Once Were Warriors (1994)

A family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Lee Tamahori
Written By: Riwia Brown, Alan Duff
Starring: Cliff Curtis, Temuera Morrison, Rena Owen, Taungaroa Emile, Julian Arahanga, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Rachael Morris Jr.
Country: New Zealand
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Once Were Warriors belongs to 30 collections
1. boobs (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 51 stars)
2. Fuck my life (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 38 stars)
3. IMDb Top 250 Complete (collaborative: moderated by Jorg - 23 stars)
4. Best of criticker: Drama (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 18 stars)
5. Edgar Wright 1000 Favorite Movies (Aug 2016) (collaborative: moderated by Aron Ericson - 17 stars)
6. Directorial debut (collaborative: moderated by djross - 16 stars)
7. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
8. Doubling The Canon (collaborative - 13 stars)
9. Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen (collaborative: moderated by katsuben - 12 stars)
10. Rape (collaborative: moderated by Moribunny - 7 stars)
11. Great Fights (collaborative: moderated by doctor7 - 6 stars)
12. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
13. Doubling The Canon (2010 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 5 stars)
14. The Auteurs World Cup (collaborative - 4 stars)
15. Doubling the Canon (2011 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 1 star)
16. Doubling the Canon (2012 update) (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 1 star)
17. Duology (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer - 1 star)
18. Stuart Wellington Recommends (collaborative: moderated by lexwhitfield - 1 star)
19. Films considered the best from each country's National Polls (public: Hadleyreis - 1 star)
20. Available on Divicast (collaborative: moderated by Dunstan-xxx)
21. Djross seen at the cinema (public: djross)
22. New & sealed (public: majikat)
23. BF-1990 (public: caffe)
24. favoriler (public: ceseth)
25. Asia/Pacific Top 100 (public: Sleepy Dogs)
26. Watchlist (public: GrimsChild)
27. Edgar Wright's 1000 Favorite Movies (public: coldesser)
28. Disturbing Movies (public: gudmovies)
29. Films Dunstan Owns (public: Dunstan-xxx)
30. Dunstan's DVD Collection (public: Dunstan-xxx)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
5 | ![]() |
frederic_g54 | 6 35th |
Really, you liked it that much ?
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Pickpocket | 4 35th |
A movie about a bunch of poor morons that have no direction in life and generally don't care about anything. The monologue at the end was laughable and unneeded. "My people once were warriors and you were a slave!" WE WUZ KANGS Yeah, some scenes are powerful but it's so overdone that after 30 minutes, you get it. I didn't need 100 minutes of a) guy getting drunk, b) guy beating the shit out of wife, c) guy yelling "you need to learn your place!" at wife and d) tragedy! over and over and over
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3 | ![]() |
TheDiceman | 75 89th |
Great film.
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brando814 | 100 98th |
Powerful, wrenching story of the vile, brutish drunk Jake Heke whose rage and indifference threaten to destroy his family. There aren't many characters on film as scary as he and probably even fewer actors who could pull it off.
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3 | ![]() |
whatismyname | 55 34th |
What's the big deal about this film? It took about 30 minutes for me to get over the acting, and the story was weak. The heartache this one family went through was tragic, don't get me wrong, but the execution of many scenes throughout weakened this aspect of the film.
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doctor7 | 86 86th |
One of the hardest films you'll ever watch. It pulls no punches giving you a real look at a true broken family. However it doesn't overwhelm you with complete negativity allowing the viewer to hope the characters can improve their lives. Incredible acting from the two leads, although a minor few of the supporting cast leave a bit to be desired.
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2 | ![]() |
aus_hab_fan | 82 85th |
Powerful, insightful
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Stain | 100 95th |
Harrowing story of domestic violence and hopelessness. Simply great. The lead actress in particular reminds me of Jeanne Moreau
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miss jesus | 75 76th |
Well-done, but very hard to watch.
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NathanDarko | 94 91st |
A Movie about real strength...power ist not the defintion of what you can destroy with your fists... in that case you'll see that power comes from the inside and means how long can I endure this physical and even more the emotional suffering! This Movie is no fiction...it's reality...
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1 | ![]() |
djross | 50 43rd |
Affectingly melodramatic but ultimately conventional. Directorial debut that attracted undue praise at time of release, paving the way for a very unremarkable career.
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caocao | 70 56th |
Powerful movie and fantastic performances by the two leads but it has not aged very well.
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muutanet | 82 86th |
A mondern Maori story.
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Biedronski | 75 54th |
A very well done movie if you're in the mood to be depressed and cringe a lot. But it's the kind of movie I personally only want to watch once. The warriors aspect is really cool.
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rthornhill | 95 93rd |
An extraordinary and very brutal film depicting very sensitive topics. Very well done and highly recommended.
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Okkervil | 78 79th |
Very good.
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Duco | 85 87th |
A brutal portrayal of racial identity and domestic violence through the eyes of an ancient, different culture than what we're usually used to in the movies. Albeit the performances are really strong, it's not a movie you want to watch again. And don't suggest it to travellers going to New Zealand, as it might ruin their idyllic portrayal of the country.
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bookhouseboy | 74 93rd |
#90s#, reviews, story
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hellboy76 | 79 94th |
Mean, vicious and ultimately brilliant film.
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AceySaid10% | 83 75th |
Pretty nutty flick. Shout out to Smiley from Training Day. FYI: don't let the trailer for this movie throw you off. It's a lot less corny than it makes it out to be.
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eCitizen | 40 32nd |
A sad examination of a family living with an abusive alcoholic father and a culture of violence. Drunken parties, fist fights, wife & child abuse undermines & destroys the family. As they endure the appalling conditions the family begins to disintegrate. Some repetitive plot points. Acting performances was mostly good. Fights seemed realistic. The end was predictable, abrupt & a bit clumsy. The theme, drama & stupidity of the characters was sometimes hard to enjoy.
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LB94 | 80 59th |
I like this. The dynamics of a rough-and-tough family are expertly analysed and the gritty and documentary-esque nature of the content is powerful but the horrible acting and a very hit-and-miss script effect it a little bit.
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hsncrspywl | 78 62nd |
Miserable piece of cinema but deservedly so - it has a very hopeless tone but never seems to tackle the wider problems which affect our characters. Morrison and Owen hold the film up - their performances are brilliant, and Tamahori's direction is rather pedestrian - this is all about the characters, although sometimes the scope widens a little and the class aspect of the film is really interesting but underdeveloped. The film also drops a lot of plots in the first act which resolve messily.
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lisa- | 5 70th |
starts of with a cheesy and somewhat irritating 80s vibe, and ends with a brutal critique of violence against women. performances vary wildly and it's reasonably predictable, but it's also better than expected.
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Average Percentile 66.77% from 656 Ratings | ![]() |