I saw "Royal Hunt of the Sun" soon after it came out, probably early 1970, in a theater in Cuzco, Peru. The audience was full of speakers of Quechua, and when Christopher Plummer said his first lines in, supposedly, Quechua -- twisting his face, going up and down rapidly from normal voice to falsetto, making little hawking and guttural noises in his throat in a weird impression of the glottal stops of the language -- people started chuckling, and then started actually falling out of their seats in rolling waves of laughter. Atahualpa, king of the American equivalent of the Roman Empire, inheritor of 2000 years of sophisticated cultural history, looked and sounded like a chimpanzee trying to speak German. Lack of respect? Failure to take the trouble to find a proper tutor for the few lines Plummer had to speak of Quechua? Who knows. But it was hard for the audience -- or me -- to take the movie seriously after that scene. I saw the movie again 10 or 15 years later, and couldn't help laughing all over again... and explaining to my family why it was so hilarious.
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Bob-4512 January 2001Producer Phillip Yordan had some pretty tough days in the early 1970s. Yordan was charged with tax evasion, I believe as part of his relationship with Samuel Bronston and Pierre DuPont. Bronston had allegedly comingled Dupont's money on several of his productions (most notably EL CID and FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE). Bronston was finished by the late 1960s and Yordan would fall later, which may explain the erratic production values of BAD MAN'S RIVER and ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN.
SUN remains, a tattered quasi-masterpiece, despite Christopher Plummer's rather eccentric performance. One wonders what might have been. No matter, what is on display is good enough for the cheap price of the the DVD. Nevertheless, the quality of the DVD leaves much to be desired. The DVD uses a distracting "baby or royal blue" rather than black for its letterboxing. The interlacing is so bad in some sequences, the film is hardly viewable. The sound is uniformly underrecorded. Surely the masters weren't in THIS bad a shape.
Worth a look for students of history AND of good drama. -
Chase_Witherspoon25 January 2010The first time I saw this flick, I was disappointed; disappointed because I'd expected an adventure tale of King Soloman proportions, an Aladdin's cave full of gold, and bloody Inca battles in a Peruvian jungle setting. In hindsight, I should've read the reviews, because my frame of mind would've been in the right place to enjoy this intense character study. Suffice to say on second viewing, I was able to appreciate the quality of the stage-born dialogue, and the precision with which its delivered by both Shaw and Plummer in their unique portrayals of demi-gods by any other name.
Narratively, it's a detailed snapshot of Pizarro's ill-fated conquest of the Incas, not for the glory of gold, but for the almost sanctimonious obsession with divinity and unparalleled colonialism. In essence, he signed his ticket before he departed Spain, promising the world he could never deliver, pursuing a pathological indulgence to satisfy his superior ego. There's an element of pity in Shaw's depiction of Pizarro, that of a mercenary without a war, unable to adjust to a civilian life. Shaw is magnificent as the deeply righteous conquistador whose eloquence in arguing secular sovereignty, fails to dominate the simple native lexicon of King Atahualpa (Plummer), communicating in a basically nonsensical series of clicks and chirps. If Atahualpa can prove he is a God, Pizarro will recognise his sovereignty, but if not, both his life and his land of rich antiquities will belong to the kingdom of Spain.
With Michael Craig, Leonard Whiting and Nigel Davenport in the wings, it's an ensemble British cast of true quality, and the performances are first rate. Set design, costumes, score and script deliver, and while momentum is at times a distinct challenge, if you're not fully engaged in the dialogue, the result is likely to be languid in pace and voluble in speak. My initial viewing was such; fortunately, I watched it a second time. -
ma-cortes11 June 2018Good and dramatic film about a great Spanish conqueror , Francisco Pizarro , who led a risked adventure to conquer the Incan Empire . He captured Incan Emperor Athahualpa and claimed the Peru lands for king Charles I of Spain. Here retracing Pizarro' career , his steps through Spain and Portugal , besides , it explores the particular relationship between captor Pizarro and captive Atahualpa.
