Rating: 
Summary: Brutal, but a truth we must face
Review: I am writing in response to the reviews below. I agree with them that it is extremely violent, and touches upon some very sensitive issues, rape, molestation, alcoholism, & domestic violence. This is a good movie, although you should be prepared for its' explicit violence and graphic details. The author and producer did a wonderful job portraying this story of a disfunctional Maori family and their struggles with each other, with their culture and with themselves. As some people may find it hard to watch, it is a sad fact that for some people, this is their reality, their life. I come from a Polynesian family and I see scenarios vaguely reminiscent to this movie all around me, in my family and those of friends. This movie is about more than a man's struggle with violence or about the parent's alcohol addiction. This movie is about a search for identity, both cultural identity and personal identity intertwined. In the end, Beth speaks, of how they come from a tribe, full of "mana", which means power...not a physical power but a spiritual power. This is what, she finally realizes, she has been missing all those years...she realizes that she has mana, she is strong and even though it is so common around her, she is starting to understand what has been happening within her own family NOT supposed to be normal.
Rating:
Summary: an all to common story
Review: This is one of the most moving and yet inspirational films I have seen. Set in the Government Housing area of Aukland,New Zealand (Aotearoa). while much of other reviews covers the simple view of the film, they cannot convey the powerful story/message as well as watching Rena Owen and Temuera Morrison, Taungaroa Emile, Mere Boynton and Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, and the rest of the cast.
The Film highlights not only the Maori story, but as mentioned by Rene herself (in an interview on the DVD I have). it highlights the problems of women children and men worldwide, most people can relate to the characters, many of us know a Beth Heke, a Boogie Heke, a Jake (The Mus) Heke, even a Grace Heke.
they need not be Maori, but we all can relate, no matter our origins, this is a story of the human condition that is all too common, and in the eyes of this reviewer, shows that too often when we try to be strong, we get it wrong. if you like Hollywood's greatest, then don't get this film, because this film is not a flight of fantasy, this film is reality.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Intense
Review: Dont miss this movie about an Australian tribal family.
Its interesting and intence with great acting. Very powerful and very violent
Rating:
Summary: Should be rated a "10 star" movie
Review: Believe it or not but I saw this movie by accident. I woke up about 5:45 one morning and turned on the TV and "Once Were Warriors" was showing. What an absolutely WONDERFUL movie. The acting was so real and the story just touched me so much. It's one of those movies that you think about for months to come. I'm off to buy the movie now.
Rating:
Summary: Very Emotional Provoking....
Review: This is an excellent movie about the modern everyday life of the Maori in New Zealand. It's a very realistic movie about family, love, alcoholism and domestic violence. It's interesting to see the tattooed bodies of the Maori gang. Many tattoos we wear in America are actually replicas of their tribal tattoos which is an insult to the Maori. This is a great piece.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most powerful movies ever
Review: This movie impacted me on so many levels. Every one of the actors was excellent, especially Temuera Morrison and Rena Owen.This story is not just a story about a native family and the effects of modern society on their lives and culture (although it does that very well) but it is also a story of the cruel effects that an abusive parent can have on his children. This movie will stay with me for a very long time.
Rating:
Summary: I've seen the movie before on HBO
Review: When the movie first came out on HBO I was "whoa".. and was hooked. The movie itself shows the 'pride' and the roots of the Maori people. Whether it was in Jake, Beth or the kids. It showed many differences in having pride or trying to achieve it and also not to forget their roots and where they came from. It shows that one doesn't have to be 'set' in the structure of what or where society has placed them, you can change it if you really want to. I was both happy and saddened to what the contents of the movie had showed. Happy that it showed true to the culture of what the Maori people once were as a community in the old teachings but saddened in what future holds for life anywhere with the same circumstances. I'm originally from Hawaii myself, Part Hawaiian/Tahitian/mix and I've got Maori cousins.. (they're really tall people!) Have not bought the movie yet on DVD, but I'm planning to buy it!
