The Convert Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Convert Blu-ray Movie Review

Old New Zealand.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 13, 2024

Lee Tamahori's brutal historical drama The Convert travels back in time to 1830s New Zealand, showing us one man's journey to represent Britain and establish peace between two warring Māori tribes. That man is minister Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce), who has just arrived on a ship helmed by Kedgley (Dean O'Gorman) to lead the new British settlement's church. Kedgley, along with his crew, have been supplying munitions to the tribes for ever-increasing profits, fueling a decades-long war while barely even showing them how to use the weapons properly. This sits at odds with Munro's pacifism... yet as the local conflict intensifies, he'll have to either break his moral code or pick another side.

Complicating matters greatly is Rangimai (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne), daughter of tribal chief Maianui (Antonio Te Maioha), whose husband was killed by rival chief Akatarewa (Lawrence Makoare). Munro witnesses the murder and trades his own horse for Rangimai's life, and in return Maianui sends her off to the British settlement for protection. Rangimai has trouble adjusting to her new life during a long mourning period and even resorts to self-harm, but finds comfort in Munro's quiet kindness as well his young assistant Pahirua (Duane Evans Jr.), another "exchange student". Unfortunately some of the British settlers aren't too fond of the outsiders including general store owner (Will Wallace), though others like lovely widow Charlotte (Jacqueline McKenzie) are much more forgiving. Yet rival chief Akatarewa continues to assert dominance over "his land", so it's not long before war comes to their front door.

The Convert has a long going on, dropping audiences headfirst into a small section of history that all but native New Zealanders probably aren't all that familiar with. It's a bit like being thrown into the deep end and it doesn't help that there are an abundance of characters to keep track of, mysterious customs, and of course a bit of a romance thrown in to spice things up. It's also extremely violent at times, even rivaling films like 2008's Rambo (which it has a few things in common with, as far at least as far as "missionaries in a savage land" is concerned) with copious amounts of blood that sprays with almost every direct hit. Unfortunately like Rambo it's also a bit overcooked and the (mostly) digitally-added blood is anything but convincing; this stands at odds with The Convert's lush and unspoiled New Zealand-shot locations, which is basically a cheat code for cinematography. Luckily it survives this speed bump, standing decently tall as an engaging drama whose only other crime is questionable pacing: The Convert runs a bit long even at a relatively "normal" 119 minutes and one or two subplots could've been dropped with almost no impact to the narrative.

All things considered, The Convert feels like a decently solid and unique drama, one that's obviously seasoned with heavy dramatic additions but has a plausible enough foundation to build upon. Director Tamahori, a New Zealand native, has experience with larger palettes on big-studio films ranging from The Edge (a personal favorite) to James Bond: Die Another Day and even XXX: State of the Union, but has scaled back considerably during what's now his fourth decade in the industry. This is obviously the work of an experienced director; it doesn't fall into over-stylized trappings or an inflated sense of drama, yet could still have been smoothed over a bit in the editing room. In any case, The Convert is certainly worth a look and feels plenty big on the small screen, with Magnolia Entertainment's recent Blu-ray package offering solid A/V support and even a bonus featurette (a rarity for the studio as of late).

The Convert Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I wasn't kidding about the film's New Zealand-shot cinematography being a "cheat code": The Convert looks quite impressive at every turn, with a slightly muted but rich color palette and generally workmanlike visuals that add loads of support to its mood and atmosphere. Fine detail and textures are exceptional under the right conditions, with tack-sharp tightness and an almost deceptively clean, natural appearance that could have only been improved by shooting on actual film or porting this to an actual 4K disc. Nonetheless, Magnolia's 1080p presentation is a consistently good effort with rock-solid color reproduction, deep black levels, and good shadow detail that's only occasional threatened by mild crush on a few very minor occasions. Similarly, one or two brief scenes -- such as a heavily filtered "day for night" shot seen in screenshot #17 -- suffer from obvious banding, but these brief hiccups are basically over as soon as they're noticed. By and large, it's a high-quality effort that does the film's rich visuals justice.

The Convert Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The heavy-hitting DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix also works overtime to deliver a potent sonic atmosphere, which as expected features ample low end and more than enough discrete channel activity to consider it a very active surround track. That's not always the case since The Convert does indeed feature plenty of quiet, introspective dialogue-driven films... but from the opening thunderstorm at sea through sporadic battles and a handful of enthusiastic hakas, this is a frequently aggressive mix that opens up at all the right moments. Only a full-strength Atmos mix would have been able to offer even more precision, but under the circumstances this track is pure sonic perfection.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included which also translate occasional pieces of Māori dialogue; a second default English subtitle track just translates the latter, but it likewise can be disabled.

The Convert Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork. One extra is included.

• The Making of The Convert (18:15) - This short but sweet featurette includes short interview clips with several prominent cast and crew members including director/co-writer Lee Tamahori, star Guy Pearce, producer Robin Scholes, associate producer Brad Haami, actor Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, and others, as well as a few requisite glimpses behind the scenes including candid on-set footage. It's nothing new and different but well worth a look, especially considering the historical subject matter and extensive location shooting.

The Convert Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's a little rough in spots and a touch too long, but Lee Tamahori's brutal historical drama The Convert offers a visceral look at rugged New Zealand life in the early 1800s. Featuring a handful of memorable characters, fine cinematography, a small-scale but epic scope, and loads of personal drama (perhaps a bit too much?), it's big-scale entertainment on a smaller budget and, occasionally dodgy special effects aside, pulls off the illusion nicely. Magnolia's Blu-ray follows suit with outstanding A/V merits and a short but enjoyable behind-the-scenes featurette that sheds a bit more light on this unique production. Decently Recommended as a blind buy, so pick this one up when the price sounds fair.