Based on a play by Peter Shaffer , it has a dramatic style with a lot of interior scenarios , but also displays some battle scenes and sword-play . Main cast gives nice acting such as Robert Shaw as the brave Pizarro and Christopher Plummer provides overacting as a strange Atahualpa who puts faces, grimaces and says rare words and sounds ; Plummer played Pizarro in 1965 Off-Broadway . Support cast is frankly good such as Andrew Keir, Michael Craig , James Donald , Percy Herbert , Leonard Whiting as Martin and special mention for Nigel Davenport as Hernando de Soto . The motion picture finely written by Philip Yordan was well directed by Irving Lerner who made some acceptable films as Cry battle, Murder by contract , City of fear , Edge of fury . This was Lerner's fourth collaboration with writer/producer Philip Yordan in less than 10 years. Others three were Studs Lonigan , Captain Apache and A town called Bastard.
The picture is based on historical events : Pizarro commands an expedition into the heart of the Inca Empire governed by Emperor Atahualpa , as he proceeded with his conquest accompanied by 200 men on 24 Sept 1532 . Following the defeat of his brother Huascar , Atahualpa arrived in Cajamarca on 15 november , there Pizarro had a force of just 110 foot soldiers 67 cavalry 3 arquebuses and 2 falconets . He sent Hernando Pizarro and De Soto to meet him in his camp . Athaulpa agreed to meet in his plaza fortress the next day . Fray Vicente Valverde and a native interpreter approached to him and Atahualpa said : "I will be no man's tributary" . There is a battle and the Spanish were successful . Francisco captures the Incan emperor , the god chief Atahualpa and promises to free him upon the delivery of a hoard of gold . Later on , Pizarro executed his 12-man honor guard and taking the Inca captive at the so-called Ransom Room . Despite fullfilling his promise of filling one room with gold and two with silver , Atahualpa was convicted of 12 charges including killing his brother and plotting against Pizarro and his troops . He was executed by garrote on 29 August 1533. Francisco and De Soto were opposed to execution but Pizarro consented to the trial due to the great agitation among soldiers particularly by Almagro . After that , Pizarro advanced with his army of 500 Spaniards toward Cuzco that was conquered.Pizarro founded Lima in 1535 which he considered to be one of the most important things he had created in his life . A dispute ocurred between Pizarro and Almagro respecting the limits of Cuzco jurisdiction . This led to confrontations and Almagro was eventually defeated during the battle of Salinas . In Lima 1541 a group of 20 heavily armed of Diego Almagro the younger stormed Pizarro's palace assassinating him, he painted a cross in his own blood and cried for Jesus Christ . Diego Almagro Jr was caught and executed the following year after losing the battle of Chupas . -
jeanhohn-17 November 2003I'm very lucky: I actually got to view the Scimitar DVD before buying it, and I can't believe how truly awful the product! In my not-so-humble opinion, this is one of the best movies ever made. I know, I know -- pretty talky. But so are many of the best movies ever made. And how this company managed to turn the glorious film I once treasured on BETA format into this scratchy, garbled mess, I have no idea.
So back to my summary: Will anyone ever rescue this fine old film and offer it to us?
Probably not. And that is sad, considering the dreck offered almost on a daily basis. -
Although extremely stagy, the film production of Royal Hunt of the Sun is interesting from a historical point of view. The performances of Robert Shaw and newcomer Christopher Plummer help the film despite its limitations. How less than 200 men conquered a territory held by ten million is a fascinating concept. Only the ability of superior technology would allow such an improbable invasion to be successful. The belief that the King of the Incas was a god, hastened the fall of the Incas, and allowed one belief system (Sun worship) to be replaced by another (Catholicism). The film highlights the fallacy of both belief systems. Very little action other than one battle scene (more like a slaughter scene). The Incas had an impressive civilization, but ultimately fell due to its religious superstitions.
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searchanddestroy-121 February 2019Yes, I waited for something in the line of a Sam Bronston's production, in the line of EL CID or FALL OF ROMAN EMPIRE....Nothing at all, it looks like a Shakespeare's stage play adaptation, with plenty of talks, like Julius Casear ones. But that's not a bad movie at all, on the contrary. It brings some good elements for this part of history, not so often shown by the movie industry: Except KINGS OF THE SUN, CAPTAIN OF CASTILLES and of course AGUIRRE and Carlos Sauras' ELDORADO, you have not tons of features speaking of the Conquistadores. And Bob Shaw is as usual overwhelming.
