Prisoners of the Ghostland

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Prisoners of the Ghostland

2021

1h 40m

Action

Adventure

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

62%

Tomatometer

158 Reviews

49%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by a wealthy warlord, The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has run away. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days if he doesn't find the missing girl, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman -- and his own path to redemption.

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Critics Consensus

Prisoners of the Ghostland is far from Sono's most distinctive work, but viewers in the mood for a deliriously gonzo genre mash-up featuring an explosive performance from Nicolas Cage just might have a ball.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Utterly barmy.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 19, 2021

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Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Prisoners of the Ghostland isn't campy enough to be camp.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 17, 2021

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Nick Allen

RogerEbert.com

No movie with Nicolas Cage, directed by the wonderfully weird Japanese director Sion Sono, should be this taxing, drawn out, and plainly boring.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 17, 2021

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Maxance Vincent

InSession Film

Prisoners of the Ghostland lacks any excitement and catharsis that made Sono the filmmaker he is today.

Rated: D

Mar 5, 2024

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Manuel São Bento

MSB Reviews

A world of total anarchy where samurais, cowboys, nuclear explosions, modern cars, and more collide to surround an otherwise simple narrative with nonsensically hilarious storylines and awesome action sequences.

Rated: A-

Jul 24, 2023

Full Review

James Croot

The Post NZ

If you thought Mandy, Color Out of Space, Willy’s Wonderland or Pig offered up Nicolas Cage at maximum unhingedness, wait until you get a load of Sion Sono’s “delirious mash-up of Western, samurai movie and post-apocalyptic thriller”.

Rated: 3.5/5

Mar 8, 2023

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logan mac

This film is not for everyone, by no stretch of the imagination. But if this is the film for you, it is hands down the craziest Nicolas Cage movie ever made. Im not sure how to describe it, a Japanese Arthouse Fantasy Western? The trailer for the movie makes it seem as if its a balls to the wall action flick. It is not that at all. While we do get some great fight scenes, this is more of a slow, mythical, almost dream like adventure. If you want some nice Cageplotation, I would highly recommend this movie. There is a scene so crazy in this movie, my jaw dropped to the floor...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/21/21

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Deanna

I thoroughly enjoyed this most recent Nick Cage film. It was gore filled, a great nod to kabuki noh style plays. I really enjoyed the symbolism and the dreamlike style was reministent of othe films I enjoy such as Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/20/21

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Knots

Cowboys and Samurais in the post apocalypse are badass.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/19/21

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Nat T

This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but was so bad I somehow couldn't stop watching it. That's the only reason I gave it two stars instead of one. Also, some of the visuals were interesting. Utterly chaotic and kind of stupid. Dialogue was like if you told a chatbot to write a movie using only language a five year old would understand.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/23/25

Full Review

John S

After watching this movie I joked with my wife about coming to RT and writing a convincing review falsely claiming this movie is good and that people who don't like it "just don't get it", but to be honest I didn't have the heart. This movie is seriously awful. We're talking the type of unmitigated disaster that even booze can't help. I'm saying this as someone who watches a lot of really bad stuff and usually still has fun - Watching this movie was torture, and I squirmed through the entire thing.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/20/25

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cam s

Not good, at all. Makes little sense but is worth a watch if you enjoy bizarre Nick Cage films.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/10/25

Full Review

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Sion Sono

Director

Nicolas Cage

Hero

Sofia Boutella

Bernice

Nick Cassavetes

Psycho

Bill Moseley

The Governor

Tak Sakaguchi

Yasujiro

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Prisoners of the Ghostland: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by a wealthy warlord, The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has run away. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days if he doesn't find the missing girl, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman -- and his own path to redemption.

Director: Sion Sono
Producer: Nate Bolotin, Michael Mendelsohn, Ko Mori, Laura Rister, Reza Sixo Safai
Screenwriter: Aaron Hendry, Reza Sixo Safai
Distributor: RLJE Films
Production Co: RLJE Films, Eleven Arts, Patriot Pictures, Untitled Entertainment, Boos Boos Bang Bang, XYZ Films, Baked Studios
Genre: Action, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 17, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 17, 2021
Runtime: 1h 40m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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