Once Were Warriors

R

Released Feb 24, 1994

1h 42m

Drama

List

93%

46 Reviews

Tomatometer

95%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

An unemployed Maori living in the Auckland slums, Jake Heke (Temuera Morrison) has a terrible temper that he takes out on family and strangers alike. His wife, Beth (Rena Owen), takes regular beatings after he's been at the pub, and his kids do what they can to sidestep trouble. Nig (Julian Arahanga), the eldest, is joining a street gang; Boogie (Taungaroa Emile) has been placed in a foster home; and Grace increasingly retreats to the pages of her journal.

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Critics Consensus

Once Were Warriors isn't an easy watch, but the raw power of its story -- and the performances of an excellent cast -- reward viewers who rise to the challenge.

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Kirsten W

This movie is powerful. A friend told me about it and said it made her cry harder than she'd ever cried. So I really wanted to watch it and I cried, hard. I saw it again years later and I was thinking it didn't get me this time. And then i realized tears were streaming down my cheeks. i think the minor roles were spectacular. The singing felt like it was from performers who haven't gotten their full credit in life. It's a powerful film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/26/24

Full Review

Christian T

An absolute masterpiece, loved this hard hitting movie when it first came out, and is still as good nowadays. Purely for adults only. Do not underestimate how emotionally charged this film is. Temeura Morrisons crowning moment

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/24

Full Review

David M

This is CINEMA!!! La pelicula es una cinta con un desarrollo de trama excepcional para la epoca (1994), despues de tantos años sigue siendo la presentación más impactante de abuso doméstico y de los efectos del alcoholismo jamás realizada para muchos. Una historia que impacta, conmueve en parte a la crudeza retratada en la historia contada por e director Lee Tamahori

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/24

Full Review

Ariki B

Amazingly powerful and a true snapshot of the time and challenges it depicts.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/02/23

Full Review

Patrick D

An absolute masterpiece. Number 1 on my list of Best Movies of All Time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/03/23

Full Review

Craig M

The best portrayal of a domestic abuser in film. Down and out macho man who laughs and sings one moment, then beats and rapes his wife the next. It better fits the tough guys I saw growing up than the eternally glowering a-holes in most films. Also, I used the film in my sociology classes to disrupt students' by having English-accented brown people from the Southern Hemisphere (New Zealand), the Māori -- good and bad side, as all cultures have -- and I would combine it with Stephen Crane's, Maggie a Girl of the Streets (Irish Ghetto in America, circa 1890) -- as well as other sources to get some less stereotyped thinking going.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/29/23

Full Review

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Lee Tamahori

Director

Rena Owen

Beth Heke

Temuera Morrison

Jake Heke

Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell

Grace Heke

Julian Arahanga

Nig Heke

Taungaroa Emile

Boogie Heke

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Jami Bernard

New York Daily News

Once Were Warriors has more to say than the traditional TV-movie about spousal abuse. But some viewers will have to pay a price: This is a movie that requires strength and fortitude to sit through.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 21, 2017

Full Review

John Hartl

Seattle Times

Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, who plays Grace, had never acted before, and neither have a couple of the other key players. But under the careful direction of television veteran Lee Tamahori, they all do credible and forceful work.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 21, 2017

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

A gritty, powerful first feature by Lee Tamahori.

Feb 21, 2017

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Lee Tamahori's feature film debut offers a cross-section of abuses, making it a searing portrait of self-destructive behaviors, toxic codependency, and gut-wrenching tragedy.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 26, 2022

Full Review

Leigh Paatsch

Herald Sun (Australia)

One of the finest films ever made on New Zealand soil has lost none of its raw emotional power and unbearable psychological intensity.

Rated: 5/5

Apr 23, 2020

Full Review

Roger Hurlburt

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Once Were Warriors is a savage and dismaying tale of a venerable culture in decay and a film difficult to recommend.

Feb 21, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

An unemployed Maori living in the Auckland slums, Jake Heke (Temuera Morrison) has a terrible temper that he takes out on family and strangers alike. His wife, Beth (Rena Owen), takes regular beatings after he's been at the pub, and his kids do what they can to sidestep trouble. Nig (Julian Arahanga), the eldest, is joining a street gang; Boogie (Taungaroa Emile) has been placed in a foster home; and Grace increasingly retreats to the pages of her journal.

Director: Lee Tamahori
Screenwriter: Riwia Brown, Alan Duff
Distributor: Fine Line Features, Criterion Collection
Production Co: Fine Line Features, Finestkind
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English (Australia)
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 24, 1994, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 18, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.3M
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Stereo

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