Hotel Mumbai Movie Review and 2 x Blu-ray Giveaway (Sent by Universal Pictures)

Newly released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is Hotel Mumbai, a full length feature inspired by the stories of survivors of the real life November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, and we've been sent a copy for review.

This is a powerful film which has adult themes, horrific violence, peril and loss of life, and it is rated suitable for a mature audience only. Not one for the kids, but older teenagers can learn from the mistakes of the past.

Hotel Mumbai has a great cast who will be familiar to movie fans, including Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, Lion), Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name, The Social Network), Jason Isaacs (The Death Of Stalin, Harry Potter), Nazanin Boniadi (Counterpart, Homeland) and Anupam Kher (Silver Linings Playbook, The Big Sick).

As the movie starts we are introduced to the characters and backstory very briefly. We see a group of young men on a boat preparing to attack, and the hotel staff preparing for their day as affluent guests start to arrive.

The events on which the film is based took place starting on 26th November 2008, when several terror attacks occurred throughout Mumbai, including Jihadist terrorists laying siege to the Taj Palace Hotel. Guests and staff who survived the initial attack hid and were trapped in a hellish situation from which they had little chance of survival.

Hotel Mumbai uses the stories of the survivors as it's base, so we view the events from inside the Taj Palace Hotel. The terrorists are shown as ruthless and murderous, but they are also given personality and we can see they are just a bunch of kids following orders, whose lives could incredibly easily have gone in an entirely different direction.

Hotel Mumbai is actually very sensitive, but it doesn't shy away from the horrors of the real events. It is very fair to all parties and historically seems as accurate as a movie really can be. It makes you think, and it makes you view any terrorist attacks with the eyes of the true victims - the people who were going about their everyday lives when everything shattered.

Included with both the Blu-ray and DVD versions is a fairly extensive 'behind the scenes' segment which includes interviews with some of the cast of the movie and the real-life survivors and heroes, the characters they portray. It shows how scenes were shot and is a great insight into how complex it is to put together a movie such as Hotel Mumbai.

Hotel Mumbai is released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and is available now on DVD (rrp £9.99) and Blu-ray (rrp £14.99), from all good stockists, including online at Amazon (affiliate links below). 

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment have kindly offered two of my readers a copy of Hotel Mumbai on Blu-ray for themselves. Entry to the giveaway is by the Gleam form below for fairness. None of your details are used for anything other than this giveaway, and once the winner has been informed and admin complete, they're deleted.

The giveaway will end at midnight Sunday 23rd February 2020 and is open to UK entrants only. Full terms and conditions are at the bottom of the Gleam form. If you are new to Gleam there is a link to help, as well as my other UK giveaways here...

Hotel Mumbai 2 x Blu-ray Giveaway (sent by Universal)

We were sent our copy of Hotel Mumbai for review. The Amazon link is affiliate, which will earn me a few pence if you buy through my link, but never costs you a penny. It helps keep the website running.