Kings of the Sun (1963)
In order to flee from powerful enemies, young Mayan king Balam leads his people north across the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of what will become the United States. They build a home in the new land but come into conflict with a tribe of Native Americans led by their chief, Black Eagle, while both Balam and Black Eagle fall in love the beautiful Mayan princess Ixchel.
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hyped garbage
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
best movie i've ever seen.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
The ancient Mayans of Mexico get a chance to have an alleged history told of their people as they are forced out of their land by a more ferocious tribe, crossing the future gulf of Mexico into modern day Texas where they encounter the natives who have stomped out any undesirable intruders in order to maintain the peace in their land. As the Mayan and Native Texan leaders, Oscar Winners George Chakaris and Yul Brynnur find themselves at odds. Having survived Rita Moreno in both "West Side Story" and "The King and I", they get the soft-spoken British Shirley Ann Field, playing one of Chakaris's people whom Brynnur takes a desire to. Field, an appealing young actress, however, is no Maria Montez, although Chakaris and Brynnur are adequate substitutes for Jon Hall and Sabu. Somehow, however, I found myself laughing at the English spoken by these two actors long before Europeans settled the west, as well as assumptions of the customs, costumes and courtoirs.It is also interesting to note that once Brynnur, being used as a possible sacrifice for the Mayan Gods, is set free and peace seems inevitable, all it takes is the rivalry over a woman to put the two people at war all over again. Fortunately, circumstances erupt which keep that from escalating, but in the final, I had the sudden urge to break into singing "Something Wonderful" from "The King and I" or "Somewhere" from "West Side Story". It makes me wonder if Jerome Robbins did the choreography for the native dances.Overall, I did enjoy the movie in spite of laughing at a lot of it, but in certain segments, it truly is extremely slow and slightly overlong. The sets do seem taken right out of Egyptian biblical epics, or at least some of MGM's recent "Tarzan" films. To add to the campiness, there is the Cecil B. DeMille like narration at the beginning, helping to explain the history of the Mayans and their Godly sacrifices.
I did not see this film when it was originally released. I was 12 then, but for some reason I was not attracted to it. So today, when I have finally seen it, I am not moved by nostalgia, as it often happens to me when I revisit films from my youth. This one is truly a poor motion picture, for all the reasons some reviewers have indicated: awful script and dialogs, inaccuracy of several sorts, corny costumes and settings, unbelievable hair styles, Caucasian actors playing natives of the American continent, and very bad acting, especially from Yul Brynner who overdid the macho number he created for the King of Siam, posing as if he were doing a photo shoot for "Tomorrow's Man" or any other male physique magazine of the 1960s Today it seems worse, with everybody speaking the same language (English), but with different USA accents, except Shirley Anne Field who did her best British phrasing. As for the score, once Elmer Bernstein complained in a letter he wrote me (he is the only composer I have ever exchanged correspondence with) that he had not convinced any record company to issue "Kings of the Sun", one of his favorite film scores. If heard apart from the visuals, I am sure it works, but to most ears quite probably it sounds as the score for a western or biblical film. As it is, it sounds strange adding musical comments to images that pretend to convey life in America the continent, before the arrival of the European conquistadors Bernstein was not all that wrong, in any case, for scriptwriter James R. Webb worked on this one just after "How the West Was Won" and before "Cheyenne Autumn", maybe taking it for another western without horses.
"Kings of the Sun" is the story of a civilization burst into full flower In their profound desire to win favor from the deities, the Mayans made human sacrifice the keystone of their religion Keeping the Buddhist monk hairstyle as his trademark, Brynner easily steals the show with his virile personality, distinctive look, speech and mannerism He is Black Eagle, the barbarian chief who comes to the defense of the Mayans George Chakiris plays Balam, the jaguar, king and son of kings to the ninth generation Although in spite of being young and brave and untried, Chakiris lacks the heroic stature with which the role might have been satisfied Shirley Anne Field is the delicate Ixchel who would never leave Black Eagle except if he ever used to tell her that he loved her Richard Basehart is the high priest who tried to make the king understand that he cannot bring this new life to his people without giving a life For a thousand years they've been bound by this law The gods cannot be cheated Leo Gordon is the tyrant Hunac Kell His strength is a sword of metal and the Mayans are powerless against it Filmed beautifully in Chichén Itzá, Yucatán Mexico, J. Lee Thompson's motion picture is colorful and highly entertaining
My Father was posted to Wellington, New Zealand and remember seeing this movie there. The audience was basically young boys. We screamed and yelled throughout. I doubt if I saw the movie now, would have the same reaction. It is one of the few movies I saw as a young boy still gives me fond memories of a care free childhood. Isn't that what a movie should do? Yul Brynner's part was memorable and it was with sadness that he died at the end. Whenever I saw Richard Basehart I was always reminded of this Movie. The escape through the tunnel was wonderful, and it was with dread that we felt their paradise was short-lived. In the end good triumphed