End of the Spear review

"Waodani children grew up understanding they would spear and live or be speared and die."

The cycle of "revenge spearing" in this tribe was a cycle that didn't easily end. It was understood that a child would avenge his father's death when he grew up. Nate Saint's killer fully expected Nate's son to kill him. Why didn't he?

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I thought this was a very good movie. It was impressive as an independent film and was not "glamorized" as other movies have been. I was able to see the struggles of the main Waodani character as he sought to understand the ways of the Christian men he helped kill, and later on, the wives and children of the slain men. I was able to understand the history of killings within the Waodani tribe and realize what a work of God's grace it was to change the tribe from being killers to peacemakers. The presence of forgiveness in the main characters is also very great. "

A complaint I had was that Jim Elliot was portrayed in a way that seemd quite inconsistent with my knowledge of him from reading books such as Shadow of the Almighty and Passion and Purity. I always thought of him as being passionate about serving the Lord and passionate about reaching tribes for Christ and submitting every area of his life to God. However, in the movie, he seemed to be less mature than the main character, Nate Saint, and less serious about reaching the Waodani people (a friend later reminded me that Jim was a comic and was a goof-off in addition to being passionate about the gospel). At the same time, Nate Saint was the main character, and it followed his life (and his son's), not Jim's. As a result, the four men besides Nate were minor characters and less developed in the movie.

I was hoping for more references to the gospel or to the reason the missionaries were willing to reach out to this violent tribe. Maybe I should read Jared's posts about Christ and the Arts more carefully and apply some principles there to this film.

I'm curious to know what a non-Christian viewing this movie would think. Would they understand? I can't help but think that I, as a Christian, understand a deeper element to the movie that is foreign to an unbeliever.