Prisoners of the Ghostland

Testicles.  Who needs ‘em?  

While watching Prisoners of the Ghostland, it's best to - like the logic it usually requires to follow a normal film from beginning to its everlovin’ end - throw them both out the window.  Got your attention?  Good.  Love it or leave it, Prisoners of the Ghostland is one hell of a wild ride through a post-apocalyptic wild west setting as the NATIONAL TREASURE that is Nic Cage finds himself with a bomb fastened to his balls.

"goes all-in as a spectacle of cinematic cheese and grease"


If the premise sounds a bit like a callback to John Carpenter’s Escape From New York, you aren’t far off the mark here.  Hell, we even get some Mad Max visual references in the B-grade genre mash-up as Cage traverses a post-nuclear setting on a mission from God.  Sort of.

Prisoners of the Ghostland is full of all sorts of winks and nods to B-grade cult classics of a by-gone era as our "hero" (Cage), in Japanese auteur Sion Sono’s first English-language outing, finds himself on a NUTTY mission to rescue a Governor’s "daughter" from the savage territory of Ghostland, a mysterious place where outcasts and zombies keep a giant clock from operating out of fear of the whole SHITHOUSE going up in a cruel, world-ending big bang, baby if ever it should resume!

For the curious, the oh so very RIGHT ON cinematic pairing of Nic Cage with Japanese director Sono (Love Exposure, Tokyo Tribe) is full of all sorts of OUT OF THIS WORLD sequences as East meets West.  It’s to be expected and, most certainly, does not disappoint.  From its unusual local to its poetic use of children’s bouncing balls, the whole film spills out like colorful kool-aid does if tipped across a bright red picnic table.Prisoners of the Ghostland

If you haven’t had your taste buds challenged by either of the duo’s latest cinematic offerings, well, you best skip this tweaked out madness because, quite simply, you aren’t ready for what is about to go down when Governor (a very suspicious Bill Moseley, dressed in ALL WHITE) brings the nameless “Hero”, who is in prison for a bank robbery that wound up killing a kid, into a brothel called Samurai Town, has him wear a leather outfit, and orders him - with a little bomb-on-yer-balls encouragement - to get his “daughter”, Bernice (Sofia Boutella), free from Ghostland.

Hero’s preferred mode of transportation in the journey?  A woman’s bicycle, complete with a fancy basket.

For those of you genre hounds already in the know, Prisoners of the Ghostland, brought to you by the studio who gave us the awe-inspiring Mandy, is all sorts of GONZO GREATNESS and, yes, this includes a fully unrestrained Cage who, surprising no one, manages to lead an uprising of trash-wearing psychos while cranking his wild-ass performance up to a solid 11 on the dial.  There might be little point in the uprising of trash, but - hey - that’s part of this journey as he comes face to face with the true BADDIES in this flick..

Co-starring Tak Sakaguchi and featuring his stunning fight skills with the blade, Prisoners of the Ghostland goes all-in as a spectacle of cinematic cheese and grease.  It’s fun, kooky as hell, and remains - even in its basic B-grade moments - a special breed of lunacy that only the combination of Cage and Sono in a samurai-themed western could ever give birth to.  

Prisoners of the Ghostland is now playing in theaters and streaming on select platforms.

4/5 stars

Prisoners of the Ghostland

Blu-ray Details

Home Video Distributor: RLJ Entertainment
Available on Blu-ray
- November 16, 2021
Screen Formats: 2.39:1
Subtitles
: English SDH, Spanish
Audio:
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

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

Video

The blu-ray release from RLJE Films presents a rich-looking AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The image is crystal clear with sharp, pinpoint details and no major technical flaws. The cinematography is often bathed in blue or red light so flesh tones are expectantly a little pale but fit in with the rest of the transfer. Black levels are of a high quality with nice lines, thick even in the shadows of the bar.  Colors absolutely pop in this cult title and the neon lights - strong in blues and reddish pinks - are strong throughout.

Audio

The release also features a pounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track. Music is strong and smooth, with a powerfully natural and dominant presence. Big, heavy violence often rule the day, with gunfight and explosions throughout while the ambient effects are somewhat limited but nevertheless engaging.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

Fans get a photo gallery and a look at the making of the movie.  Nothing special.

  • The Making of Prisoners of the Ghostland
  • Photo Galleries

Blu-ray Rating

  Movie 4/5 stars
  Video  4/5 stars
  Audio 3/5 stars
  Extras 3/5 stars

Composite Blu-ray Grade

3.5/5 stars

 
Film Details

Prisoners of the Ghostland

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
103 mins
Director
: Sion Sono
Writer:
Aaron Hendry; Reza Sixo Safai
Cast:
Nicolas Cage; Sofia Boutella; Nick Cassavetes
Genre
: Action | Horror
Tagline:
Thewildest movie I've ever made - Nic Cage.
Memorable Movie Quote: "I'm not vermin."
Distributor:
Patriot Pictures
Official Site: https://bitters.co.jp/POTG/
Release Date:
September 17, 2021
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:

Synopsis: Set in the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town where 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 three days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman and his own path to redemption.

Art

Prisoners of the Ghostland