this does seem to be a polarizing experience; reviews are largely either vehemently condemning or fervidly favorable. add me the the latter list. an exceptionally beautiful work that held me riveted in place.complaints arise of the 'thin plot'. no, it is not a winding, twisted and tortured trip - all of which can make for a really great movie, but then it is not based on sophisticated dialogue and witty surprises. there is a very small mystical-overlay moment; it should not get in anyone's way; the film is not preaching to us, admonishing us, or trying to enlighten us. it is a very simple narrative presentation. the violence is brief but - well, violent.there is one central idea: the protagonist is, or believes/hopes himself to be, finished with his erstwhile brutal and thoughtless life. the story of his decision and trip home follows; there are consequences for him. he meets, helps, and is helped by various folk along the way. maybe the film offers a hint of redemption; i'm not really sure. you don't get hit over the head here with "big" ideas.which brings me to the point of the film's simplicity. what you find in it as 'message' may have more to do with your own expectations and views of life than anything the film is trying to feed to you. it is a marvelous film in large part because of the actors who must carry loads of emotion with few words. the faces, the nuanced looks, even the blank looks, all captivated me. the absolutely human element, communication at its most basic, quite grabbed my attention. this is not a culture most of us will understand too well. while the faces are assuredly human and are conveying emotions we understand we cannot always be sure just why. that context, the culture behind their actions, is elusive. not to outdo myself, but the photography is superb. this is a far better movie than many would have you believe. boring??? not! slow? like a heartbeat.have to add a note: many are the disappointed cultural, geographical and historical purists who become inflamed at factual inaccuracies. they feel that these malaprops are pure sloppiness and so detract from the film's worth. if you are this ilk try looking at this as all made-up, a blending of times and periods meant to convey no specific place or era but one that sets a mood. the mood is make-believe, a place in the artists head, not a botched history lesson. seen more fictionally it might set better with those who tend to view more with the intellect than the imagination. don't let what was, or is, get in the way of what can be imagined. you lose if you do.

In todays modern age we so many films that are overwhelmed with special effect or over-written scripts, not to mention that here in the US there is the tendency to overlook the foreign film industry in major markets.For viewers who truly appreciate art, you will find it in this movie. Aside from the musical score and occasional subtitle, this film could be presented as a silent film where its plot would still be completely understood and appreciated.By far, this is one of the best pieces of theatrical work I've seen. Simple and to the point, but a majestic work of art.

Director's quote about his crew going through catastrophes to film this movie should be an indicator enough. The way director has manipulated most of the scenes, it looks like he has visions of himself becoming another Kurusowa, Sergio Leone. This is a very pretentious movie, tailor made for the wannabe cool and artistic viewers. SO no surprise that it is getting rave reviews from British art-houses. As someone who has grown up with the Hindi language, the dialog is extremely corny, and accents fake. And of course historically and geographically, this movie cannot be placed anywhere. I can understand why it would appeal visually to a western viewer, and of course some may see it as a justification of their artistic taste. But honestly, some of the extremely bad, cheesy Bollywood movies have more honest characterization, and no pretentious claims to artistic merit. My first comment ever since becoming a member of IMDb, so my disappointment can be imagined. I expected it to be a simple, honest tale. Yet... all attempts at being artistic, honest come out as fake. Don't be bowled over by the exoticness of the movie, think about the director, his work in this movie, and his pretensions throughout the movie.

Lafcadia is a warrior working for the local lord as an enforcer – destroying villages that don't pay their share to him and killing whomever he wants killed. It has become too much for him and the slaughter of an old man gives him pauses before he decides on the futility of the whole thing during an attack on a village of women and children. He returns home and prepares to travel to his home village in the Himalayas but his former lieutenant Biswas has been charged with bringing back his head for the lord. Unable to find Lafcadia, Biswas kills his son. Devastated Lafcadia continues his journey, with Biswas not yet finished his quest.Although rejected by the Academy when put up for the "best foreign language film" category on the grounds that Hindi was not a language of the UK and therefore the UK could not put forward this film (huh?), this film could have easily been rejected on the grounds that The Warrior takes so much of itself from American westerns that it couldn't be considered foreign. I'm being stupid of course, but in essence what we have here is a silent story of a man wandering across the wilderness, meeting people on his way to what will be in some way a confrontation, or showdown if you will. It doesn't really compare to the stronger westerns that have tackled this same theme but it is still interesting. Silently moving forward against impressive backgrounds, there does appear to be the allusion to epic stature in the cinematography and also the pain of the characters. The depth is not really there to support this but it does do well enough to carry the story to the end.Part of the reason for this is a solid and haunted performance from Khan in the lead. He has little dialogue for large sections of the film but he convinces and engages from start to finish. The support is mostly good (apart from the Lord being played as some sort of Bond villain) but it is Khan's film and he does well. Kapadia's direction is excellent and his use of music and slow camera movements add to the intimacy and patience inherent in the story being told. The cinematography makes good use of the locations but never becomes the whole show.Overall this is an interesting film that plays well by taking the form of a western and placing it within the Indian feudal system. It is not action packed and requires a certain amount of patience to get into it but, without a lot of dialogue, the cast do well to produce characters that were interesting and that I cared about – particularly Khan in the lead. A worthy winner of "best British film" at the Baftas and worth seeing.