Rating:
Summary: The Clashing of Cultures Brings Ruin
Review: ONCE WERE WARRIORS is a gem of a movie that received little play in the United States. And that is a shame since this film is one of the most brutal and unforgettable exposes of the disintegration of a native culture after debilitating contact with a colonially suffocating one. Director Lee Tomahori presents a poverty-stricken subculture of the Maori tribe in New Zealand, one in which the dissolution of the formerly strong tribal bonds and rituals becomes increasingly evident in each scene. Part of the appeal of this movie is that the theme of cultural sabotage is often repeated in many cultures--and not just in third world cultures that accept Burger King rather than their own gods as a worthy pantheon. Temuera Morrison is Jake, a brute of a husband who finds that his place in society has been undercut by a Western civilization that seems bent on putting Guess jeans on all the natives. Jake finds it difficult to hold a job so he spends his days drinking in pubs with his mates. He brawls, he drinks, he abuses his long suffering wife Beth (Rena Owen) whenever his self-esteem dips below a critical level. Beth tries hard to maintain some semblance of normalcy, but with one son in prison, another seeking to join a gang, and a teenage daughter trying to face the issues of her own burgeoning sexuality in a male-dominant society, she finds this job impossible. She loves Jake, but she hates what he has become, and there is no easy solution. Nearly all the major characters are blighted in some way by their inability to adjust to their newer and low-class status in a Western culture than relegates their own to disrepute. Much of the film is filled with the raw violence of bar room brawls, ugly scenes of domestic abuse, and rape. All of this violence serves to underscore the need of a disenfranchised people to look within themselves to find the pride and respect that once marked them as warriors. Most fail, but the few who do not suggest that the recovery of basic human decency transcends cultures and borders so that any who see this marvelous movie can take heart that brutes like Jake are dinosaurs, eventually to be replaced by adaptable survivors like Beth. The closing scene of Beth's son,now fully engaged in his gang's ritualistic dance of discipline, punctuates this most basic of human desires.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult to Watch, but Well Worth it
Review: This is an amazing film on several fronts. First, it gives a bleak, but accurate view of modern life for the native Maori people of New Zealand. Next, it explores the desperate life of a low income, abusive family who could exist in any country. For an American it is a cultural awakening to the oppressed life of the aboriginal culture of New Zealand and what it has been reduced to in modern times. There are powerful scenes of a population striving to maintain some grip on its ancient traditions, contrasted with modern "ghetto life." It should ring very clear as being similar to our own native Americans and their plight in our own country. Along with this the film brings a vivid portrait of a family struggling with less than easy socio-economical situations and the typical downfalls it presents- alcoholism, drug use and domestic violence. The climax presents a heart-wrenching scene I can only compare with the rape scene from The Accused. It is burned in my mind, and will forever haunt me in the same way the pinball machine scene from The Accused did. Again, this film has so much to offer on so many levels: powerful performances (many from "non-actors"), a new cultural awareness, and a bleak portrait of the lives of a poverty-ridden society attempting to cling to some aspect of it history. DO see this film. You will be glad you did.
Rating: 
Summary: An Empowering Look At Domestic Violence
Review: Whopper of a movie centralized around a Maori mother and daughter dealing with the abusive, mixed blood male figure in their life, an impressive Temuera Morrison. With its comparitively alien (at least for a white guy from Chicago) setting and culture, you would think a movie like this would be impenetrable to anyone outside of New Zealand, but director Tamahori deals in a universal, familiar story without giving us something we've seen before. The acting is fantastic all around, from the lovely and inspiring Rena Owen to the astounding physical and emotional presence of Temeura Morrison as Jake. The way Beth ultimately uses Jake as a tool of her own outrage is something to see, though a tad expected. This really is a great and unflinching portrayal of the tragedy of the battered home. It could have wallowed in the excessive Ricki Lake freakshow element, or come off as relentlessly depressing, but in the end, like Beth, it stands up and lifts its head.
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