Hunt for the Wilderpeople

07-07-2016 9:00am #1

Did a search for this, but could only find references to it.

Saw this last night as part of the Galway Film Fleadh and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPaU4Gymt3E

A national manhunt is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush.

IMDB

It's directed by Taika Waitit, who is slowly becoming one of my favourite directors, with the excellent Eagle vs Shark, Boy, and What We Do In The Shadows under his belt. Interestingly, he's directing the upcoming Thor movie, which could be an interesting take, if he carries on his humour into it.

There are so many quotable lines and hilarious setpieces. Definitely recommend tracking it down.

safetyboy · 07-07-2016 12:35pm

Looking forward to this for a while now.

07-07-2016 12:55pm

I wonder whether it's getting a theatrical release?

Catcher7791 · 07-07-2016 1:58pm

There was a free preview of it at the IFI's Open Day last Saturday. It's getting a release on September 16th.

gmisk · 19-07-2016 3:54pm

Catcher7791 wrote: »

There was a free preview of it at the IFI's Open Day last Saturday. It's getting a release on September 16th.

There was....it was rammed.....the film is very very funny and pretty touching deserves to do really well when released here.

20-07-2016 9:21am

gmisk wrote: »

There was....it was rammed.....the film is very very funny and pretty touching deserves to do really well when released here.

Sadly the incredible What We Do In The Shadows, which I firmly believe is Waititi's best work to date, didn't do all that well at the box office -- well, it still was a financial success globally, but nowhere near as much as it should have. Admittedly I only caught it on Netflix.

gmisk · 20-07-2016 9:48am

Deleted User wrote: »

Sadly the incredible What We Do In The Shadows, which I firmly believe is Waititi's best work to date, didn't do all that well at the box office -- well, it still was a financial success globally, but nowhere near as much as it should have. Admittedly I only caught it on Netflix.

True I would say budgets aren't astronomical in fairness.
Seems to be doing ok in small release in US though
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=huntforwilderpeople.htm
I guess a film like this is always going to have limited appeal box office wise but people likely to hear about it after through word of mouth.

20-07-2016 10:15am

Interestingly it had double the budget of WWDIS, which is very prevalent throughout. I'm very curious to see what he does with the newest Thor movie, of which he is the director.

Plus it'll be the biggest movie his friends have ever stared in :pac:

bkrangle · 21-09-2016 8:03pm

Saw this in Cineworld tonight and really enjoyed it.

Very funny overall with some sad and poignant bits for good measure. There's a nice gruff turn too from Sam Neill who I've always primarily associated with Jurassic Park and Event Horizon.

The cameos from the director, and some other familiar faces, are among the funniest bits.

FunLover18 · 21-09-2016 11:58pm

I loved this, not as funny as WWDITS but a much better film. Definitely one of my favourite of the year.

Cookie_Monster · 22-09-2016 1:08am

It's already the most successful NZ film to date, saw it when it came out over here and it's great.
The kiwi humour is similar to a lot of the Irish made stuff and I really enjoy these local films.

Goodbye Pork Pie from 1981 is another excellent one if anyone is looking for a similar-ish kiwi film.

There seems to be a long standing tradition in Kiwi films that the cops are all morons too

Fuzzy_Dunlop · 22-09-2016 9:32am

Really loved this film. Funny and affecting and everything in between.

Looking forward to seeing what Taika can do with Thor.

johnny_ultimate · 22-09-2016 1:00pm

This film is silly, uneven and often unbelievable even within its own flimsy internal logic - and yet I found it very hard to conjure up any ill will against it. It's heavy on the charm, full of enthusiasm from everybody involved, and a crowd pleaser that doesn't feel like its yielding to sentimentality. It's accessible in a very positive way - very funny at times (if a bit scattershot at others), and doesn't feel like it betrays its characters for cheap payoffs.

Much preferred it to WWDITS, and while Waititi isn't quite on Edgar Wright levels, it reminded me of his work a bit in terms of the visual and editing energy afoot here. There's plenty of novel staging of scenes, and the cast are clearly having a riot throughout. It's lightweight and disposable overall, but in this context I say that as a positive rather than a negative

Tony EH · 22-09-2016 6:17pm

Agree with you there Johnny. It's sheer force of charm had me really enjoying it despite the fact that, internally, I was questioning the plot and logic all the way through and I really didn't take to a couple of characters. There's some real laugh out loud dialogue though.

It is sentimental, but never schmaltzy and I think that is the difference.

I guess it's just one of those pictures.

Haven't seen 'What We Do in the Shadows' yet, but on the strengths on 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople', I'll be seeking it out.

FunLover18 · 22-09-2016 6:32pm

Tony EH wrote:

Haven't seen 'What We Do in the Shadows' yet, but on the strengths on 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople', I'll be seeking it out.

It's on Netflix and well worth a watch. Much more of a straight up comedy.

Nervous Wreck · 22-09-2016 9:10pm

There barely is any internal logic to this film; that's kinda the point. It's told from the perspective of a kid with an overactive imagination and a difficulty keeping focus. It's erratic and unbelievable because that's how he sees the world. Fantastic film. Waititi is great.