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AlsExGal11 August 2018This film about the downfall of the Inca empire in sixteenth century Peru manages to be deadly dull for the first 35 minutes; even star Robert Shaw (as Pizarro) manages to be boring and glum.
Then Atahualpa, King of the Incas (Christopher Plummer) appears and Plummer shocks the movie back to life. In the process, he gives a lesson on movie-stealing; hissing, prancing, yowling, sniffing, swooping, shrieking, he effectively makes the film His and everyone else is just annoying background noise. Plummer is in his own Universe and I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.
Even the anti- Vietnam War scene doesn't stop the laughter. It's so badly executed that characters fall before being hit, in two cases without being hit.
As long as Plummer's on screen, this is amusing or, at the very least interesting: without him, it is pretty dull. -
ragosaal4 May 2007This is a sort of strange epic spectacular film of a time when the genre was not in high demand. The story deals with the conquest of the Inca empire (now Perù) by the Spaniards leaded by Franncisco Pizarro back in the sixteenth century. This is not a movie for everyone to see it and appreciate it -it could seem a bit slow at times- but it stands as a fine and very decent product for those of us who are interested in historical events om Latin America.
"The Royal Hunt of the Sun" can be considered as the delayed complement to Henry King's "Captain from Castile" (1947) referred to the similar conquest of today's Mexico by Hernán Cortés (played accurately by Cèsar Romero). The more than 20 years elapsed between both films shows clearly the different cinematographic techniques of one time and the other; but both products have many similarities in their conception such as the crash between two completely different civilizations each one with their own religious, social and political standards and also the search of gold and riches by both "conquistadores" and their total lack of scruples for the achievement of their target (clearly leaving aside the pretended conversion to Catholicism of the natives that was the excuse of their kings to support the expeditions in a time when the church ruled in Spain).
If not totally accurate with real facts, the Pizarro saga and his confrontation with the god-king Atahualpa in "Royal Hunt" is acceptable scripted and suits enough history and mainly legend.
The atmosphere that not very prolific director Irving Lerner obtains in his film is excellent transiting a sort of a mystical sensation at times and when required; the final sequence when the Incas are waiting for Atahualpa's Sun-father to raise and bring him back to life is outstanding. The location places, settings and a weird music are very good too.
Robert Shaw plays a convincing Pizarro -daring, ambitious and greedy- who after a while shows some kind of respect and even admiration towards a man he can't quite understand. It is true that Cristopher Plummer's performance as Atahualpa is most eccentric as some reviewers state here, but who knows how a God -he and his people were convinced he was one- would behave? I think that Plummer did a very good job with his role here and his truly original acting is one of the highlights of the film.
For those who enjoy historical films with an epic frame this is one to see. -
johnnyboyz21 March 2010Just how DO you make those planked, rope bridges that you see cross deep ravines in films? The one in Royal Hunt of the Sun is so many hundreds of years old, and yet is made so tough that one instance sees three men successfully carry a large cannon over it, but one other soldier on his own puts a foot through one of the boards and nearly falls to his death. But I digress from the more burning; more taxing issues and ideas apparent in Royal Hunt of the Sun. It would be true to say that everyone's favourite action orientated, mythical adventure genre cliché in the rope bridge is out in force in the 1969 Irving Lerner film; but there's an underlying current of study included with most of what goes on during the early segments. Such an opening sounds disjointed, leaping from arbitrary rope bridge conversation to the mentioning of deeper ideas; but such is the manner of this opening as is of the film in question.
The film, essentially cut into two parts and parted right down the middle by a maddening and somewhat misguided slow motion sword fight sequence to some high tempo Spanish flamenco music, ends on a deeply disturbing and rather philosophical note when a man's word; a bond between men; a truce between men and whether the co-existing of religions from different nations and cultures are possible. Most characters came in search of gold they did not have; but one man, the leader, found something else which was inside of him the entire time. Robert Shaw plays that man, a true-to-life Spanish explorer by the name of Francisco Pizarro whom journeys to South America once again in search of a trove of gold in some form. Prior to embarking, Pizarro stands in front of his peers and their subjects; goading them as idle persons standing by waiting for the nation of Spain to sink into some sort of ruin. Pizarro dares to dream, dares to explore and assumes to love the nation more than those in front of him. Pizarro's wish in granted, once again, by the higher-ups that are present, for another romp in search of indescribable treasures, but they maintain he is "a mere adventurer, nothing more".
