opposite tribe, troubles, rivalries, and tensions arise as both men attempt to win her love.Filmed entirely on location on Easter Island, the film has a feeling of authencity as we can see the island's famous "moai" statues everywhere. While the birdman race, and the roles several minor characters play in the film can detract from the main story, the film makes an nice attempt to recreate the greatest civilization to arise from Oceania. The island (annexed by Chile during the 19th century) has a blend of Latino/Polynesian cultures where Spanish and Rapa Nuian are spoken, the filmmakers really didn't cover the island's deforestation, which is believed to be the main culprit for the island's collapse. Regardless, the film allowed an anthropology student as myself to get a view and feel of Rapa Nuian culture as it could have been. Seeing it on film is much more better than seeing it in a textbook. Fans of Thor Heyedahl's book "Kon Tiki" will probably like the film, because it explores the theory that Easter Islander's original inhabitants could have come from the South American mainland or from another Polynesian island chain. While there is substantial fact that Easter islander's made contact with their closest island neighbor, Pitcairn Island (famous from the "Bounty" mutiny) which is over 2,000 miles away, I only wish the film could have ended with a conclusion the Lee's and Holt's characters safely made it to terra firma when they set sail from Rapa Nui. Overall, Rapa Nui will appeal to anthropology and history buffs everywhere. Pick up and check out this film instead of watching reruns of "Gilligan's Island" on syndication.

daniel Carbajo López 2012-05-13 11:59:38

bad and boring

Years before the arriving of the conquerors, the Easter Island livesbefore a civil war, ancient cults mixed with nihilistic behaviour crashinto the island. All mixed with a pseudo ecological message and somestupid jokes. Noro is the son of the chief of Easter Island, he wantsto marry Ramana, but, before, he has to win the Egg Race, a race inwhich he will risk his life in order to chose who will be the chiefduring the next year. Meanwhile, the slaves are permitted to take partin the race by first time, and the runner wants to marry also Ramana,this will cause the race to be absolutely decisive for the future ofthe island. It also happens that the current chief lives moaris (mysticmeaning) and in the process of building them, they are eradicating thetrees that are on the island, and soon there will be anyone and theisland will become a desert. With all these plots mixed, it waspossible that the movie was interesting, but it results to be veryconfusing and boring. None of the stories develops correctly and itprovokes the movie to be terribly slow and predictable. In addition theactors are not very good, and most of the time you can only see thedarkness of the night, as they did not know about fire. To sum up, along boring film that you should avoid to watch to. The onlyinteresting thing are the precious environment it is filmed.

beobnoxious 2012-05-13 08:28:45

Hidden Treasure Hollywood Gem

After watching this movie one can only wonder why hasn't anyone heardof this what was happening in 1994 the overshadowed this movie. Was ita lack of promotion the presumably R rating?.I found this to be an excellent film all the characters main andsupporting are very intriguing the setting is breathtaking , and theactors all played their roles superbly and with passion.I did not find a problem with the English speaking actors I feel thedirector wanted to get the point of the movie across without tiring theaudience out by having to read subtitles.This is a movie after all notreal life, one cant expect things to be exact.This movie is far different then most of what Hollywood churns out theplot is simple as the time the movie takes place the story is verybelievable and understandable with some historical elements thrown in. As one watches this film they will come to see that's there's no simpleanswer to the protagonist problems they will have to take them selvesback to that time and place.As far as a love story goes i feel its an epic one easily as touchingif not more so then Star Wars or Titanic, Also similar to 10,000 BC.Its shame that such a good movie seems to have gone virtually unheardof.

2012-05-12 23:14:27

Good plot woven into accurate Rapa Nui history and legend.

This review is from: Rapa Nui [VHS] (VHS Tape) After visiting Easter Island (Rapa Nui) I wanted to see the movie. For the most part, the movie takes the actual known facts about Rapa Nui history and creates the story around them. Much of Rapa Nui history is still a mystery, so the "gap" filled in by the authors is both entertaining and possibly how history really unfolded. Personally I do not like movies that change history to make them more entertaining, but there was very little of that here. The only thing that was known to be wrong was that the Virgin Cave is really at the other side of the island, but that is only a small detail. Definately an exciting film, but I still recommend visiting the island!

2012-05-11 23:23:29

What a Misconception!

First off I am not fan of Kevin Costner. Secondly I wonder when people who are not of a culture why they want to seem to be know it all's?...and Third most of the main actors were not even from that culture instead as hollywood loves to do...just give it to someone they think can pass a puerto rican actor and a white/chinese actress from england instead of getting more maori actors it just wasn'tthe same give me a break get some real Maori actors ...They do the same thing with American Indians....I hear because johnny depp is suppose to have Indian blood ties (Oh! Cherokee) he will be playing Tonto in the up coming movie "Lone Ranger" I can not wait to GAG! Should have given a "Real Indian" Actor a chance to play that part there are alot of good American indian actors...I saw "When we were Warriors"and to me that was a great film....way better than this.....NDN4LIFE

2012-05-11 15:06:25

This will not get any awards

This review is from: Rapa Nui (Import, All Regions) (DVD) This movie is historically acutate and it was filmed on Easter Island where we visited. The history is great, but the acting and overall production was not quite what you might expect from a Kevin Costner film. If you are traveling to Easter Island it's a must see, if you are looking for good entertainment, well there are better films out there.

