The Naked Prey (The Criterion Collection)

Naked Does Not Mean Defenseless
Most films which have the basic premise of a white man battling native Africans somewhere in the Dark Continent usually portray these natives as nameless, unmotivated ugga-mugga tribesmen whose only purpose in life seems to be able to toss missionaries into a round cooking pot. Thankfully, Cornel Wilde acts in and directs himself in THE NAKED PREY, a movie that is as astoundingly gripping as any film whose plot revolves around the hero's struggle for survival in a savage environment.
Wilde is a guide whose safari of foolish white hunters antagonizes some ferocious natives, who proceed to kill the hunters in a variety of graphically nasty ways. The natives allow Wilde a head start, then chase him. It is this chase that forms the bulk of the movie. Along the way, Wilde shows the natives (and the audience) that a near naked white man can still be a formidable foe. The pursuing natives, led by Ken Gampu, are a diverse lot, not all of whom are as dedicated to the chase as he...

Cornel Wilde is `The Man'
This overlooked gem directed by and starring one-time Olympic fencer Cornel Wilde concerns a knowledgeable safari guide (known only as The Man) whose greedy client gets him into a slew of trouble when he refuses to pay tribute to a band of Zulus while hunting elephants in Africa. The Zulus return en masse and take the white hunters prisoner, torturing them to death in a variety of ingenious ways. Recognizing Wilde as being made of stouter stuff than his companions, they strip him naked and cut him loose with the intent of hunting him down. But their generosity backfires when Wilde up and kills one of them. What follows is one of the greatest pursuit movies of all time as the vengeful Zulu hunters chase the Man across the savannah in a race to reach a remote British fort. The Man has to use every ounce of human ingenuity to stave off his relentless pursuers, as well as to contend with various random perils (pissed off wildlife, starvation, and slavers, to name a few).

This was...

one of my all time favorites
I accidentally caught this movie late at night when I was a kid...and found it the most gripping movie I had ever seen. 30 years later my opinion has not changed one bit. After an hour into the movie, I remember finding myself amazed at how much I cared about the characters and how strongly their personalities came through - even with virtually no dialogue!! This is perhaps one of the most underrated movies in the latter half of the 20th century. Other reviewers here have already done an exceptional job of running down the highlights, so I need not do the same.

This film leaves me with 2 questions that I would love someone to answer. First, why do they not make movies like this anymore? And second, when oh when will this come out on DVD??

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KZ

A Haunting Reminder
I had been waiting to see this unique film for quite a while. It isn't the easiest to track down. It is a beautifully shot, thoroughly engrossing look at life in the idyllic small Austrian town of Mauthausen. Idyllic, perhaps, but for the dark shadow forever cast across it by the Mauthausen concentration camp.

The film conducts a sort of virtual tour through both the camp itself, and the scenic town adjoining it. With elegance and understatement, the filmmakers manage to convey both the horrors associated with the camp, and the intrusive complications that are so much a part of live in the town.

The viewer's journey is conducted through a series of interviews with groups of school children and tourists, as they are led on their tour through the camp; as well as extended interviews with some of their tour guides, many of whom reveal complex and difficult relationships with the camp, and their roles as shepherds of the innocent through its haunting grounds...

Proximity to evil and suffering
History is all about proximity; the distance over time, between spaces, or the mental distance that we all create within ourselves to interpret and relate to the past, ourselves and our futures. KZ is essentially a question of proximity, too, examining how living near the town of the last concentration camp to be liberated affects tour guides and residents. Does it matter that you live within sight of where thousands of humans were tortured to death? Is the field where tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews remain just another field, or does it retain a quality unique to their memory and pain? And what impact does it have upon visitors, who seem so jovial upon arrival and then so solemn upon exit. How long does that memory haunt them, until the next cheeseburger?

This is a very powerful film and I think it ranks among the top ten of holocaust documentaries, or films about the nature of suffering and proximity.

KZ Review
an excellent documentary, very well done; you feel like you are at KZ taking the tour along with the tourists

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Dirty Jobs: Collection 2

Excellent entertainment
Thank you, Mr. Rowe, for keeping us entertained. I got a copy of Collection 2 last week and have since savored every stomach-twisting episode. I don't know how the guy does it, the filth, claustrophobia, stench, physical harm, all for the sake of enlightening the audience. It is amazing what people will do for a pocketful of cash, and I would not have known about some of these jobs if not for Mr. Rowe's dedication!

Bravo, and keep 'em coming!

Always a hit!
The "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe" series is a wonderful asset for the classroom. Many of his "dirty jobs" have a science background and provide kids with a fun, informative, real world application of science concepts and careers. A must for the science classroom!

Love Dirty Jobs
It's Dirty Jobs! It's very entertaining and funny. We get to hear Mike sing the National Anthem on this collection, WOW!

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