Now on theatrical release in Japan, as well as available on Amazon Prime Video and other streaming sites worldwide, ¡°Prisoners of the Ghostland¡± is director Sion Sono at his most convention-defying extreme ¡ª which in this veteran provocateur¡¯s case, is extreme indeed.
Premiering at this year¡¯s Sundance Film Festival, it stars Nicolas Cage as a bank robber who ventures into the titular Ghostland, a nightmarish zone where victims of a nuclear waste accident are trapped in a spiritual limbo.
His mission: Rescue Bernice (Sofia Boutella), the runaway adopted granddaughter of the corrupt ¡°Governor¡± (Bill Moseley) of Samurai Town, a mashup of the Old West and Japan¡¯s Meiji Era (1868-1912). Imprisoned after a botched bank job, Cage¡¯s character ¡ª known only as ¡°Hero¡± ¡ª has been released and, at the order of the Governor, outfitted in a bodysuit studded with explosive charges. If he fails to complete his mission in five days, he¡¯ll be blown to kingdom come. As a sort of warning, one goes off, destroying a testicle.
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