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Warrior, The

EMAILPRINTMiramax Films

Warrior, The reviews
65
8.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Adventure  |  Drama  |  Foreign

Written by: Asif Kapadia

Directed by: Asif Kapadia

Release Date:
Theatrical: July 15, 2005
DVD: May 2, 2006

Running Time: 86 minutes, Color

Origin: UK / France

Language(s): Hindi (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: R for some violence

Starring Irfan Khan, Puru Chibber, Aino Annuddin, Manoj Mishra, Nanhe Khan, Chander Singh, Hemant Maahaor, and Mandakini Goswami

The Warrior follows the visually stunning and emotionally exhilarating journey of an ancient Indian warrior who travels from the golden deserts of Rajasthan to the snowcapped peaks of the Himalaya in search of the one thing he has never known - peace - only to be chased by the forces of violence. (Miramax Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Scaled like an epic but possessing the narrative simplicity of a fable, The Warrior unfolds over a brisk 85 minutes of screen time, keeping dialogue to a minimum as it celebrates the power of stories told through handcrafted, CGI-free images.

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88

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Most of all, it's a film for moviegoers who love powerful stories and ravishing imagery: timeless, eternal, the kind of tales handed from one generation and culture to the next -- and alive in all of them.

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88

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

What begins as Lafcadia's journey into the heart of darkness ends as his pilgrimage into the light. Stunning.

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83

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Asif Kapadia's blazing feature debut, a gorgeously photographed saga with a fine sense of the way place shapes personality, has won numerous awards in the filmmaker's native Britain.

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80

The New York Times Laura Kern

A minimalist but strikingly beautiful tale of renounced violence told with uncommon precision and depth.

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80

Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart

It is chockablock with brutality, but the violence is of the high-minded, self-congratulatory sort that indicates without actually showing.

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75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

What is best in the film is its depiction of the warrior's epic journey, photographed with breathtaking beauty and simplicity by Roman Osin.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

It's a compelling minimalist drama about spiritual evolution, with strong performances and exotic locations.

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70

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

There's more than a nod to Sergio Leone in Kapadia's rugged wide-screen landscapes, minimal dialogue, and extreme close-ups, but there's scant humor to relieve the harshness, and though he has presence Khan is no Eastwood--or even a Mifune.

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63

Boston Globe Janice Page

What really makes 'The Warrior worthwhile is its indomitable soul.

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63

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The title-character's redemption comes very slowly. But if you have patience, this is a stately, beautifully composed story.

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60

Film Threat Rich Cline

This is a timeless tale; the time period is irrelevant as the story is a profoundly personal one about trying to reject the strong internal drive for vengeance.

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50

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The film's epic look is undermined by his narrow focus; in the end it feels rather thin and less than the sum of its handsome parts.

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50

Village Voice Uday Benegal

Visual grandiloquence more than makes up for the bare-bones dialogue. But while high on mysticism and vast in scale, The Warrior seems more poised than poetic, and ultimately landscape proves to be the film's real grabber.

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40

The Hollywood Reporter Joe Mader

The plot is simple to the point of being simplistic, and the characterizations are never more than rudimentary.

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40

Variety Derek Elley

Tendency to go for art rather than action, and a leisurely pace that isn't bolstered by much dialogue or food for thought.

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40

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Boasts an action-movie plot and an action-movie title, but precious little action. It's a lovely film about brutal men, but its integrity and visual splendor ultimately can't make up for its overall lack of visceral excitement.

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38

New York Post Kyle Smith

The Warrior may be mighty of sword but he is exceedingly limp of writing. We never learn why he went bad in the first place, or what causes his sudden conversion. If the audience is expected to do most of the work, we should be paid $10.50 each.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Barry W. gave it an8:
Simple yet powerfully moving. Beautifully photographed and acted.

J.R. Morgan gave it a10:
Saw this movie 5 years ago in Edinburgh, probably one of my favorite movies. As with Rakesh I am not sure the critics really caught the subtleties of the movie, and subtleties is what this movie is all about. The lack of dialogue isn't so much "barebones" as intentionally minimalist. The characters emotions are meant to extend beyond words, (which is good becuase being in hindi the subtitles would have distracted the viewer from the beautiful visual scenary), emotions, not words are meant to convey the weight here becuase the film is meant to be about the heros emotional struggles. An excellent film that I had given up hope on being able to see again, take the opportunity to see this rare jem.

Rakesh N. gave it a10:
A brilliant movie, which many of these moronic reviewers just don't seem to get. American critics are getting worse and worse and the reception this beautiful film is getting thus far is sickening; these critics seem more interested in finding witty and verbose ways to put films down than actually understand what good cinema is all about. This is a sensational debut by a wonderful new talent with a performance of great skill and depth at the center. I implore people to watch this film. Unless, of course, The Wedding Crashers or The Fantastic Four are just too irresistible to pass up.

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