- 10
...the most artfully sculpted film in American cinema this year, for which the earth, wind and water are kneaded into an elemental tone poetry that shuns artificial lighting and contemporary allusion in favor of genuine, naturalistic mystique.
—Aaron Hillis Premiere
- 10
...a work of breathtaking imagination, less a movie than a mode of transport, and in every sense a masterpiece.
—Carina Chocano Los Angeles Times
- 10
The exquisiteness of The New World and how it reveals itself to its audience is flabbergasting --like a heretofore unknown cave painting impeccably preserved except for a few spots here and there eroded by time and nature.
—Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine
- 9
...a magnificent (and magnificently flawed) specimen...
—Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly
- 9
Like The Thin Red Line, The New World is an immersive experience made powerful by the accumulation of individual moments.
—Keith Phipps Onion AV Club
- 9
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 9
...rapturously beautiful...
—Manohla Dargis New York Times
- 8
...rapturously romantic and haunting...
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone
- 8
...a lovely, mirage like version of what happened between Smith and the favored daughter of the tribal chieftain Powhatan.
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 7
...often tests your patience and is a bit too emotionally remote. For those who can surrender to Malick's shimmering and textured vision, however, a trip to The New World will prove amply rewarding.
—Tim Knight Reel
- 7
The film only works if you accept it on its own symbolic terms. And those terms may not have enough grit for most audiences.
—Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor
- 6
...has all the negatives of Thin Red Line (rambling story, little realistic character interaction) and too few of its positives.
—Chris Barsanti filmcritic.com
- 6
...all very beautiful, but compelling the movie is not.
—Leah Rozen People
- 6
...misses the mark...
—J. Hoberman Village Voice
- 5
...this lavish coffee-table-book of a movie gradually reveals itself as an uninvolving, crashing bore.
—Lou Lumenick New York Post
- 5
So I wish The New World were better.
—Scott Foundas LA Weekly
- 4
For anyone who enjoys watching paint dry, we wouldn't dare steer you away from the experience of seeing The New World.
—Pete Hammond Maxim