Too bad this sincere but inept movie doesn't do justice to any of the real people whose powerful story it tells.
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01/20/06
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End of the Spear (2006)
41
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:49
Fresh:20
Rotten:29
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Shoddy filmmaking and a lack of character development derail what could be a potentially compelling tale.
Theatrical Release:Jan 20, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $11,703,287
Synopsis: Mincayani is born into the most violent society ever documented by anthropologists, the Waodani in the eastern rainforest of Ecuador. As he grows he learns what every Waodani understands, he must... [More]
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Reviews for End of the Spear
Top CriticEnd of the Spear is so ineptly rendered, it all but erases the importance of the events it strains to honor.
01/20/06
This is a movie -- albeit one with a great, gripping story -- shot through with meaningful glances, middling performances and melodramatic music cues. Pity.
01/20/06
Spear, financed and distributed by Christian groups, is independently made and sometimes rough around the edges, with unusual moments of religious sincerity and expression.
01/20/06
effectively shows how, through gentility and a spirit of cooperation, two very different cultures can learn to co-exist. That's a worthy message that has a particular relevance in today's world.
01/20/06
What does hold back this terrifically detailed and often-entertaining effort are the limitations of the script and uneven acting.
01/20/06
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.
01/20/06
Top CriticThis undramatic would-be piece of inspiration seems like made-for-TV fare for the Christian Broadcasting Network before it morphed into the Family Channel.
01/20/06
Top CriticThough designed by director and co-writer Jim Hanon to be spiritually uplifting, the story feels as whitewashed and disingenuous as an episode of Lassie, with the natives emerging as savage buffoons.
01/20/06
Top CriticWhether or not you’re religious, End of the Spear tells a compelling and moving story that leaves you wondering at the human heart’s capacity for love, forgiveness and change.
01/20/06
The production is sometimes so handsome, the scenery so compelling, that you almost forget about the melodramatic missteps and the bad wigs.
01/20/06
Not an emotional powerhouse so much as a dutiful public service announcement.
01/20/06
Top CriticThis generally engrossing Christian parable is the type of film that conservatives will overpraise and liberals will overcriticize.
01/20/06
...explores the cost of revenge-taking and the cyclical escalation of violence with a sober probity
01/20/06
In this particular tale, turning the other cheek, while lovely, is heavy on the sincerity and light on the subtlety -- and it's a relief when the End finally comes.
01/20/06
Even with subtitles, it is a little hard to follow and it sometimes veers into Sunday school-style sugar. But the story has great power and the film-makers resist condescending to the natives.
01/19/06
Although overly earnest and often stilted, the film should find great favor principally among religious auds, and a long life on the home-vid shelves.
01/19/06
Top CriticThis repetitive and poorly plotted production fails to engage.
01/19/06
Top CriticThis fact-based story of conflict and resolution between a primitive warrior tribe in Ecuador and peace-seeking Christian missionaries is inspiring despite its sentimental excesses.
01/19/06
Top CriticThe slickly produced Christian docudrama End of the Spear recounts with spiritual breathlessness the circumstances surrounding the real-life killings of five missionaries at the hands of a violent indigenous Amazon tribe in Ecuador in 1956.
01/19/06
Top CriticLatest News for End of the Spear
January 18, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: "Hitcher" Aims to Terrorize Moviegoers
After a busy MLK frame which concluded with the Golden Globe Awards, Hollywood lets the dust settle this weekend as only one new film enters wide release - the horror remake... More...
January 19, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Spear," "New World" Are OK, Not Great
This week at the movies brings us three culture clashes: Native Americans and Europeans ("The New World"), the Waodani people of Ecuador and a group of missionaries... More...
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