Pizarro's inability to properly connect with those in a long, spindly location of royal dwelling in his native Spain as those at the top sit at one end and those summoned stand at the other, is raised later on when whilst in the presence of the leader of the natives of the land he has arrived at, Christopher Plummer's walking Inca God Atahualpa, a level of communication is reached; a sense of understanding is accomplished – here is a man who dares to dream in equal manner; whose eccentricity twinned with his habit to think outside of the proverbial box matches Pizarro's. Their overall dress and look may be of clear binary opposition in their clothes and hair, but the understanding they have binds them; something exemplified through items such as their sharing of illiteracy. It is a connection that will be pushed pretty far when an agreement to do with preserving one's life in exchange for something else which in turn ought to guarantee the preserving of someone else's is used as a drive for a final third pot-boiler.
Royal Hunt of the Sun is initially a romping, sweeping adventure flick running on a drive to do with the search for something that might not even exist and has not been found on many-a past occasion by the same individual who has cost many-a life in the process. Armed with religion in the form of a priest convinced all those who have not taken to the bible and its readings are yet to be truly fulfilled in their life; a young Paige by the name of Martin (Whiting) and Pizarro's own razor sharp tongue and wit, they take it upon themselves to finally uncover the legend of the gold in finding it. Bearing in mind it is a full three years prior to Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God; a film similar in premise, Royal Hunt of the Sun cannot be denied its sense of historical context and additional inspiration. The first half enjoys its wide establishing shots of the dry wilderness the Spaniards must conquer, as it does its unnerving confrontations with the local Inca tribesmen which are rendered quick witted; pulpy; hillside sequences of fast-paced banter, rebounding between talk of religion and the whereabouts of the riches.
Following that bizarre centrefold fight sequence in which the Spanish have their religion rejected and many Inca tribes-people are massacred, Royal Hunt of the Sun beds down into a two locale maximum piece; really starting to show its stage roots but offering a little more than singular strand adventure fable in which rope bridges and nervy interactions with the native locals are the order of the day. The shift sees the film change gears and opt for content of a different kind of dramatic nature which isn't of an overly visual sort, instead relying on conflicts to do with a man's bond versus another's well-being; a man's thoughts and ideas conflicting with that of the state's, evident when Pizarro attempts to reject the conquistadors that are his own in favour of the Inca leader. This, plus a conflict of interests in religion: whether this South American band of people even need the western world's thoughts and musings on all things holy, which is rendered a form of modernity in the travelling priest whose aim it seems is to transfer knowledge. The film works, and although its seams are a little more obvious than I would've liked, its shifting of content of a dramatic weight makes for interesting and somewhat engrossing viewing. -
Opinion0212225 April 2019It amazes me that the producers of this film could entice such talented actors to take part in this movie! The writers should be hanged for depicting early Inca people to be ignorant and clown-like. Christopher Plummer, a talented actor, plays the part of an Inca King as if the Inca king belonged in an insane asylum! This film shows the writers' utter distain for the Inca people. And the language of the Inca in the film is laughable. It was almost as funny as the tribal language of the natives on Skull Island in the original King Kong! I found absolutely NOTHING in this movie that makes it worth watching. I feel like I just wasted about 90 minutes of my life that I can never get back! And, sadly, whenever I again see the wonderful actors from this movie acting in other movies, my mind will, sadly, flash back to the awful portrayals they made in this movie. I find it hard to believe that anyone actually thought that this was a good movie'
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Mrs_Twelvetrees30 July 2003This is really one of the best movies I´ve ever watched in my life! Christopher Plummer is absolutely wonderful as Atahualpa (nice accent, convincing acting) and Robert Shaw is a great Francisco Pizarro (lots of emotion and passion). This movie is about a beautiful culture and empire being ruined within a very short time: the Spanish conquistadors come to Peru in search of gold and to convert the natives. They find an extremely well-organised empire with their own God: Atahualpa. It´s fascinating to watch Pizarro becoming more and more fond of Atahualpa and at the same time it becomes more and more difficult for Pizarro to decide about the Inca´s fate. This is, of course, not a very modern movie: there are no visual or audio effects and at certain points the camera work isn´t perfect (a bit shaky, for instance). However, the story is great, the dialogue is interesting and sometimes thoroughly moving and the actors are doing a terrific job! Full marks for The Royal Hunt Of The Sun and...sorry, but I have to mention it...Plummer doesn´t look bad in this movie...
