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Rapa Nui
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5024165702918
Format: PAL
Languages: English (Original Language), Analog
Number Of Discs: 1
Theatrical Release Date: September 09, 1994
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Editorial Review:
This elephantine tale set on Easter Island gets points for trying to explain the reasons behind the gigantic structures found there, but it unfortunately surrounds itself with a preposterous love story. Director Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) knows how to handle physical sequences, but his human actors (led by Jason Scott Lee) suffer from dreary, old-fashioned story elements: the love triangle, an aging chief, a back-stabbing aide, a clan conflict. Esai Morales (the brother in La Bamba) shows enough talent to make you wonder why he hasn't been in more projects. The movie concludes with a race sequence that ends in the most laughable way, and Sandrine Holt must have the most unflattering female role of the '90s. The scenery is the best part of this movie, which was filmed on location on the island. --Doug Thomas
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - "What Did You Think Salvation Would Look Like?" ~ Tale From The Navel Of The World
Note: Requires multi-region player to view in the America's.
Mythic tale of what life might have been like for the inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) long before the coming of the white man. 'Rapa Nui' means, "navel of the world," a concept found at the basis of every archaic, shamanistic based society. Rapa Nui is a tale of young love fighting against the political, religious and social constraints of life at "the center." Noro (Jason Scott Lee) is a long-ear, a member of the tribal ... Read More
Rating:  - The "Easter" Egg Race
This movie arouses violent controversy...you either like it or hate it.
I like it.
It mixes faithful ethnographic research with a fairly interesting story (culmonating in an egg-race to beat any other). Alright, the acting is poor and the plot has some tropical-romance cliches, but the film-makers respect the facts of Easter Island's prehistory (as told in books like Aku-Aku) without the need to introduce any white explorers or other people with whom we are supposed to identify.
Nor has ... Read More
Rating: - Thought-provoking and cinematically rich
I don't think this is a historically accurate account of Easter Island, which has perplexed historians for a long time, but I still think it's worth seeing as a thought exercise. The Moai raise lots of questions and this film gives a possible explanation.
The most compelling aspect of the film (other than the breathtaking scenery) is the struggle between the two "tribes" as exemplified by Esai Morales' character and the ordeals he faces as a proud and fierce member of the lesser tribe, which ... Read More
Rating: - Easter Island
I spent a year on Easter Island (Rapa Nui)in service to the United States. The people were very friendly and willing to talk about their island. The movie was relatively accurate concerning their past, including the cannibalism. If you lived on an island that is roughly 9 by 16 miles and that island had been deciminated by ecological ignorance, cannibalism might seem like a good idea at some point. It was not a continuing thing. The movie was Hollywoodized for entertainment purposes but was well done and ... Read More
Rating: - Good movie
Some aspects of this film are great: the scenery, the action (exhausting just to watch!), and a peek at a primitive culture destroyed by deforestation. Unfortunately the characterization almost destroys the film. Jason Scott Lee's character is completely oblivious to the class warfare happening around him; he's so focused on his love interest, he makes the most ridiculous decision about who should rule the island after winning the birdman contest (sorry about spoilers, did anyone think he wouldn't win?). His ... Read More
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