

Maori couple Jake and Beth Heke are deeply in love, but Jake's alcoholic-fueled rage turns into domestic violence that threatens to tear their family apart. As their home life grows increasingly dangerous, Beth must do all she can to protect their three children. Set against the backdrop of traditional tribal culture, this classic and contoversial 90's indie sleeper hit put New Zealand on the cinema map. WINNER - Best Foreign Film - Australian Film Institute WINNER - 9 Awards, including Best Film and Best Director - New Zealand Film and TV Awards WINNER - Anicaflash Prize - Venice Film Festival WINNER - Audience Award - Rotterdam Int'l Film Festival WINNER - Critics' Award - Fantasporto Film Festival WINNER - Best Actress - Fantasporto FIlm Festival WINNER - Special Jury Prize - Hawaii Int'l Film Festival WINNER - Grand Prix des Ameriques - Montreal World Film Festival WINNER - Best Actress - Montreal World Film Festival WINNER - People's Choice Award - Montreal World Film Festival WINNER - Bruce C Corwin Award - Santa Barbara Int'l Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION - Toronto Int'l Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards --- It is powerful and chilling, and directed by Lee Tamahori with such narrative momentum that we are swept along in the enveloping tragedy of the family's life. --Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times The actors...deliver authoritative yet sympathetic performances that get at the roots, or rootlessness, of their characters. --Rita Kempley, Washington Post Review: Great movie - Very hard hitting movie. Very emotional . Review: Amazing movie! - What an incredible film. Great acting overall, and some not bad acting from the younger or less experienced cast members. Such a raw emotional film that pulls you in different directions giving you high highs and low lows. A bit of a rollercoaster ride but that's what a good drama does. I love this film.

| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,827 Reviews |
C**E
Great movie
Very hard hitting movie. Very emotional .
R**R
Amazing movie!
What an incredible film. Great acting overall, and some not bad acting from the younger or less experienced cast members. Such a raw emotional film that pulls you in different directions giving you high highs and low lows. A bit of a rollercoaster ride but that's what a good drama does. I love this film.
N**O
Great movie
I really enjoyed this film and would purchase again if I had to. This reminds me of the old days when we would watch Moari films and be fascinated with the stories and culture.
I**.
THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR THE WEAK.
This was a movie that I'm shocked I didn't find out about until 6 years ago. Being a teen in the 1990's these kind of films with a younger audience would have captured my attention. This was one of the most heartfelt movies I have ever seen. I thought I knew what I was getting into during the 1st few minutes of the film but I learned very quickly how wrong I was. Prepare to be shocked, angry, and emotionally disturbed as some of the scenes in this film will rock you to your core. What an amazing cast for such a film based off a novel.
A**R
Violent but good
Violent but excellent movie
R**T
Amazing, but wrong one!
This is an amazing movie, very enlightening about Maori culture, very poignant. But I have a word of caution for everyone reading this: don't order THIS particular version of the film unless you don't mind having a lower-than-DVD-quality movie with no special features. Looking at the specs, this movie is encoded in Region 0, which means it will play in all players. It also means that it probably won't look as good as it would if it were encoded for YOUR specific region. There IS a Region 1 version, for US and Canada, if that's what you are looking for. That's the one I got, and it's great! Just search for the movie again, and look for "Region 1," but make sure it doesn't say "Asian" or "import" or "all region" anywhere on the page. The Region 1 DVD cover has the title in yellow, and it says, "Two thumbs up," from Siskel and Ebert. It has a picture of a woman with her daughter and is mostly red. Happy shopping!
G**G
One of the best Riveting Movies I ever saw. I did not expect the end . MESMERIZING
One Terrific Moving Movie. wow a sleeper. I think movie was shortened from my 1st viewing on cable tv. How the people of New Zealand lived . I hardly knew the country existed. Movie was Heartbreaking and said and when the one of the main characters says "We were once Warriors" it was uplifting. Warning - very violent at times . no guns or knives . The violence real and not fake shootings etc. A must see and a look at New Zealand
G**.
Loved it. One of the most violent films I have seen.
If you like films that depict real life violence and show it for what it is, a danger to any situation but even worse in a marital or family setting. This film made me angry at the bad guy and I cried more than once. Definitely not for the faint of heart though. Brutally beautiful film.
K**C
Excellent movie
Excellent movie-been wanting a dvd copy for long time
H**N
What's the time Mr Wolf
Underrated film from New Zealand, it's very good and very brutal, this movie is basically build on so many true stories.
J**N
Una crÃtica al estado actual de una parte de la sociedad urbana Maorà en su propio paÃs.
GUERREROS DE ANTAÑO (tÃtulo original 'ONCE WERE WARRIORS'), es una buena pelÃcula Neozelandesa del año 1994, basada en la novela homónima de 1990 del autor Neozelandés 'Alan Duff'. En ella se nos retrata en profundidad, la gran problemática de la sociedad urbana 'MaorÃ' actual en Nueva Zelanda. El paro, es el principal problema de la misma, con todo lo que ello conlleva. La pobreza, el alcoholismo, la violencia doméstica, la delincuencia juvenil, etc, etc..... Y todo ello para desgracia en esa pequeña parte de la población actual de Nueva Zelanda, pero que fueron los primeros en pisar la "Tierra de la Gran Nube Blanca" ('The Land of the Long White Cloud' - 'Aotearoa' en MaorÃ). La pelÃcula, es muy interesante y recomendable, tanto para quienes estén interesados en este maravilloso paÃs que es Nueva Zelanda, como para quienes no conocen nada de la idiosincracia de estas nuestras antÃpodas. Los actores están excelentes en sus papeles, destacando sobremanera, la actuación sobresaliente de 'Temuera Morrison' (como Jake "El Músculos" Heke), un muy reconocible actor neozelandés (de ascendencia MaorÃ) que destaca por su carrera en 'Hollywood' con por ejemplo un papel en 'STAR WARS' en los EPISODIOS II y III. A su vez, hemos de destacar también la actuación de 'Rena Owen' en el papel de 'Beth Heke', la esposa de 'Jake Heke'. En definitiva, una pelÃcula muy recomendable. Juan A. González González (GIJON - ASTURIAS)
M**S
Gran pelÃcula pero muy dura
La pelÃcula ya tiene unos años pero es genial para ilustrar situaciones de maltrato, violencia de genero, problemas de alcoholismo, la utilizan en mi instituto de secundaria precisamente para eso. No ha perdido nada de vigencia, por desgracia. Eso si es dura muy dura y no hace concesiones. Muy buena, no es una gran producción de muchos millones, pero es una gran pelÃcula.
S**Y
Works Like It Should
People say this doesn't work on there bluray players! BS...it works great, I've played it on two different bluray players and one is 10 yrs old. Also worked on my PS4. Great movie to find and own. I'm in Canadian region.
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