I saw this movie because my friend was in it (he told me he was one of the indians). When I saw the previews for it on tv, it looked pretty good so I thought I would check it out.

The movie is basically about Pocohontas. In case you didnt know, she is a princess in the local tribe close to where the English landed in Jamestown in 1607.

Warning: In between the two lines is a plot summary, including the ending. Proceed at your own discretion.
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At the beginning of the movie, we see her playing in the fields with someone we assume is her indian boyfriend. Then the English, including John Smith, land. At first the indians are more curious than anything, mystified by these new people who have arrived. They are peaceful and so are the English. The two groups get along pretty well at first. The indians dont seem to mind when the English chop down a bunch of trees for wood to make their fort. At some point, the English learn from the indians that there is a tribal chief somewhere upriver. At this point, the head of the expedition heads back to England for supplies or something, and John Smith, who had done something before the start of the movie to land him in the doghouse, "volunteers" to lead another expedition upriver to find this chief and see if he will trade with the English.

So Smith takes some men and goes upriver. While walking alone around in a swamp, he is attacked by indians and captured. He is then taken to the tribal chief, who decides to have him executed. But then Pocohontas throws herself on him and pleads with the chief to spare his life, which he does. He then orders Pocohontas to get to know Smith, what the English are like, and how long they will stay. They spend a lot of time together, and she learns English. Time passes strangely in this movie, so we dont know how long Smith is gone, but I would guess he is gone several months. He grows friendly with the tribe, and learns to understand them pretty well. He also falls in love with Pocohontas. Despite this, neither seems particularly interested in each other; they merely have a good time together. I found this romantic relationship rather unconvincing. When Pocohontas sees Smith, she apparently forgets about the other guy we saw her with earlier, because we never see him or hear of him again.

After his time with the indians, Smith returns to the fort, where things are not going well. He is immediately accused of abandoning his countrymen or something, and is to be punished for his mutiny. However, that is only the "mayor"'s opinion; the other settlers have no problem with Smith being gone. One of them shoots the "mayor", and they appoint Smith "mayor" of Jamestown (the fort). Things dont really improve, but his friendship with Pocohontas produces dividends; in the middle of winter (by which time a good number of villagers have died), Pocohontas takes some men, gets a bunch of food and animals, walks to the fort and gives it to the English. This is key in their ability to survive the winter.

Although it does not seem to have been communicated to Smith, the chief eventually decided to let the English stay until the following spring, when they must leave. Well, the next spring, some indians visit the fort and see that they are growing corn. They realize the English have no plans to leave, so they attack. At this point, Pocohontas, who everybody knows gave the English the seed to grow the corn, is bannished from her village.

About the time this is happening, the guy who originally led the settlers to Jamestown returns and tells Smith the king wants him to return to England then lead an expedition to fin the Northwest Passage, so Smith leaves. Pocohontas, now an exile, comes to the village and starts to live there. Soon more settlers arrive, including some women. One woman in particular shows Pocohontas how to live like the English and she starts wearing their clothes and everything. She even learns to read and write. She is given her own house, but is depressed because Smith is gone. She then hears that Smith has died while on his expedition. She becomes even sadder and more detached from the rest of the villagers.

Eventually, John Roalf shows up. He starts up a relationship with her, but as she was with Smith, she doesnt seem particularly interested in him. I guess she is still saddened by the loss of Smith. However, things go fairly well and the two eventually get married. I find this quite odd because it seems she didnt want to, but does anyway. Once they are married, they move into a small house outside the walls of the fort and they farm tobacco.

All goes fairly well for a while, and they even have a kid together. Then she hears that Smith is alive. Roalf hears that the king requests his presence, so Roalf and Pocohontas head for London, where they meet the king and queen. After this meeting, they go to a large English manor house, basically a mansion. Pocohontas is amused by the gardens there, and spends a lot of her time there outside, playing with her kid. The English in London are surprised to see someone like her in their city.

One day, while at the manor house, Smith shows up. She seems less than thrilled to see him, but apparently it puts her at ease somehow, because after his visit, she warms up to Roalf, and starts actually acting like she loves him. Eventually Pocohontas gets sick and dies. She had hoped to return to Virginia, but this never happens; Roalf goes back after her death.

Basically the movies ends at that point.

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As I mentioned, I found the relationships very unconvincing. I also thought it was rather unclear at times what was going on because of subpar sound quality. The movie was a little hard to understand sometimes because it was too quiet and the actors spoke the way people spoke in the early 1600's. Just so viewers arent alarmed, it is much easier to understand than Shakespeare, who was at about the same time. With that said though, there was very little dialog. Its as if everybody in this movie were highly introverted and quiet. It could have used a little more talking; I think that would have made the action sequences a little more logical. At several points, I was left wondering why something was happening. The movie can be a little slow at times, and I occasionally found myself on the verge of boredom in several spots.

The director who filmed this movie is rather strange. He has only made 4 movies in 30+ years, though he considers this his best. One of his others was "A Thin Red Line". I see some similarities with that, but this was better. This director is different from others; I would have to say he is an acquired taste.

However, there were also a number of good things about the movie. First, we really get to see how close the indians were with nature. Second, I found the movie to be very accurate. The place where it was shot looks just like the Jamestown area. Also, the fort itself, including the placement of the buildings, is just like the real thing. Being from Virginia, and going to school just a few miles from Jamestown, this accuracy was important to me. The ships also look very much like the actual ones the settlers came over in.

Overall, its not a bad movie. Its not terribly great, but considering the director, I was expecting worse. However, I would only see it if you have some interest in seeing it based on its subject matter, historical time frame, location, story, what you see in previews, whatever. The point is, dont let anyone talk you into going, and dont just decide to see this simply because you havent seen it yet, or it is playing at a convenient time. You have to want to see this movie to like it. There is no sex, no foul language, and limited violence, but kids would be bored by it.

By the way, I might have seen my friend, but Im not sure. I looked for his name in the credits, but they flashed by so fast I couldnt read them all.

Recommended:
No

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older