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juri-nummelin-119 February 2006I thought that this was a very interesting, but deeply flawed film. Have to admit that I don't remember much of it, but there was unnecessary playing with film technique, but all in all the film was very critical of the conquistadors and I suppose we should be thinking about parallels between the conquest of the Central America in the 16th century and the Vietnam war in the 1960s. There's one deeply intriguing scene in which the white soldiers massacre a whole Indian tribe and director Irving Lerner (for whom this was the last theatrical film) plays flamenco in the soundtrack! It's as if he were saying: look how we got this cultural heritage, without the conquistadors slaying all the Indians we wouldn't have the American culture. (Which is basically true.)
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merklekranz17 September 2009I wanted to like "The Royal Hunt of the Sun", but it begs comparison to a far superior film, and fails to entertain. Religious clap trap may have gone a long way towards sinking the movie. I have no problem with Robert Shaw or Christopher Plummer's acting. It is the lack of movement that drags the film down. There simply isn't enough meaningful dialog, unless you are into blasphemy, to maintain interest. Ultimately you will wish you had watched something else. "Aguirre the Wrath of God". had much the same theme, searching for gold, while spreading "God's word", and Aguirre is a far better film. I cannot recommend "The Royal Hunt of the Sun", but do recommend "Aguirre the Wrath of God". - MERK
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PaulaDec6311 March 2004If, like me, you fell in love with Christopher Plummer while watching The Sound of Music, Royal Hunt of the Sun is a definite must-see! As the Incan ruler Atahualpa, he's wearing very little throughout the movie and his body is absolutely breathtaking! He hasn't played that many "beefcake" roles or done many scenes that show his physical attributes, but this one definitely does! Where was People magazine and their "Sexiest Man Alive" contest when this movie was out??? Christopher Plummer would have won hands-down, no doubt!
All that aside, his acting is excellent, too. This movie re-tells this sad chapter of history very well and very accurately. -
elect_michael14 February 2021This movie is saved by a good performance by Robert Shaw and an extremely good performance by Christopher Plummer. Unfortunately, really no one else in the acting, directing, writing or production department can keep up with Plummer and Shaw. At the end of the day, Plummer and Shaw take a film that would almost surely have been a bad film without them, and they at least lift it to a fairly good film because of their performances.
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ofumalow23 September 2021This is one of those movies that seems to have been abandoned by whoever owns the rights to it, so for now the only available ways to see it are poor-quality prints that have been severely cut. The one I saw online was widescreen, at least, but looked like a 4th-generation video dupe, and was about 25 minutes shorter than the longest release version-which was obvious in the cloddish pacing and awkward jump-cuts to new scenes, probably the result of it being hacked down to fit some broadcast slot.
So, it's hard to fairly judge this movie from such an inferior copy. But even at the time it must have seemed pretty retro, the sort of thing that would have looked less silly had Tony Curtis and Yvonne DeCarlo been in it about fifteen years earlier. It's an "exotic adventure" of that hearty, corny, flamboyant type, without much aspiration toward historical accuracy-a spectacle, though not one as spectacular as you might like. (It does not have the scale of Hollywood or European costume epic mega-productions, which had gone out of commercial fashion a few years earlier.) It feels like "Land of the Pharoahs" on a different continent, at least until it turns into far too much of a talkfest-revealing the strain in trying to remake a play of ideas into a realistic adventure movie. There are female vocals on the soundtrack that invariably recall Yma Sumac, because we're in the land of the Incas and because this movie does have that kind of kitsch air to it. There are scenes of slow-motion slaughter that are meant to be shocking and tragic, I guess, but you're very aware of just watching extras fall bloodlessly to the ground after some actor thrusts a prop sword at them.
