Savage

2019

1 hr. 40 min.

Crime

Drama

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List

76%

29 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Inspired by the true stories of New Zealand's street gangs across 30 years, SAVAGE follows DANNY at three defining moments in his life as he grows from a boy into the violent enforcer of a gang.

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Critics Consensus

Savage lives up to its title with plenty of grim violence -- but dispenses its brutality in service of a well-acted and solidly effective character study.

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Jonty R

Savage is an incredibly well done story about the lives of New Zealand gangs, told with great directing and cinematography skills, bold and fresh storytelling and gritty violence. The story follows the themes of love, home, family and redemption, and clearly shows how an innocent child can become a hardened gang enforcer. Director and writer Sam Kelly, spent lots of time with real life gangsters to make sure he told an accurate story and you can see it in the end result. The actors (most of them first timers) do an excellent job in portraying Bikie life, with Jake Ryan and John Tui delivering very emotional performances. Overall a must watch classic, which I'd recommend to all film goers and inspiring filmmakers, like myself.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/08/23

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Baz S

It's clearly not a high budget film and thats not necessarily a bad thing, a good film is good no matter the budget sadly this most certainly does not fall into this category. It's just silly.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/08/23

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gareth d

It's not good, it's not terrible - somewhere in between it meanders along with Danny the Damage and his hammer.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

New Zealand gang film. Less full-on than I expected, and doesn't have the same psychological impact as Once Were Warriors. The script is light on character development, and could have delved deeper into the cultural context of the gangs.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie could be hard to watch if you are not familiar with our gang culture or New Zealand. At bit like Once were warriors (Very NZ focused). I feel this is a real deep look into the gang culture and some of the obstacles some of our people experience. An eye opener. I highly recommend watching this movie, but come in with a open mind.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I can see this movie being hard to watch if you aren't from New Zealand or familiar with our gang culture. I personally found Savage to be a deep, hard look into some of the darkest corners of NZs past and the effects they had on young men at the time. New Zealand wasn't always Hobbits and compassionate Prime Ministers. I highly recommend this movie if you want a look at some of the hard truths of our society.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

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Sam Kelly

Director

John Tui

Moses

Jake Ryan

Danny

Chelsie Preston Crayford

Flo

Olly Presling

Danny

Erroll Shand

Josh

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Savage: Trailer 1

1:52

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

The triptych structure is a little fiddly, but Savage is never less than powerful.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 22, 2021

Full Review

Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

The details of gang life are fascinating. The casting is superb: hundreds of rough-heads assembled from across New Zealand. These mean-looking buggers provide a terrifying backdrop for the power struggle.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 8, 2020

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

The debutant director Sam Kelly creates a credibly hard-hitting if depressingly repetitive (fackin, fackin, fackin, fackin) milieu, with shades of Lee Tamahori's classic New Zealand drama Once Were Warriors.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 12, 2020

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Carey-Ann Pawsey

Orca Sound

While there is plenty of violence and other things you would expect from a gang flick there is also a "softer" side here. That gives the film a realistic feel to it.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 12, 2021

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

There's nothing novel about this gang movie, but in its rawness it gets the brutality right and makes for a gritty watch.

Rated: B-

Feb 4, 2021

Full Review

Todd Jorgenson

Cinemalogue

... lacks broader insight and ultimately fails to generate sympathy for Danny as he seeks redemption.

Jan 30, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Inspired by the true stories of New Zealand's street gangs across 30 years, SAVAGE follows DANNY at three defining moments in his life as he grows from a boy into the violent enforcer of a gang.

Director: Sam Kelly
Executive Producer: Brian Kelly, Bill Trotter, William Watson
Screenwriter: Sam Kelly
Production Co: Park Road Post Production, POP Films, New Zealand Film Commission, Avalon Studios
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 29, 2020

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