End of the Spear
Every Tribe Entertainment | Release Date: January 20, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
9
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Inspiring enough to make you wish that the filmmakers had reined in their sentimental excesses. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
This is exceedingly earnest stuff, dolloped with Christian goodness and solid production values. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJoshua Katzman
While Hanon's film stints on character development, he convincingly portrays the events that foster redemption and forgiveness, as over time the Waodani shed their culture of violence. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
In spite of End Of The Spear's fundamental conservatism, the missionaries' disastrous initial encounter with the Waodani ultimately teaches the progressive message that when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of foreign cultures, Bibles and superior technology are no substitute for a thorough understanding of their language and culture. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
Spear has all the earmarks of a middling Indiewood product, from its competent second-tier cast (including "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" hunklet Chad Allen in a dual role as a slain missionary and his grown son) to its earnest plotting and leaden pacing. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert Abele
What creeps in is the dramatic simple-mindedness attendant with a purity-of-purpose mind-set. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
It might have been inspired by actual events, but End of the Spear is, literally and figuratively, simply too dull to make any impact. Read full review
50
VarietyJohn Anderson
Although overly earnest and often stilted, the film should find great favor principally among religious auds. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Shot in Panama, with a cast of local Indians and B-tier Latino and Anglo actors, End of the Spear has neither the marquee heft nor the artistic gravitas of "The New World." Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
It's not remotely as luscious or half as bold as Malick's movie, but it is shorter and more educational. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie is tentative, dramatically speaking...The most powerful moments come at the end -- documentary excerpts of Steve Saint, the son of one of the missionaries, and his friendship with Mincayani, the man who killed his father. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
The naiveté with which the missionaries approach their initial meeting with the Waodani, whose propensity to violence was well-documented, appears at once incredibly stupid and divinely loving. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
A childish and visually repetitive movie, ham-fisted, proselytizing and overtly simplified. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This ersatz jungle adventure is really a thinly disguised Sunday School lesson in faith, charity and the savagery of life without Christ. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
A sincere but underwhelming dramatization of one of the biggest news stories of 1956. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
In documentary footage played over the closing credits, the real warrior is introduced to American fast food and returns to his people too fat and sluggish to spear himself a snack, let alone a missionary. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Atrociously scripted and edited. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
A Christian-themed film about redemption with almost no redeeming qualities as entertainment. Read full review
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