The Kite Runner [2007] | ![The Kite Runner [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VKIDXq4RL._SL75_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Marc Forster
Actors: Khalid Abdalla, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £12.98
You Save: £7.01 (35%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 173
Format: Pal
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 124
EAN: 5051188153533
ASIN: B0011P4X8S
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: June 2, 2008 (In 17 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet released
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Amazon.co.uk review
Like the bestselling book upon which it's based, The Kite Runner will haunt the viewer long after the film is over. A tale of childhood betrayal, innocence, harsh reality, and dreamy memory, The Kite Runner faces good and evil--and the path between them, though often blurry and sorrowfully relative. Director Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) presents a painterly vision of Afghanistan before the Soviet tanks, before the Taliban--lush, verdant, fertile--in its landscape and in its people and their history and hopes. The story follows two young boys' friendship, tested beyond endurance, and the haunting of their adult selves by what happened in their youth--and what horrors befall their country in the meantime. The performances of the two boys--Zekeria Ebrahimi (Amir) and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada (Hassan)--are the film's strongest, unforced and gently evocative. The penance paid by their adult selves is foreshadowed, but never predictable--and the metaphor of innocence lost, a common theme in Forster's work, keeps the film, like the title kites, truly aloft. --A.T. Hurley
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Ticks all the good boxes April 4, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This movie does feed on stereotypes (like many movies) but I found its plus sides overweight considerably the few clichees that some people have picked on. It is first of all a wonderful epic that kept me heart and soul glued to the screen for its 2 hours duration. The acting is great, but the performances of all the young actors are amazing, I think they are the heart and soul of the movie. They really set the tone of the story. Another good bit is that this movie is an introduction to Afghanistan to many Westerners. It has been for me , at least. My knowledge and interest in Afghanistan had been zilch, apart from what my mind cared to remember from catastrophic news flashes on news channels in the UK. THis movie/and book has sparked at least my curiousity to find out more about what's going on in Afghanistan. SO I have read Jason Elliot's 'An unexpected light - travels in Afghanistan', Rory Steward's 'Theplaces in between', and Eric Newby's ' A short walk in the HIndu Kush'.They are well written and recognised travel books on Afghanistan. I highly reccomend them to anyone who cares to find out a tid bit more about that country. The Kite Runner is a beautiful movie.
 "There is a Way to be Good Again" March 28, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) are two boys growing up in 1970's Afghanistan. Even though Hassan is the son of Amir's family servant, the two are close friends. They even make a great team in the annual kite tournament, and Hassan has shown a remarkable talent for chasing the fallen kites.
Tragedy strikes the boys during the winter of 1978, however, when Amir witnesses the neighborhood bullies performing an unspeakable act on Hassan. Racked with guilt, Amir withdraws from Hassan.
When the Soviets invade Afghanistan, Amir and his Baba (Homayoun Ershadi) move to San Francisco. As an adult, Amir (now played by Khalid Abdalla) has managed to put his past behind him. Until a phone call brings it all back. What will he do now?
When I finally read the novel this movie is based on, I found it rather slow and predictable. I thought I might enjoy the movie better since it would have to streamline the plot. In the end, I was glad I read the book first since the movie glosses over several events that really set things up early on. There was enough there to make the movie work, but the complex themes of relationships, regret, forgiveness, prejudice, and revenge don't come across as strongly as they could. One key plot point near the end is completely absent. While it would have added extra time to an already two hour movie, it makes the last 10 or 15 minutes needlessly confusing.
That's not to say I wasn't impacted emotionally. The further into the movie I got, the more I cared about the outcome. I even found myself fighting back tears a couple times.
The movie is almost all in Farsi with English sub-titles. Even when the setting moves to San Francisco, at least half of the scenes are sub-titled. Once or twice, the lines moved so quickly I couldn't keep up, but it didn't bother me otherwise.
The cast of relative unknowns is wonderful. Personally, I find the boys fine but wooden, like they were reciting lines with little emotion behind them. But that could easily be because I was too busy trying to read the sub-titles to watch them too closely.
The kite flying scenes are magical. While obviously computer generated, they are more elaborate then I expected and brought a smile to my face.
The movie handles the tough scenes with grace. The events are hinted at but never shown in graphic detail. Even so, know going in that this is an emotional drama and not just some light entertainment.
If it weren't for that missing plot point at the end, I would have enjoyed this movie more then I did. In the end, the movie turns out to be an average adaptation of an average book.
