Taking another look at Prisoners of The Ghostland, this time on a home screen, it’s one of the better films for home viewing. Nicely transferred to the three platforms, 4K, Blu-ray, SteelBook and DVD, the colors pop, Dolby sound is great and there’s not a bit of excitement lost in the very energetic storyline. It’s one of the better Nick Cage efforts taking us this time into a dystopian future filled with exotic, intoxicating and hypnotic survivors of a caustic world. It’s an action fan’s tea party.
The future world of Japan has gone mad with devastation causing groups of people to rule their own cities and villages. Wanting to grab what they could get, Hero (Nicholas Cage) and Psycho (Nick Cassavetes), with blazing guns, charge into a bank causing complete chaos. About to get away with the loot, Psycho thinks notices a gun being pulled against him and things end in a melee with only Hero getting arrested.
Taken before The Governor (Bill Moseley) of the land, he offers Hero a deal. He wants to find his granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) who went missing from his village. If Hero can bring her back unharmed to him within three days, The Governor will set him free. There is a codicil to this offer however, he has to wear a special outfit that’s locked to his body. And the tightly fitted suit has special explosives that will go off if he doesn’t bring Bernice back before a fixed time runs out.
Japanese Director Sion Sono, known for films laden with chaos, killing and bloody scenes like, Why Don’t You Play in Hell, Tag, Suicide Club, Tokyo Tribe and many more (go to YouTube to watch the trailers so you get my meaning) lays out even more chaos in this wild film. He starts his film off with a bang and “treats” his high energy thriller fans with a pretty cool story that moves along at a fast pace. His sets and locations are perfect for this film showing a Japanese brothel harem city filled with captive young ladies who are at the whim of The Governor, and a nearly decimated ghost haven that serves as a hell for the toxic homeless. If you like films like Mad Max: Fury Road, Snowpiercer or Resident Evil then this is your cup of tea.
A lot of Nick Cage films find him in various precarious situations and this one is no different. It is very questionable as to why he takes on these roles, because in some cases they are very demining to his ability as a fine actor. Here, he portrays a hapless criminal who for the sake of his freedom and to thwart instant death, he takes on the punishing and sometimes comical circumstances in which he finds himself. But, that said, he does a terrific job of pulling off the role of Hero making the film work. It’s actually a lot of fun to watch Nick take a beating and even get a few sexual things blown off of his body in the process.
Prisoners of the Ghostland has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains language, sexual innuendoes, violence and disturbing images. The film also includes a reference to the Hiroshima, Japan atomic bomb, as a side note. The film has a target audience of males over 17 to early 30’s, especially fans of thrillers and dystopian genre films.
Now on Home Video platforms, the move shows extremely well on 4k if you have the system. Even the blu-ray gives a nice presentation along with the Dolby sound. The discs have a special feature on the making of the film and all its special effects and a gallery of shots from the film. My rating is 4 out of 5 for action fans.
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Nicholas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Nick Cassavetes, Bill Moseley, Narisa Suzuki
Tak Skaguchi, Grace Santos,
Directed by: Sion Sono
Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, language, sexual innuendoes, violence,
Running Time: 1 hr. 43 min.
Opening Date: September 17, 2021
Distributed by: RLJE Films
Released in: 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and SteelBook
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