Robert Shaw, probably hired because bigger action stars (like Heston and Connery) declined, is good but can't quite hold the entertaining but somewhat stilted and clumsy movie together. First brought out on a little throne platform bourn aloft by slaveys--like a low-budget version of the giant float Liz Taylor arrives in in "Cleopatra"-Christopher Plummer understands all this as kitsch, and by hamming it up mercilessly, keeps the viewer as well as himself amused. With his strangled high voice, animal noises and silent-movie gestures, he sounds (and looks, that little golden loincloth aside of course) more like an unhinged geisha in a Kabuki play than anything else. You might consider his portrayal an insult to the grandeur of Inca civilization, but it's more like he's ridiculing the colonialist exotica of this type of film in general. Without him, "Royal Hunt" would be a justifiably forgotten semi-misfire; with him, it's a curio that hasn't aged well but still merits a look. -
Demiourgos3 June 2002This movie is a joke from the beginning to the end, the characters do and say what the writer wants them to, not even remotely what they did or said. Atahualpa is portrayed like a moron, naiv person (he seems to be not an Inca but a caucasian with a very good tan) and Pizarro like a sensitive one. If somebody thinks part of this has to do with reality, that person is wrong, I think the writer and director should have read at least a school text before making a film like this.
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Now, watching this movie is like tasting a bottle of fine wine (or beer :)). You may not be satisfied at the beginning, but later... If it weren't for 'Midnight Cowboy' who knows..., then maybe 1969 would be the year of 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun'. Sensational film which depicts brutality, hypocrisy, greed. This awesome picture shows how one peaceful (in comparison with the spanish) world falls apart, shows how reality strikes and hits You real hard (e.g. - Young Martin). Robert Shaw and Christopher Plummer... well... They're absolutely fabulous!!! Christopher Plummer with his attitude and ... c'mon watch Him walking, dancing..., even asking about 'art of writing' ! His unbelievable way of acting goes strictly together as one with the way of thinking, moving, ranting... pointing His finger. Robert Shaw - angry, coping with His injured leg, unbeatable, bursting with force. One world dies, as the other one devours Its essence. In the name of god none gives a damn about that. Well maybe some of them do..., but when They have to choose...
WARNING: It's strongly recommended to watch this Movie. -
paudman16 June 2021I had such high hopes for this movie, remembering it from television in my childhood. Sadly, what suited a child does not suit the adult. It's a stage play, based on the interaction between two men. Take away the scenery - mostly BBC-style indoor shots of stone walls and odd-shaped windows that you just know look out onto nothing - and you might as well have two men on chairs on a stage, chatting to each other. It may look good on a small stage, with a hushed audience dwelling on every word as other bit parts come and go around the main characters, but on the big screen?
The strangeness of the Incas is portrayed quite well; their actions and society may seem ludicrous to us but they lived with a god and dwelt on his every word. Take away that reverence, that awe for what to us is really only another man, and it seems almost laughable to an outsider. This is what fails to work for me - we find the Incas funny. There is no seriousness, no depth to their culture, no sign of their barbarity or rigid social structure, just men in funny clothes who act as either madmen or slaves. Atahualpa himself talks gibberish, and then, magically, almost fluent Spanish / English.
The Spanish themselves are too well fed, too cleanly dressed. Well groomed, clean clothes, not a hint of stubble or greasy hair. Contrast with Pizarro in 'Aguirre Wrath of God' and you'll see the more accurate version of sweaty, filthy, underfed men, greedy for gold in a foreign land. It just doesn't work.
There is one scene of violence - I hesitate to call it a battle as the Incas do not fight back - set to jaunty Spanish flamenco music; no drama, no accuracy, no tension, in fact no real danger, just a little throwaway scene where we get rid of a few hundred extras and then back to the dreary interaction between Atahualpa and Pizarro. There is no sense of the threat faced by the Conquistadors as they hold their prisoner, surrounded by the entire Inca nation, just the certain knowledge that they'll do nothing, which suits the entire mood of the film.
I bought the DVD version which has utterly terrible picture quality and spent a lot of the movie in fast forward, during which nothing moves other than the jaws of the main characters in their interminable dialogue. As a fan of historical movies I had high hopes for this one but sadly it's just a long, and boring, play, given grandeur beyond its' station. -
ozthegreatat4233030 January 2007With a cast of Robert Shaw and Christopher Plummer, Peter Shaffer's powerful and touching stage drama of Pizarro and the Emperor/God Atahuallpa is grippingly brought to the stage. Pizarro, fighting his way from nothing leads an expedition to find gold for himself and the king of Spain. He finds and becomes intrigued with the Inca, living son of the Sun god and promises freedom in exchange for a large chamber filled with gold.
