3/4  Beautiful and thought-provoking
Terrence Malick's 4th film in 33 years is a lush, hypnotic and ponderous vision of a time when society's progression clashed with the simple lives of natives and one girl kept the balance between peace and hostility; it's perhaps too medi... (read full)

0.5/4  Hit the Snooze
Colin Farrell and Terrence Malick...you'd expect a good show, right? You'd expect a thrilling, well-told epic masterpiece, right? You'd expect to see Oscars and glamour for those involved, right? But, if you ever watched "The New World,... (read full)

4/4  Aguirre+Braveheart=Unforgetable Craft work
Wonderful movie, very underrated in my opinion. Don't let the Pocahontas thing scare you. Watch it!
Review I made when I saw it:
SAVAGE!? SAVAGE DID YOU CALL ME!?
Yes... those... "men", that come with they ships, they deceases. They gu... (read full)

2.5/4  The New World Quick Review
I really really wanted to like this movie. I figured a movie directed by Malick would be fantastic, but I was let down. It is very slow (even though I was expecting it to be) but beautiful. It was well acted, but not executed well. Darn.

5/5 Embracing the New World
  by Edmonson (Canada)
Terence Malick (Thin Red Line) directs this film about the meeting of two worlds. English explorer's land on the west coast of North America, near what today is Virginia, and build a settlement named Jamestown. They encounter the Naturals, as Captain John smith (Colin Farrell) calls the indigenous Indian population. Initially there is a uneasy period as the two cultures get acquainted. John Smith takes a small party up river to meet the Naturals. As is often the case with Malick's films nature is brought to the forefront. The inland landscape is like a confusing labyrinth that overwhelms the explorers. John Smith loses his comrades when they go off exploring in the marshes. Like a large spider's web, the natural world traps the men. This is a beautiful, but dangerous world that the Europeans have not yet tamed. The Naturals have learned to live within the landscape. Like a spider that is shown making its way over a tree trunk the Naturals have found a way to coexist with nature, but for the Europeans this is not the case as their situation deteriorates.

John Smith is captured by the Naturals and has his life spared by Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher). He lives amongst the Naturals for a time, learning their ways. A romance develops between Smith and Pocahontas, but once the Naturals realize that the Europeans intend to stay the Naturals are determined to chase them away and attack the settlers. Nothing is resolved, but many die on both sides. Eventually John Smith leaves the settlement and heads north leaving the Princess behind. The film beautifully unfolds as each new chapter reveals itself. The broken hearted Pocahontas eventually meets another European John Rolfe (Christian Bale) who she marries. Locations are then switched as Pocahontas sails to England with her European husband. She sees the Old World with its tall buildings and manicured gardens, and sheds her familiar clothing for that of the city dwellers. In this world we see nature as having been tamed by mankind. The trees are sculptured and ordered into distinct rows and patterns.

When Pocahontas again meets up with John Smith, it is a meeting of the old memories with the new. "The New World" reflects on the notion of change. Pocahontas is the free spirit that embraces and loves the world that she lives in. She's also the one that bridges the gap between the Naturals and the Europeans. This movie is a meditation about embracing life and all that it has to offer, and we experience this love of life through the exuberance of Pocahontas. Sit back and enjoy this luxurious film that passes over one like a breeze in the forest.

P.S. This is one of the best looking, and sounding, blu-rays I have seen. Truly beautiful!

5/5 Excellent Extension to the Original!
  by Brendan Paxton (Cincinnati, OH)
I'm not going to review the plot or the synopsis or The New World as a movie, because there are other reviews for that. I clearly enjoyed the movie and I won't argue with those who didn't. I'm simply going to review the Blu-ray quality and the extension to the original.

VIDEO (5/5)
Five stars on the video, out of five. The picture is absolutely incredible. With the Oscar nomination for cinematography, the film being shot on film (no special effects or CGI work), Terrence Malick's choice of not using any artificial lighting, and more, the video couldn't be better. I have used this Blu-ray edition alone to find the perfect HDTV for my grandparents in the last couple of weeks. Having the Danny Boyle's recent sci-fi movie, Sunshine, on Blu-ray as well (it's known for its incredible picture quality), this movie was the victor. The picture is as real and as pure as it gets. I can't say that enough. When viewing on an HDTV, these huge wide shots really make you feel like you're there. The sunsets are colorful and enormous. Each blade of grass, every bead of sweat, and even subtle facial expressions can be seen. I even noticed something I never had--some small drops of dew, a gentle drizzle of rain, pilgrims working in the distance on some side shots, etc. This edition has the most pristine picture out of an Blu-ray I have seen yet. The sharpness and lighting and quality... just brilliant!

