A fantastic movie!! I didn't want to see it, cause it looked like yet another boring indie about a small village somewhere. Boy was I wrong!

Whale Rider was totally amazing. Beautifully shot (without being too snazzy, which was just right.) FANTASTIC acting, especially by the little girl (she's never acted before?!?), and her grand parents. Great story, although it had a few holes, and was somewhat confusing to those of us who don't understand the culture and mythology of the Maori tribes. The Director seemed really cool too - she actually used real Maori tribes-people as extras and shot at their village.

Anyone else see this?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: titaniumdoughnut,

I saw this on the big screen, 'twas awesome.

And I've meet the chick who played Paikea

That's awesome. She's really going to go far. She played that role so unbelievably well. I was speechless. What is she, like 12? Amazing.

Whale Rider is on my top ten list, and every time I watch, it demands my full attention. I'm actually looking at an actual theatrical poster here in my office. It was given to my by my brother who was a projectionist at a local movie theater.

my aunt was the script consultant on it. i liked it. my grandmother has lots of cool memoribilia from the film as well.

titanium what kind of movies do you see regularly?

The Incredibles and Whale Rider both got a lot of press and were both even got some oscar nominations, yet you never actually even tried to see them when they were in theatres.

it justs surprises me because you seem to know and like filmmaking so much, how come you don't give movies a closer look?

To tell you the truth I don't watch that many movies when they come out. Seeing as the vast majority of them are crap I tend to disregard the current theater runs and instead look for stuff that looks good at the video store. I pay attention to what gets the lasting buzz - and hunt it down later. Then of course, I wish I'd seen it in theaters.

yeah, whale rider was great and the girl's performance was remarkable. i just hope she can pull some more roles because she's the most promising actress i've seen in a long time.