Kings of the Sun (1963)
Kings of the Sun (1963), directed by J. Lee Thompson.
Mayan people in Yucatán are driven out by metal-wielding invaders and sail across the Gulf to a new land. They quickly build a new city -- with pyramid and everything -- but have disturbed fierce North American Indians living there. The Mayans capture Chief Black Eagle and plan on sacrificing him as they have always done. Might there be a better way?
This is another title I had never heard of before it appeared on Blu-ray. It was not well-reviewed but I was willing to give the director a look for his early work: Tiger Bay (1959), The Guns of Navarone (1961), and Cape Fear (1962).
The problems:
The exotic costumes immediately suggest Bible films, as if they were recycling an old genre.
The stiff, declamatory dialogue goes with that genre.
Too many known character actors seem out of place.
Soap opera romance confuses an action/adventure story.
Both cultures speak the same language! And both talk a lot.
Its good points:
Yul Brynner, walking like a panther. What a physique that guy had. Maybe they spread on his hyper-masculinity too thickly, but it's hard not to.
Nice location panoramas.
Big battle and combat melee at the end...
... but also examples of the effort at peacemaking, how hard it is, but how worthwhile.
Finally, how many pre-Columbian stories of the Americas do we have on film? Even Apocalypto is set after 1492. This must be about 1200; the historical general Hunac Ceel is the big villain.
The Mayans in the new city seem to have some sort of catapult. Could that be?
Uncredited James Coburn provides narration in the first few minutes. Elmer Bernstein score.
Available on Blu-ray from Kino.