AUDIO (4/5)
This edition should ONLY be played on surround sound. Listening to this on our TV's speakers was just terrible. This movie has an immense amount of sound. The cellos and basses from Wagner's Vorspiel, the rush of the river and streams, the rocking of the wood on ships, subtle whispers from Pocahontas's narration. There are so many different, lush sounds in this movie that having them projected from just two speakers creates an overload. And that's undesirable overload where certain things that need to be heard aren't. Audio gets a (4/5) because the Blu-ray lacked audio options (English only, English & Spanish subtitles, 5.1 only).

FEATURES (N/A)
This edition is lacking any additional features from the DVD.

EXTENSION (5/5)
Wonderful extension! The scenes are scattered throughout the film in a very balanced manner. We start to see them immediately in longer underwater shots at the beginning of the film. Most notably are the addition of scenes (complete scenes, not just longer shots) we had never seen before. I won't spoil the movie, but the extensions are great and give a deeper look inside Smith and Pocahontas's relationship. They are also placed in other areas of the film, not necessarily to show us something we were missing, but to throw us into the film, to give it life. I found the additional scenes wonderful, giving time to where the previous edition seemed to rush through. When Smith is sent back to Jamestown, for instance, we feel as he did. We had nearly forgotten about them and were desperate to get back. There is even some more narration that gives us some characterizing thoughts from the characters.

This is the best Blu-ray currently in my collection.
The video is, dare I say, perfect. Seriously, play this Blu-ray edition next to another Blu-ray and you will be blown away at how great the picture is on this. I would suggest you buy. Quick shipment from Amazon and wonderful price. Best Buy had this for $40.

5/5 A great movie, but definitely not for all movie fans
  by Lynne Falconer (Irvine, CA, USA)
This movie will need more than one viewing to grasp and follow the storyline, catch the dialog and the meaning behind the very few and far between spoken lines. And this is not a movie for every movie fan, or even for fans of Colin Farrell.

That said, once again I am intrigued and impressed by how good Colin Farrell is at what he does - acting/performing. As I said in a previous review of another movie, he has, for me, a truly beautiful voice and that makes listening to the narration (or poetry reading as another reviewer called it) which covers most of the movie, easy. His Irish accent, which is more prominent in this movie than some of the others I've watched, had me rewind scenes a couple of times. Having lived in America for the last eleven years, my ears are no longer as good or quick with translating Irish and Scottish accents into understandable English, so I will re-watch this movie a couple of times to get back into that translation groove.

The facial expression and actions of the characters throughout must be watched as that forms the basis of most of the storyline. Here both Colin Farrell, and the newly introduced actress, Q'orianka Kilcher, played excellently. This applies to most all the other actors in them movie. Christian Bale is still a gorgeous guy, and good actor, fitting well into the role of the English gentleman.

It is a slow movie, granted, and there were times when I wished some of the scenery shots were cut, such as the first tour up the river, but when you think about it, it is during those that a lot of story is spoken/told.

All in all I enjoyed the movie, but recommend it only to those who can sit quietly for about two and a half hours and enjoy walking through a historic tale, told slowly, and brought to life on the big screen with a lot of scenery shots, skimpy in the way of character dialog - long stretches of no dialog or narration, a story told through body language and emotion, with gestures and expressions taking the place of dialog.

It is a good quality movie, with good performances by the actors, but definitely not for everyone.


1/5 high-def, standerd-def the movie sucks
  by Amir Alturkistani (Pullman, WA)
I got the extended cut blue ray edition and other than how good nature looked and sounded on my tv, the whole movie truly put me to sleep every time I started to watch a part of it. It took me two weeks to finish the movie that how boring it was.
No wonder it was an absolute failure in the box office, and collin ferral sucked just as much as the movie.

4/5 A True Malick Picture
  by Corey J. Lyons (San Ramon, CA)
First, this Blu-Ray version is a beautiful transfer, visually. It's stunning to look at. Malick is such a visual storyteller ("Thin Red Line") that you can sustain this movie on the images alone. He's not a great traditional storyteller, so the movie will drag for many people. Plus, Colin Farrell simply lacts the emotional depth, and range, to carry a film on his own -- especially one in which he's supposed to show leadership as Capt. John Smith.

Still, the movie is an experience to enjoy. I was slightly disappointed by the sound (not enough rear speaker action), but the sound was very well balanced.