When the deed is complete, the Spaniards refuse to accept Pizarro's promise and intend to put Atahuallpa to death. The Inca convinces Pizarro that if he is put to death he will be brought back to life at dawn of the next day by the Sun god. Pizarro, a man without much faith has come to respect this man and wants badly to believe him. Shaw's performance is, as usual, superb. Christopher Plummer is simply magnificent as the ruler of the Inca Empire. -
Movie85N1 February 2023This movie was so bad that it left me with so many unanswered questions:
- How did this movie get approved?
- Why was it green lit with such a horrible script?
- Why was this cast approved?
- Who's the executive that approved it? Was he fired?
- Why was Christopher Plummer jumping around and talking like a sissy? What he on drugs or did they tell him to do this?
- Who did his facial make up?
- Was this part of a money laundering venture?
- etc......
Also, they didn't even bother to do a little research on the history. It would've been more entertaining, if the film had a little historical background. I know a lot of movie's from the sixties suck but this one takes the cake. -
Judging by the comments written previously,it seems that very few of the critics have sen this show done on the stage.Indeed,the only production that I have seen was at Ohio State University in May,1973.And it's the staging,and the transformations that occur on the stage,that makes it magical.
The play looks at cultural clash between 2 totalitarian cultures;The Europeans,who place an emphasis on choice and free will;and the Incas,who live in a rigid,regimented society where everyone does as he is told,and are consequently taken care of.It's the ultimate in welfare states.
Pizarro,in real life,was a brutal,bloodthirsty,cruel cutthroat,with the sensitivity of a mack truck.While lacking in true intelligence,he was nonetheless crafty and calculating,and an able conqueror,and later Spanish Viceroy of Peru.And in this story,we have this hard bitten adventurer going through an existential,"mid-life" crisis,searching for spiritual values,and a meaning for a more virtuous life.OK,so we've got an interpretation,and not a true historical drama.We can live with that.
The real Atualpha was probably a naive dupe,trusting to the honor of the Spaniards,and paying,in the end,with his life.But Plummer gives the most off-the -wall performance of his career.While lunatics have had an accepted role in primitive cultures,it's usually in some sort of shaman role,not as the ruler.
The real magic,alluded to earlier in this review,is in taking the story,as it develops,and giving a highly stylized rendition of the narrated event.The scaling of the Andes Mountains;the massacre and capture of the Inca;the retaliation and surrounding by the Indians;and the trial and strangulation of the Inca;are all seen as a symbolic representation on the stage.By showing it literally,as they do in this film,would require an epic budget.And,consequently,it just doesn't come across.We need a huge production,and this isn't it.
Pizarro is a man,disillusioned with his own culture,and looking for redemption and a salvation,of sorts.He hopes to find it in the Inca society,something to give meaning to his own lonely,empty existence.He hopes,against hope,that Atualpha will resurrect from his execution,and validates Pizarro's hopes.And the failure of this revival leaves the old freebooter shattered.There should have been a greater emphasis on THIS,and not on a cut-rate epic. -
fredit-4300429 August 2022The film says more about 1969 than 1530. You can't say you've seen a period piece just like this one. The film is based on a stage play, so perhaps Plummer's extremely bizarre characterization comes from there. The story of Pizarro vs. The Inca, and Pizarro's search for gold (c.f., Aguirre) are so compelling that the general theme survives even this flawed presentation. This is basically a true story, so not much liberty can be taken with the plot. I saw this film on its theatrical release in 1969, and had good memories of it. On second viewing 50-plus years later, it's more of a nostalgia piece.
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Orca-204 October 2000Royal Hunt of the Sun has been called a cult classic. Maybe so, but for me it was an incredible movie with top notch actors. The film takes a different approach to Pizarro in Peru than one would expect. The mental conflict makes for a fascinating story line as well as a riveting performance by Robert Shaw and a jaw-dropping characterization of a Sun god by Christopher Plummer. It is truly a unique movie.