The Kite Runner March 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In San Francisco, Afghan author Amir (Abdalla) reflects back on his childhood in Kabul. The young Amir is the son of a successful Afghan business man, whereas his best friend Hassan, is also his loyal servant. The two friends compete in kite flying competitions, but when returning from retrieving a defeated kite, Hassan is stopped by a neighbourhood bully, Assef (Ehsas). Assef and his group attack Hassan, eventually raping him. The friendship between the two boys begins to breakdown, with Hassan and his father eventually leaving the home. The Soviets then invade Afghanistan, and Amir and his father, a staunch anti-communist, are forced to leave the country, and flee to the United States. We are then transported back to 2000, where Amir receives a phone call, asking him to return to his war-torn home, as "There is a way to make things good again."
The decision of director Mark Foster to use real Afghan children has clearly been justified in the performances given by the two young boys. Zekeria Ebrahimi, as the young Amir, is convincing as a young child, racked by the guilt of not standing up for his best friend. However, it is the turn of Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, as the young Hassan, a lower-class `Hazara' Afghan, which really is the stand-out performance of this film. The character could easily have come across as an ill-educated servant child, who is willing to follow his master to the point of self-sacrifice. But Mahimidzada makes the character feel completely real and convincing.
In saying this, the adult cast is just as good. The now grown up Amir, played by Khalid Abdalla, is a quiet young man and who still feels the guilt of events 15 years previous. However, he can at times seem overly moody and withdrawn. The performance by Homayon Ershadi as Amir's father - or `Baba' - is most memorable amongst the adult cast. As a man who has fallen from the heights of wealth in Afghanistan, to working in a petrol station in San Francisco, Baba maintains his dignity, and in an encounter with a former Afghan general, we gain an in-sight into the social structure of the fallen nation.
The Kite Runner is a beautifully shot film, with cinematographer Robert Schaefer managing to recreate the hustle and bustle of pre-Soviet invasion Kabul - a city full of life, light and colour. Despite being CGIed, the battles between the kites, soaring above the city, look fantastic. He also manages to transform this city into the fallen Afghanistan of 2000, especially in the chilling scene at the Afghan national stadium.
The problem with this film is Amir's return to Afghanistan. The events in this part of the film rely on coincidental meetings, with the same characters from the past reappearing to tie up the loose ends of the story. This can make the story seem unreal, and make Amir seem very lucky in his venture, rather than capturing the emotions of the novel.
While the heavy nature of this film may not appeal to most, the performances given by the relatively unknown cast - both young and old - make this a film to see.
Outstanding March 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It was essential that this book was written and this film made. I cannot describe the wanton destruction which Afghanistan and Pakistan have suffered over the last 30 years. Sadly, the real victims have been the children - you can see them three times a week in Karachi - five year olds carrying the heavy vegetable baskets for fat rich ladies, rewarded with a pittance. If there is one thing that this film has done, it has given the victims in Afghanistan and Pakistan a face, a name and a story. They have become real, not just numbers. I know that people in Europe are very generous and send so much money for charity. These are the faces of people who get the money and they are very grateful. Thank you Khalid Hosseini for making them real.
 Not suitable for under 15's. Please do buy this dvd for children. March 6, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
"The Kite Runner" is an emotional film about two Afghani boys, Amir and Hassan. Since the film revolved around Aufghanistan, it was very re-freshing and new to me as I had never watched a film based on around this country. The movie is certainly not a 'feel-good' film although I was happy with the ending. However, if you're moods pretty low before going to see the film, then you could be dangerously depressed by the time you leave the cinema! It is quite a depressing.
As an adult-viewer, I found the film emotional, but to the two young teenagers who accompanied me, the movie was boring, disturbing, depressing and confusing-especially the rape scenes.
I was very shocked over the 'gay rape' scenes of boys and thought that a film depicting such emotional and disturbing content, should not be seen by under 15's.
"The Kite Runner" has a 12A certificate therefore, children under the age of 12 can see this movie in cinemas if they are accompanied with an adult. Surely films featuring such horrific acts of violence should not be watched by young viewers. I almost took my 6 year old cousin to see the movie with us-thank God she had other comittments and could not join us. I fear she would have found the scenes deeply upsetting if she realised what was happening to the young boy.
Although the rape scenes were not graphic, they showed enough detail to probe questions from the two young teenagers who were with me in the cinema. They were extremely horrified when they realised what was going on; This was the first time that the two teenagers had ever heard that young children could/would be raped at all!!
This movie is definitely not suitable for under 15's
If you're thinking of buying this movie for young teenagers or children-DON'T! It is just not suitable for them.
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