Mike 2012-05-11 03:10:24

Enjoyable

The studios should be applauded when they take on a movie that involvesanall new setting and topic, and encouraged to do so more often. We haveplenty of stupid eye candy car chase movies and murder mystery flicks forthose who enjoy that stuff. Rapa Nui goes somewhere else entirely. Theroadless travelled as it were.Set on Easter Island, isolated as it is literally thousands of nauticalmiles from its nearest neighbour, the movie fleshes out the most pivitaltime in that islands history, as we understand it from the archeologicalevidence available. The residents had every reason to believe theyrepresented the only life in the universe. Those of the population withvision must have been appalled to watch their religeous zealotsengineeringthe destruction of the only habitat in the world. The protagonist seemstobe one of those who sees the folly and wants to prevent it.** spoiler coming?**I am not the first to note that this film weakens its message byallowing,even fostering unintended humour at places where it is not appropriate.Thehead engineer of statue construction falling to the ground and flailingin atantrum when the chief glibly states the statue, carved and transportedwithmany months of tremendous labour is dismissed and ordered broken up asbeing"too small", and that chief, when he complains to his obviously selfservingand manipulative with doctor/adviser,"I've been coughing up and vomitingblood lately. Do you think that means anything?" "No, replies theadviser,it's nothing". It seems as though the screenwriter thinks the viewer musthave some levity to break up the serious subject matter. The humour takesaway much more than it adds to the story however and hearing a couple ofaudience members guffawing from time to time when we should besympathisingwith the frustration of the main character has the effect of pulling therugout from under the mood. Even the 'last cutting' scene is overblown andrendered campy when this scene, of which perhaps the most empathy mighthavebeen drawn of any in the entire film, is played out almost as satire.**End of spoiler**So much for the 'It could have been better' part, the movie doesdeservekudos for tackling new ground. The cinematography is beautiful, the lovestory plausable and the main characters earn our support. Bravo for beingdaring enough to make this flick. I just wish it had beendistributed.

2012-05-10 10:52:06

Rapa NuiP

This review is from: Rapa Nui (Import, All Regions) (DVD) Product was new as advertised and ran perfectly. We received our order promptly. We are very satisfied

Kriston 2012-05-02 09:54:09

Pointless reason to employ body doubles

This movie is well worth the viewing if you're into period films with fullfrontal nudity, even if it means that Roxine Holt's breasts change theirshape whenever there's a close-up. The historical fiction used by thismovie try to explain the statues on Easter Island but relies too heavilyonthe tired theme of the incompetent leader being manipulated by overlyambitious advisors. Surely, if the people were as technologicallyadvancedas the movie suggests, they may have transcended racism and their bizarreclass structure.And yet again we see Jason Scott Lee playing the naive, young aboriginal,apart for which he has been typecast in movies like "Map of the HumanHeart."If you enjoy Polynesian scenery, and have a mute button to squelch thepathetic English/Hispanic/American/Canadian accents that vary fromcharacterto character, and you can stomach the pointless love story in betweengraphic scenes of gratuitous frontal nudity through the efforts ofbeautifulbody-doubles, you still won't enjoy this movie.

A-KO-2 2012-05-02 00:37:59

Another misleading piece of malarki

This movie was a complete lie. for starters let me clue some of you in onthis, the researchers who study Easter island only have theories as to howthese people came to be there, who they were, and how they lived. and noneof those hypothesies have anything in common with this ''long-ear''''short-ear'' light skinned, dark skinned malarki that the writers dreamtup. one woman said ''this movie gives an in depth look into who these peoplewere, and how and why they built the statues''..i think you might want tomake a trip to your local library, use that 5lb hunk of gray matter and reada book instead of believing a so-called ancient legend of history dreamptup by a bunch of crazed american writers and producers. use your mind forjust a milli-sec pleeeeease!! if these people made humungous statues, wereso smart [they'd have to be to erect those statues] and so spirituallyindulgent why would they force one segment of their own people into slavery,exile and force them to erect those enormous statues just becase their skinwas dark, and their ears were short!!? it's so funny how so-calledhistortians contradict each other..they're so full of it,it's sickening. ijust watched a documentary of swimming and beaches on THE LEARNING CHANNELand accoriding to WHITE historians the Romans were the first to swim in theocean for fun and sport because all other ''savage'' people thought itbrought sea monsters and disease. but in RAPA NUI you can clearly see them[the natives] swimming for fun and surfboarding for christ's sake!In shortthis ranks up there with all the b******t sterotype pieces of fake ethnicb-movies from ''SHAKA ZULU'' the mini-series to ''KUNG FU''they're all takenfrom the imaginations of complete gits.