Conor Bourke · 04-10-2016 8:26pm

Went to see this last night and really enjoyed it. The best way I could think to describe it is almost like a combination of Up and Into The West :pac:

Waititi and Rhys Darby's cameos were excellent.

holy guacamole · 11-10-2016 11:51am

So many quoteworthy lines in this film, it's almost Python-esque in that sense. Psycho Sam is my new favourite movie character.

Really hope this film gets a following in this part of the world, it deserves as wide an audience as possible.

4Ad · 14-10-2016 1:22pm

Really hope this film gets a following in this part of the world, it deserves as wide an audience as possible.[/quote]

Ditto.. Really enjoyed this film, only saw it by chance, must look up his previous films..

FunLover18 · 14-10-2016 3:38pm

4Ad wrote:

Ditto.. Really enjoyed this film, only saw it by chance, must look up his previous films..

What we do in the shadows is on Netflix and it's very funny.

gucci · 03-01-2017 10:05am

I watched this last night and have to agree with the positive feelings for this movie shared above. It was the perfect movie to take the edge off the reality of a return to work today!

I can’t really add much to what has been said above either, only to say it’s a great watch and is about the perfect length.
My favourite scene I think were Psychic Sam

Lets Play Dead

and the scene where Ricky starts telling the 3 idiots

that he has had to do terrible things to Hec…..

I believe it will soon be added to Netflix, therefore I recommend keeping an eye out for it.

09-01-2017 6:46pm

gucci wrote: »

I watched this last night and have to agree with the positive feelings for this movie shared above. It was the perfect movie to take the edge off the reality of a return to work today!

I can’t really add much to what has been said above either, only to say it’s a great watch and is about the perfect length.
My favourite scene I think were Psychic Sam
Lets Play Dead
and the scene where Ricky starts telling the 3 idiots
that he has had to do terrible things to Hec…..

I believe it will soon be added to Netflix, therefore I recommend keeping an eye out for it.

Psycho Sam is such a great character.

What I love most about Waititi's work is that his friends often pop up in his movies.

Arghus · 10-01-2017 1:45am

It's been added to Netflix. May now get around to watching it.

Also Starring LeVar Burton · 26-02-2017 5:33pm

Great film. Very funny and enjoyable.

If you're on the lookout for other great films from New Zealand, I thoroughly recommend Housebound (2014).

27-02-2017 1:03pm

Also worth looking into the director's other works - What We Do in the Shadows, which is also available on Netflix is a superb mockumentary (think This is Spinal Tap/Best in Show etc.) about vampires living in New Zealand. Then there's also Boy & Eagle vs Shark.

Evac101 · 28-02-2017 2:59pm

Lovely, lovely film, highly recommend. In the words of a friend, "It's sort of like 'Up', except in New Zealand, and with guns".

pixelburp · 05-07-2018 3:20pm

Bumping the thread for no good reason than to say in passing that I finally(!) saw this via Netflix, having read so much passing tattle - here and elsewhere - about this little gem of a film from New Zealand & Taika Waititi.

Absolutely loved it, start to finish & has smuggled its way into my favourite films of the last few years; eccentric, exciting, funny, charming, sweet, erratic, melancholic - and often at the same time in a single scene. Waititi made an action-adventure across the epic landscape of New Zealand's jungle seem positively whimsical. A bit of a Shaggy Dog story at times, but it was so full of humanity & hilarious, quotable lines it didn't really matter.

stormthecastle · 09-07-2018 2:37pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Also worth looking into the director's other works - What We Do in the Shadows, which is also available on Netflix is a superb mockumentary (think This is Spinal Tap/Best in Show etc.) about vampires living in New Zealand. Then there's also Boy & Eagle vs Shark.

Also a tv series called Wellington paranormal is coming out soon (this week) which is a spinoff of WWDITS and looks brilliant...same humour as movie.

In the Hunt for the Wilderpeople, the church scene kills me every time, brilliant.

check_six · 11-07-2018 2:29pm

stormthecastle wrote: »

Also a tv series called Wellington paranormal is coming out soon (this week) which is a spinoff of WWDITS and looks brilliant...same humour as movie.

In the Hunt for the Wilderpeople, the church scene kills me every time, brilliant.

Where is this being screened? Will it be on Netflix?

pixelburp · 11-07-2018 2:33pm

There's a trailer out for this spin-off to What We Do in the Shadows (though doesn't look like anyone from the film is turning up?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-q5tmZu4yU

Frank O. Pinion · 11-07-2018 11:21pm

This should be split into a thread in the TV forum, but...

There will be two spinoff TV series based on the What We Do In The Shadows film.

The first, Wellington Paranormal, which starts today on New Zealand television, is a procedural comedy series based on the police, Karen and Mike, who had minor roles in the film. It's six episodes.

The second, also named What We Do In The Shadows, is an American version of the film, set to air on FX, Spring 2019. It will have 10 episodes, and stars Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker, Facejacker).

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

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