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The Kite Runner Details

2007 DVD Certificate 12.gif
  • Rated:
  • 80
  • from 45,935 members

Based on the international bestseller by Khaled Hosseini, THE KITE RUNNER is a fascinating historical epic set in 20th-century Afghanistan. In 1978, Amir (Zekiria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada) are young boys living in Kabul, where Hassan and his father, Ali (Nabi Tanha), work as servants for Amir and his father, .. Read more

Starring Khalid Abdalla, Homayon Ershadi, Zekeria Ebrahimi, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada
Director Marc Forster
Genres Drama, World Cinema

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The Kite Runner

Based on the international bestseller by Khaled Hosseini, THE KITE RUNNER is a fascinating historical epic set in 20th-century Afghanistan. In 1978, Amir (Zekiria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada) are young boys living in Kabul, where Hassan and his father, Ali (Nabi Tanha), work as servants for Amir and his father, Baba (Homayoun Ershadi). Amir and Hassan make an excellent team in kite competitions, with Hassan having a gift for running kites, but after one contest, he is bullied by Assef (Elham Ehsas), who does unspeakable things to him as Amir watches from a distance and then runs away, not helping his friend. As the Russians and then the Taliban take over Afghanistan, Baba and Amir escape to America, where they make a new home in San Francisco. But even as he graduates from college and meets a beautiful young woman, Soraya (Atossa Leoni), who is also from Kabul, Amir (now played by Khalid Abdalla) is haunted by his cowardice and can't turn down an opportunity to try to make things right when it is offered by his father's old friend Rahim Khan (Shaun Toub)--even if it means risking his life. THE KITE RUNNER was adapted for the screen by David Benioff (THE 25TH HOUR), with much of the dialogue spoken in Dari, one of the primary languages in Afghanistan. Director Marc Foster (MONSTER'S BALL, FINDING NEVERLAND) does a deft job navigating the complicated story, which moves from Afghanistan to San Francisco and Pakistan (with much of the film actually shot in China), using many nonprofessional actors and a subtle score composed by Alberto Iglesias. Ebrahimi and Mahmoodzada make impressive debuts, with solid work by Abddalla, Leoni, and especially Ershadi.

Starring Khalid Abdalla, Homayon Ershadi, Zekeria Ebrahimi, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, Shaun Toub, Nabi Tanha
Director Marc Forster
Studio PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 2 hrs 4 mins
Blu-ray: 2 hrs 8 mins
HD DVD: 2 hrs 4 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 12.gif
Collections 100 Hot Hits, 100 Most Wanted, New releases
Genres Drama, World Cinema
Language English
Hearing-impaired English
Subtitles English, Dutch
Released DVD: 02 Jun 2008
Blu-ray: 20 Jul 2009
HD DVD: not available
Production year: 2007
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (5) of The Kite Runner

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  • Khaled Hosseini's best-seller arrives on the big screen just in time for Oscar season - and has already been rewarded with two Golden Globe nominations. It's a middling effort overall, although read more »

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    • Tom Charity, 
    • LOVEFiLM
  • Most helpful member's review of The Kite Runner

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  • 207 out of 208 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Afghani family values and an eye on their problems

    The story of boyhood friends from each side of the caste system in Afghanistan, this brings home the actual significance of personal tragedies war, disputes and caste systems (in fact bias of any kind) cause, and the vile atrocities and nastiness of all regimes who prey on the easily influenced, weak and displaced. As it is concentrated mainly on one family it brings home the whole reality of suffering such armed disputes of this nature cause. After the fall of Afghanistan to the Russians, those who could afford it fled, and the ones left behind faced hardships that if anything worstened after the Russian withdrawal and the new 'regime' of the Taliban started their own sort of pogrom. There is no hollywood glitz glamour or hype here, just an accurate (slightly watered down for various reasons) following of an a book. If you have any interest in recent history, or world affairs as not thrown at you by some media rag or biased TV news reporting, this will be worthwhile, almost essential, viewing.

  • Most recent members' review of The Kite Runner

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  • 23 out of 25 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star

    The kite runner.

    I didn't enjoy this and gave up after 15 minutes. Not sure why exactly, i was looking forward to seeing it.

      • A customer from Huntingdon
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Rating breakdown

45,935 Member ratings
  • 100
8,407
  • 90
6,160
  • 80
15,320
  • 70
7,062
  • 60
4,748
  • 50
1,631
  • 40
1,265
  • 30
430
  • 20
621
  • 10
291

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