Prisoners of the Ghostland

Prisoners of the Ghostland

In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor, whose adopted granddaughter Bernice has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman—and his own path to redemption.

  • Released: 2021-08-31
  • Runtime: 103 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Horror, Thrillers
  • Stars: Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Bill Moseley, Nick Cassavetes, Tak Sakaguchi, Yuzuka Nakaya, Young Dais, Lorena Koto, Canon Nawata, Louis Kurihara, Tetsu Watanabe, Yunho, Charles Glover, Cici Zhou, Takato Yonemoto, Shin Shimizu, Matthew Chozick, Constant Voisin, Maya Carraz, Ilsa Levine, Yurino, Chiho Fujii, Christina Virzi, Riko Shibata
  • Director: Sion Sono
 Comments
  • jstockton-19173 - 8 March 2024
    Unique: miss the messages - miss the fun
    Sono isn't wasting his first English language movie on entertainment alone. It should obvious to any viewer, the underlying intention is to inspire the viewer, especially the disaffected and outcast, that he or she is not or need not be a prisoner. The Governor has managed to bend Samurai Town to his will with everyone else a captive to some degree, particularly those who resign themselves to a belief that their situation is permanent. Every other image, side story, and allegory relates to the same theme. That Sono leans upon his native Japanese cultural imagery to do so both challenges and rewards the audience.

    Viewers expecting merely one more dystopian post-apocalyptic action flick, this movie inevitably disappoints; this shows up in the reviews. For viewers anticipating a little something more and a lot something other, their hopes will be realized.

    What appear to be armored bandits are in fact hoarders outfitted in ways that represent machinery and motors and who retain the lost skills related to such. What appears to be a face-off between the hero and the Governor's chief swordsman is in fact a tragic portrait of the imprisonment of the one in contrast to the freedom of the other. Or is it an expression of the freedom of each per the very different cultural distinctions of each? I think Sono would be happy for us to ask.

    Sono is fond of having the actor in a scene look directlty into the lens, i.e. Directly at the viewer. My recommendation is that viewers keep in mind that Sono is trying to reach the viewer directly. His messages are conveyed here variously, through the garish use of stars and stripes, cliche Southern accent for the Governor, also his ever-present red gloves and pristine white suit with white cowboy hat, to multi-colored gumballs and calliope music recurringly representing innocence, to escapees hiding immobile within manikins to avoid not only exposure to recapture but even exposure to light and sun, to children looking down from up on high upon a stricken hero beckoning him to press with the promise of their gift of a new life.
  • damyonwiese - 17 September 2023
    Embarrassment
    It is a blight on the world that people bother spending any time at all creating garbage like this.

    Don't waste your time. Don't expect this to have any sort of a plot. Do expect Nicholas Cage to do the same non-acting, replaying his same non-personality and looking vaguely shocked at everything.

    I am sure I have put more thought into this review than the writers put into creating the script.

    The portrayal of any sort of "Japanese" society is culturally insensitive and just plain wrong. The director and Cage should be fined for their lame attempt and should never make a movie again.

    I wish I could give less than one star.
  • MrUregancho - 9 October 2022
    Visually Striking. Storilly Boring
    The set designers were not paid enough, and the writers were paid too much. This movie is absolutely beautiful at times but it knows it and shows it off by having an excessive amount of establishing shots constantly, which makes the movie seem slow. Best use of testicle-related humor ive seen in a while though. I kept seeing that Nicholas Cage said it was the craziest movie hes ever been in. I will say the costumes and environment were quite unique but the intensity the word "crazy" implies, just isn't there for the most part. I'm not mad I watched it but I won't watch it again. It's a feast for the eyes but not much else. 4/10. Slightly bellow average.
  • imseeg - 30 May 2022
    Selected for the Sundance Festival.
    Nicholas Cage does an experimental Asian period piece. Selected for the Sundance festival. Beautifully photographed. And Cage does excell in his performance. It could even gain a cultstatus, but that's about all I can say that is positive about it.

    Unfortunately this movie is another FAILED attempt by the (brilliant) Nicholas Cage to star in a good movie. He has been starring in a lot of inferior B-movies lately, but occasionally he does create a new gem, so I am always on the lookout for new Nicholas Cage movies.

    This movie though can best be forgotten OR be turned into ANOTHER internet meme or into a cult movie...

    Below are some fun facts about this legendary actor, who has even become an internet meme.

    His uncle wrote and directed "The Godfather" (1972). Cage was married to the daughter of Elvis Presly. He has named his son "Superman". He discovered and introduced Johnny Depp to acting when he was his neighbour. His favorite movie is "The Wizard of Ozz" (1939). He lives in the former home of John Wayne.

    And he always sleeps in Swedish pyjamas, which he stores in the freezer. He once woke up in his bed in the middle of the night to find a naked man eating a fudgesicle in front of his bed. He didnt press charges. One of his wishes is "to be Bob Denver on acid playing the accordion".

    These are the lesser weird trivia facts about the life of Nicholas Cage, many much wilder gossip stories are out there for those who are interested.

    But Nicholas Cage is firstmost a brilliant actor, who got famous for his big action movies, but he has made much better, smaller pictures that are truly marvellous among which:

    "Moonstruck" (1987), "Red Rock West" (1993), "Kiss of Death" (1995), "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995), "Adaptation" (2002), "Matchstick Men" (2003) and his latest brilliant comedy "The unbearable weight of massive talent" (2022).

    Nicholas Cage is still THE MAN. Enjoy one of the many brilliant older classics that he has starred in!
  • yellowmarlin - 3 April 2022
    Abysmal
    This movie has no redeeming features. Not even the ethereal Sofia Boutella can elevate it above the confused melange of bizarre, meaningless imagery that it is. What little story there is could be summed up in a single sentence. The real low point is Nicolas Cage screaming about his testicle.