Keisha Castle-Hughes has recently been seen in the HBO show Game of Thrones as Obara Sand and Cliff Curtis in the AMC show Fear the Walking Dead as Travis Manawa but 15 years ago both actors made a name for themselves in the acclaimed independent movie Whale Rider (2002).

whale rider

Whale Rider also stars Rawiri Paratene as Koro who is the chief of a small Maori village and is intent on staying true to ritualistic ways even when they conflict with feelings within his own family. Whale Rider is mostly about Pai (played by Keisha Castle-Hughes) who is a young girl trying to prove herself worthy of leading the Ngati Konohi tribe. Audiences were touched by Keisha Castle-Hughes and her performance in this role enough to nominate her for an Academy Award.

Shout Factory released Whale Rider to Blu-ray for the first time to help celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the film. Whale Rider was directed by Niki Caro and an audio commentary with her appears as one of the bonuses. The overall design of the cover and layout are classy and help capture the mood of the film. The picture and sound quality for the Whale Rider Blu-ray release are up to standards and didn’t show much in the way of deterioration over the years.

whale rider cast

The only hiccup about the Whale Rider Blu-ray 15th Anniversary Edition release is that all the bonus features appear to have been carried over from a previous DVD release with nothing new added to the mix. The featurettes have shown their age and are presented in 4:3 aspect ratio but do contain interesting information about the movie like how Keisha Castle-Hughes was literally plucked out of class in order to interview for a role in the movie.

We would have loved to have seen some type of anniversary retrospective or maybe even an updated commentary with the three key members of the cast to help boost hype for the Whale Rider Blu-ray release. Whale Rider is an interesting drama with fine acting and an original story and worth taking a look at even if you haven’t seen it before or potentially adding this disc to your collection if you are already a fan of the movie.

whale rider bluray

Whale Rider Blu-ray 15th Anniversary Edition Bonus Features:

  • Audio Commentary With Director Niki Caro
  • “Te Waka: Building The Canoe” Featurette
  • “Behind-The-Scenes Of Whale Rider” Featurette
  • Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary
  • Poster Art And Photo Gallery

More info can be found on the Shout Factory website:
https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/whale-rider-15th-anniversary-edition?product_id=5110