An indigenous people are turned from a life of violence to a more gentle and forgiving nature in this adventure drama based on a true story. Nate Saint (Chad Allen) is a pilot and Christian missionary who, with his family, lives and works in the jungles of South America near the Amazon. Nate is fascinated by tales he's heard of the Waodani, a violent and aggressive tribe living nearby, and with a group of fellow Christians takes it upon himself to teach them the importance of compassion and
forgiveness. However, the leader of the Waodanis, Mincayani (Louie Leonardo), does not trust the white visitors, and believes they may have had something to do with the disappearance of a young girl from his tribe years ago. A meeting between Nate and Mincayani goes terribly wrong thanks to Nate's inability to understand the Waodani language, and Nate and four of his fellow missionaries are savagely murdered by the tribesmen. However, in the final moments of his life, Nate is able to impart a message in Mincayani that bears fruit years later when Steve Saint, Nate's son (also played by Allen) returns to continue the work his father started. End of the Spear was adapted from the true story of Nate Saint and Steve Saint, which was previously brought to the screen in the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Although the film invests time among the tribesmen, it never really explores the idea that one man's missionary work is another's ideological aggression. And the movie is tentative, dramatically speaking.
This is a movie -- albeit one with a great, gripping story -- shot through with meaningful glances, middling performances and melodramatic music cues. Pity.
Filmmakers don't need stories with a religious agenda any more than they need ones with an irreligious one. They don't need stories with any agenda, frankly. They just need good stories.
This undramatic would-be piece of inspiration seems like made-for-TV fare for the Christian Broadcasting Network before it morphed into the Family Channel.
A squeaky-clean family of missionaries lives out their fantasy of "saving" a violent tribe of Ecuadorian jungle natives in this virulently wrong-headed movie.
Through the harrowing experience of two men as told in End of the Spear -- Steve Saint and Mincaye -- moviegoers can learn the power of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Only marginally uplifting and just passably enjoyable as a film. I know in my mind that these experiences were extraordinary for the people involved, but I never really feel it.
The vision and values the film celebrates are at such odds with the reality it has refashioned as a breathless melodrama, it is hard to not give in to temptation and poke fun at its unintentional camp.
I knew nothing about this movie going in %u2026 nothing. When I came out, I swore I would do everything I could to let people know about the wonders of "End of the Spear."
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