Rating: 
Summary: Must see movie for all young girls and boys
Review: This movie ought to be required watching for all 6th grade girls and boys. The message of fighting sexism is a very important one. Girls and women can follow their dreams, even if they lead to a "male-only" destination.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as promised
Review: While this movie has several good points, it lacks creativity in many areas. You watch the movie and then leave with several questions about the culture left unanswered. Perhaps because I kept hearing how good the movie was I expected more, but I did not get it. Keisha's performance was wonderful and so were the perfomances of the other actors, the story is simly lacking. It's a shame because this movie could have been so much more than it turned out to be. The scenery is beautiful, the music is perfect and the acting is superb. It's really too bad.
I recommend this movie but it's not one that you'd want to watch more than once.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie
Review: Be sure to watch the extras!!
Tradition calls for the male decendant of a great ancestrial savior to be the leader of the tribe, but there are problems with that. Either the female decendant or some one who is not in the lineage will become chief. You can guess the ending, but the middle is so good that this is not a problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Shold have been called Lame Rider...
Review: Sorry folks, this movie was a turd. Of all the movies nominated for Academy Awards this year, I have to say, this is the worst. The story goes nowhere, dragging on and on forever... then... nothing really happens. Here is a summation of the film: "Blah, blah, blah, New Zealand, blah, blah, Whale Rider, blah, blah, I'm dissappointed with my son choosing to not carry on the family line, blah, blah, blah, little girl is our saviour, blah... blah... blah... you figured all of this out in the monologue at the beginning of the film, blah... blah... oh please shoot me... end."
That's all you need to know. When our lives are so precious and drip past us one second at a time... please don't spend those precious seconds killing yourself ever so slowly by watching this turd. Watch 21 Grams or Lost in Translation.
Watch Chasing Amy or The Rules of Attraction.
Watch Fight Club or Trainspotting.
Watch Wynona Ryder, heck, watch Pale Rider if you just have to have something with 'rider' in the title. Just go to the library... just pick any book ANY BOOK off of the shelf and check it out. Just don't do this... please... do it for me...
Rating: 
Summary: overrated, cliche, expected more...
Review: the hype i heard before before watching this movie may have ruined the film for me. i went into the movie with high expectations and left disappointed. its your typical "girl proves male-dominated-society wrong" movie full of cliches. nothing original, but very little really is today. the film lost its identity at the end where you are left feeling cheapened by the hollywood ending. even though this movie is probably better than most garbage released today, i could only give it 2 stars mainly because i dont recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Great story of cultural biases & the power of determination.
Review: Based on a book by Witi Ihimaera, the story is set in a small Maori community on the coast of New Zealand. Leadership of the town is passed down from from eldest son to eldest son, tracing all the way back to Paikea, their ancestor who rode to shore on a whale after capsizing in his canoe. This hereditary line is broken, however, when a girl is born to Porourangi Apirana, the eldest son of the current community leader. The girl's mother and twin brother die in childbirth, leaving Pai (her father names her after their heroic ancestor) the sole heir. Her grandfather, Koro, is disappointed, and though he loves his granddaughter very much, and she him, he shuns her and refuses to train her as the next leader. But Pai knows who she is and takes it upon herself to learn the ways of her people and fulfill her destiny. This is an amazing and touching story, made even better through excellent film-making. 12-year-old Pai is played by Keisha Castle-Hughes in a wonderful debut performance. One would never guess it was her first acting job. She manages to convey a great depth of emotion, and her crowning moment comes in a scene near the end, where she tearfully dedicates a speech to her beloved grandfather (Rawiri Paratene), who failed to show up for her recital of it. The whole film focuses on the conflicts between the great love the characters feel for each other, and the obligations of tradition. It is about a clash of generations and the struggle to reconcile the old world with the new. Pai's father (Cliff Curtis) is also at odds with Koro, so much so that he flees to live in Germany. And Pai's grandmother Nanny Flowers (Vicky Haughton) loves them all and tries her best to help then all make peace with one another. The movie is fairly short, clocking in at 101 minutes, but the slow pacing of the story makes it seem longer. There isn't really any action, yet somehow the viewer remains captivated by the story. The beautiful, haunting soundtrack also adds a great atmosphere to the film. Every main actor turned in a spectacular performance. If you aren't familiar with the New Zealand accent, however, it may take a little while to understand everything the actors say. The realism of it all is heightened by the fact that the movie was filmed in a real seaside Maori village, and all the "extras" are drawn from the town's own population. This lends a great sense of community, particularly in the emotional scene near the end where the people gather to aid a pod of beached whales (which, despite being replicas, look amazingly authentic). This scene ultimately leads to Pai, in an important symbolic role, riding on the back of one of the whales. The DVD also offers some nice extras. There is director commentary and the theatrical trailer. A great "Behind the Scenes of Whale Rider" featurette provides many insights into the filmmaking process, including how they selected Caste-Hughes for her role, how the whale replicas were constructed, and more. "Te Waka: Building the Canoe" follows the entire construction of the canoe that features as a major symbol in the film. Fittingly, the canoe was given as a gift to the people of the town in which the movie was filmed. There is also a featurette on the soundtrack, an art and photo gallery, and some deleted scenes. All in all I think this is one of the best films of 2003, and I recommend it highly. Though the main character is a 12-year-old girl, this is not a children's film, and should be enjoyable for viewers of all ages.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was expecting the movie to be like the book, but it wasn't. I was very disappointed. But it was a good movie and I recommend it to anybody. Have a great time watching!
Rating:
Summary: A coming of age movie with considerable depth!
Review: The thing I most enjoyed about this movie, as a story, is its exploration of the role of culture as a grounding force, something to give people a purpose in life. If a person knows where they come from, and identifies with a culture, they are a lot more likely to know who they are and where they should be going. Keisha Castle-Hughes of course carries off the role of Paikea brilliantly. Without an actress capable of carrying the part, the whole thing would have tasted flat; the quality of the movie depended on her performance in much the same way that A.I depended on Haley Joel Osment's ability to carry the main part. Also, this movie wasn't primarily about how much better girls are than boys; it was about a community finding a purpose and an identity and pulling together; men and women, girls and boys, each having a part to play that was neither more nor less important than anyone elses. When this happens, a community will grow strong and flourish, and this is in the end the point of the story, although the viewer is never beaten over the head with it. A delightful movie that most people can enjoy watching and identify with.
Rating:
Summary: What's left to say about this wonderful film . . . . . . .
Review: Most of the reviews hit it right on, however there is only one thing I would dare to add about this film. It should be required viewing by all young boys. It's way past time for boys to realize that a female can do anything a male can do (let's not go into all the things a female can do that a male can't). When males finally accept the fact that females are superior this world will certainly be a better place for all of us. This film is a great place to start in teaching the proven fact of female power.
Rating:
Summary: Whale of a Tale
Review: _Whale Rider_ is one of the best movies I have seen this year. The script and story were beautiful, and the cast was superb. I greatly enjoyed learning more about the modern Maori, and about the legends of their people. Keisha Castle-Hughes stole the show with her depiction of a young Maori girl who is looking for her place in the world. I hope to see Miss Castle-Hughes in many other films: she is extremely talented. The DVD has a very nice Behind-the-Scenes segment, as well as commentaries and still photos. After seeing the movie, it was great to see how it was made, and more details about the director, and the actors.
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