Critically acclaimed filmmaker Peter Weir has a potential Oscar winner on his hands with The Way Back – at least that’s what early reviews are saying. The film features Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan and Mark Strong in an adaptation of Slawomir Rawicz’s memoirs, among other sources.
The buzz from recent film festivals is great, but now there is a trailer to see for yourself.
The Way Back follows a group of soldiers who escape from a Siberian gulag in the early 1940s. The group travels through the Gobi desert, Tibet and the Himalayas before settling in British India in 1942. According to industry buzz, The Way Back will have no trouble wowing its audience – and the trailer suggests the same sentiment.
Watch the trailer for The Way Back below:
It is tough to compare the film to anything else because the story is so unique, but the trailer does bring a number of films to mind.
The sprawling journey is reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, while the wintry survival story featured at the heart of The Way Back has the same feel as Alive. The grittiness of the 1940s also shines in the trailer, drawing thoughts of Defiance – though that took place in 1939.
It’s hard not to fall in love with The Way Back – considering all of the details. The people involved are all tremendously talented and the topic is an inspiring tale of the triumph of willpower – not to be confused with Triumph of the Will.
Director Peter Weir
Weir has worked with Ed Harris before on the fantastic social drama The Truman Show and explored the traveling story with Master and Commander: Far Side of the World. On paper, the film has plenty to get excited about, but the trailer just adds to that anticipation with its enormous scale and engaging music.
The camaraderie of the escapees will likely be pushed to the limits as they fight for their lives in the harsh wilderness over a 4,000 mile journey. The trailer has a nice mix of humor and danger to suggest a well-balanced story. But it still looks like a mostly dramatic film that will test the actors both physically and emotionally.
What did you think of the trailer? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
The Way Back opens in limited theaters on December 29th, expanding to wide release on January 21st, 2011.
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had me till i found out Farell is in this
Apparently he is phenomenal.
Mike, im just not a fan of his at all. but Mark Strong on the other hand, now he’s just awesome. i MIGHT see it..who knows
I always see the films, just because I love movies. But I can understand reluctance. I think if you look at Farrell’s track record, he is a great actor in indie niche markets. I hope you’ve seen In Bruges or Tigerland. Two great films and great performances by him. I agree he;s done more weak than strong, though.
both were reccomened to me and are in my Netflix que Mike
Agreed, Anthony. I despise the guy and I hate that he’s actually not too bad of an actor. I might check this out… might.
This movie looks phenominal!
Hope it’s good, looks like it.
“not to be confused with Triumph of the Will.”
This seriously made me LOL.
And the film looks great!
how did this movie fly under the radar for me,
this movie looks amazing and i cant wait to see it.
and to the nay-sayers of Colin Farrel, i say “he can go either way”. He was good in phone booth and i liked him in Daredevil (though overall movie sucked) he’s one of those guys that doesnt bring me into theaters but it’s not a deal breaker either
Colin Farrell is a terrific actor with tremendous upside, whoever thinks otherwise is just biased towards him personally. Tigerland, In Bruges, The New World, Alexander, Minority report and even Pride and Glory are all well made films with great performances. Im tired of all these meat heads who think gerard butler and the guy from transporter are good actors….know your facts.
In your opinion…
Zpm.. Dude! I’m interested in your opinion. You say you don’t like DeCaprio and that Inception sucked on your first go-around [on the Green Lantern sucks 'review']. Did you see Shutter Island? Leo is in both so I figure that it would be totally fair to ask you which you liked better and why.
Sorry to be leaving this on Mike’s Too Cool review but the other’s been shut down.
Shido, my anti-leo bias stems from post-Titanic hype and overexposure. To me, he started coming across as over-earnest in a lot of things, I think because Hwood just went with “it’s Leo, it’ll be so great!”. The poor guy is probably a victim of other’s using his success, but hey, I don’t exactly know the guy personally! It just had an effect on me is all, and hence why I’m open and honest in using the word ‘bias’ about my feelings. I still think the guy knows how to act.
I work in film direction and production, but do fall into a trap of ‘here’s where I think this movie should go’, rather than letting the film take me there. Hence my initial Inception disappointment – I went in with preconceptions that weren’t realised. How dare they make a film that doesn’t match what I’m thinking exactly on the night – ha ha!
2nd viewing of Inception I was open to Nolan taking me into HIS world, and man, it paid off! What I thought was slowing the film down now added to the depth, and to the characters.
Good movies should challenge us, so good onya Nolan and his great team (yes, even you Leo, you got some love back!) BTW how good is Tom Hardy as an actor!
With regard to Shutter Island, you’ve made me think I need to give it another go. I was hoping it would end up with a different ‘twist’ – somehow I didn’t believe the actions of the wardens tied in with the result. Maybe if it had been a ‘dream within a dream’ and it took Leo going nuts to reveal what was actually happening in the real world, or something! Maybe I need to ‘reset’ before seeing it again.
I still think Inception is going to come out way on top for me though, SI was more ‘depressing’ and I loved the ‘technicality’ of Nolan’s world. I respect Coppola, but haven’t walked out of his last few with any kind of excitement. Inception ‘frustrated’ me into a 2nd viewing, and that’s a pretty big achievement!
Still, each to his own. I’m certainly not going to attack anyone who enjoyed SI more. I’m more fascinated by the fact that they have the ability to get something more out of it than I did.
It makes me reflect on my own interpretation of things, and view of the world, and in the end… Isn’t that the point?
Zpm, because of your bias against one lead actor, I suspect I will get a more even comparison between these two similar films and a more honest assessment of their two directors. I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know after you’ve critically watched Shutter Island again.
Many thanks!
Great Trailer,
At least ireland has super actors still.
Apparently. Since Cillian Murphy has done good work too, and director Danny Boyle keeps impressing us.
I’m pretty sure this is based on a book by a Polish Soldier (and the survivors spotted Yeti in the Himalayas) the Polish soldier who wrote the book didnt want it made into a movie and also the fact checkers couldn’t verify a single person in the story existed.
but then, maybe this is just a story based on something entirely different…
the title may or may not be the way back or the long walk or the long walk home
The article above states specifically that it is based on a memoir of one of the soldiers.
Yes, the book is by Slavomir Rawicz, and is called “The Long Walk.” It is now quite certain that Rawicz himself did not go through what he describes in the book and that he recounts what happened to another soldier. This soldier is likely to be a Mr Witold Gliński, who I think still lives in Cornwall, UK. Currently, three Poles are retracing Gliński’s steps, and have made it to Tibet in early October 2010 (source: http://www.rp.pl/temat/474108.html). Cool stuff.
Yes, I want to see this. I’ve read about this true life journey, and I’m stoked it’s finally making it to the big screen! I hope it does well, and I hope it wins awards.
looks great, but the characters aren’t the way i imagined. They look too manicured, personally i would prefer it if their more shabby like the book described. Remember theses guys aren’t supposed to have shaved or bathed with soap for 11 months. I know it’s a movie, but come on they don’t have to look like movie stars!
Catch the latest trailer where the fellow wakes up Valka to shave,i know those are costumes, but as a woman they just made my skin crawl they looked so nasty.If you didn’t know before viewing this that Colin Farrell played Valka you’d never recognise him in that scene. I guess thats good tho.
Glad to see Irish Film and Televison Academy has nominated Colin Farrell as best supporting actor Saorise Ronan in best supporting actress division. The film is getting it’s props in Ireland. Tune in next month to see if they win!!!
BTW nice positive review, Mike! Keep it up! I’d rather read positive reviews on off the radar films than negative reviews on block-busters any day.