Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Rapa Nui Blu-ray Movie Review

Lord of the Muais.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 27, 2023

Undoubtedly greenlit after the runaway success of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in the summer of 1991, director Kevin Reynolds' Rapa Nui actually has much more in common with his later film Waterworld, another unique but inexplicably baffling production with sloppy world-building, an odd mash-up of cultures, and a heavy-handed environmental theme. No year is given for its setting... but that doesn't matter because Rapa Nui takes place on Easter Island, a remote area fully untouched by modern civilization and technology with a handful of tribes as its only inhabitants.

Naturally, no outside influence is required for the island's population to act like any other group of humans: divisions are formed for trivial reasons (here they're designated as "long ears" or "short ears", depending on if they stretch their earlobes or not), a religion is invented, and those in power exploit the lower classes by using both to their advantage. This is all just an exotic backdrop for Rapa Nui's clichéd central narrative, a Romeo-and-Juliet romance between long-eared Noro (Jason Scott Lee) and short-eared Ramani (Sandrine Holt) that's threatened by two people: the clueless but controlling long-eared leader of the island, or "Ariki-mau" (Eru Potaka-Dewes), as well as the short-eared antagonist Make (Esai Morales), a childhood friend of Noro and Ramani who not-so-secretly longs for her affections.

One upcoming event will change everything, though: an athletic contest between selected members of each tribe -- there's actually at least half a dozen, but only two of them are worth remembering -- which will not only potentially crown a new "Ariki-mau" but, if either Noro or Make win, they'll also get Ramani's hand in marriage. As the days count down to this contest, some of the lesser tribes are also tasked with carving a Moai statue large enough to please the gods who may or may not come back to save them. (My money's on "not".) Alliances are formed, challenges are met, friendships are tested, and we see a whole lotta National Geographic nudity that kept Rapa Nui away from its target audience: teenagers willing to overlook its thin plot and mostly bad dialogue, which is of course all in English.

Part love story, part barbaric melodrama, and part social commentary, Rapa Nui really only modestly succeeds on all three fronts, and even then sometimes almost by accident. Its main flaw is an inability to make you truly care about anyone, as only a handful -- such as the borderline senile "Ariki-mau", whose absurd leadership inadvertently makes him one of the only memorable figures -- stand out in a sea of mostly wooden background characters. But I'll admit that its unique world, despite a lack of detail and care in the way it's been constructed and presented, is relatively easy to get lost in, and some of what it has to say about humanity in general is at least interesting. (The third-act athletic contest is a rare genuine highlight, with a series of effectively brutal moments that help sell the untamed environment they live in.) Yet its mostly cornball dialogue, hit-or-miss emotion, and other distracting details make Rapa Nui, like Waterworld, more of a cinematic curiosity than a hidden gem; it's absolutely easy to see why this failed miserably in theaters, which makes me wonder even more how Reynolds' next film ended up with a triple-digit budget.

Even so, visuals and sound design are Rapa Nui's greatest strength so Warner Archive is a great candidate for bringing it to Blu-ray, as the film's only other domestic home video release was WAC's own DVD released nearly a decade ago. Although it obviously carries no extras (a shame, because box-office failures often have some of the best behind-the-scenes stories), the rock-solid technical presentation alone should be enough to attract established fans.

Rapa Nui Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rapa Nui's new 1080p transfer was sourced from "preservation elements" (according to a reliable source, it was an interpositive on preservation stock) that was presumably scanned in 4K and treated to Warner Archive's usual round of careful manual cleanup. The end result doesn't quite reach the consistent top-tier qualities of a camera negative scan but is more than acceptable under the circumstances, still boasting a clean and polished appearance that feels true to its decidedly analog source. Film grain is stronger during some scenes than others, always present in some from but never fully intrusive. Color representation remains mostly well-saturated and likewise accurate, if not slightly washed out in select scenes like a handful of stray moments from the third-act athletic competition. (One brief shot features a near-gray sky between sequences much more blue in direct comparison, which is presumably either a source material issue or an uncorrected fill-in shot hastily filmed under different weather conditions.) But as mentioned earlier, this is an overwhelmingly solid transfer with excellent fine detail and reliably smooth disc encoding, as there's less than 110 minutes of total content compressed generously onto a dual-layered disc. A true upgrade over the old DVD.

Rapa Nui Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As expected, the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio is a winner on all sides, from crisp dialogue to well-mixed background effects and more than enough room left over for the original score by former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, who was tremendously active during that decade but still years away from his groundbreaking work on Good Burger. This is an incredibly active and wide sound stage at times, one that certainly isn't afraid to employ strong discrete effects and good use of the low end to emphasize some of Rapa Nui's most brutal and expansive moments. Much like the visuals, this is one of the film's saving graces and it's almost worth a watch just to enjoy the audio mix.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Rapa Nui Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork. On-board extras are minimal.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:01) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

Rapa Nui Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Writer/director Kevin Reynolds' Rapa Nui is an R-rated mini-epic that only a teenager could love. While its brutal and unforgiving environments occasionally raise the stakes and a few characters stand out from the crowd, overall this is a messy and uneven production whose most memorable elements are its ambition and a unique setting. (Also, boobs.) Nonetheless, Warner Archive's new Blu-ray edition, which will be of much interest to established fans, plays to the film's obvious A/V strengths even though the extras come up short. A "try before you buy" disc for most.