End of the Spear
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the film. For the book of the same name, see End of the Spear (book)End of the Spear (book)End of the Spear is a book written by Steve Saint. It was published in connection with the film of the same name. The book chronicles the continuing story that began with Elisabeth Elliot's 1957 bestseller Through Gates of Splendor....
.
End of the Spear is a 2006 docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
film that recounts the story of Operation Auca
Operation Auca
Operation Auca was an attempt by five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States to bring the gospel to the Huaorani people of the rainforest of Ecuador...
, in which five American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Christian missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
attempted to evangelize the Huaorani
Huaorani
The Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua Indians, and commonly adopted by...
(Waodani) people of the jungle of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. Based on actual events from 1956 in which five male missionaries were speared by members of the Waodani tribe, the movie tells the story from the perspective of Steve Saint
Steve Saint
Stephen Farris Saint is an Ecuadorian-born business entrepreneur, pilot, and author. He is known for being the son of Nate Saint, a famous missionary pilot, as well as for his own work among indigenous tribes.-Early life:...
(the son of Nate Saint
Nate Saint
Nathanael "Nate" Saint was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca....
, one of the murdered missionaries), and Mincayani, one of the tribesmen who killed the missionaries. The two eventually form a bond that continues to this day.
Concerns
Some critics believe the story may be seen as presenting an uncritical view of a situation where native peoples were exploited regardless of "good intentions" such as concerns about SIL InternationalSIL International
SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...
.
There was some concern among various Christian groups that lead actor Chad Allen
Chad Allen (actor)
Chad Allen is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of seven, Allen is a three-time Young Artist Award winner and GLAAD Media Award honoree, best known for rising to prominence as a teen idol during the late 1980s as David Witherspoon on the NBC family drama,...
, who portrays aviator missionary Nate Saint
Nate Saint
Nathanael "Nate" Saint was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca....
in the movie (and his son Steve Saint as an adult), is openly gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
. Some Christian groups that had initially planned to promote the film began to question whether they should. The real Steve Saint
Steve Saint
Stephen Farris Saint is an Ecuadorian-born business entrepreneur, pilot, and author. He is known for being the son of Nate Saint, a famous missionary pilot, as well as for his own work among indigenous tribes.-Early life:...
, who was heavily involved in the production of the film, has stated in interviews that he himself had reservations but that God indicated to him that Allen was the proper choice. In the end, he couldn't see a better actor filling the role of his father. His public pronouncements did much to quell the controversy.
Other Christian groups (such as VCY America
VCY America
Voice of Christian Youth America, aka, the VCY America Radio Network, is a traditional, evangelical Christian ministry based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin which maintains a format of sacred music and spirituals through all of its broadcast outlets.-History:...
's Vic Eliason
Vic Eliason
Victor "Vic" Carl Eliason is an American evangelical clergyman who is the founder and a prominent on air personality of the VCY America Radio Network, a conservative Christian broadcasting ministry, based in Milwaukee.-Early life:...
) wished the film had more explicitly portrayed the Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
message (i.e. salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
through Jesus Christ). However, the Gospel presented in the movie is the same as it was presented to the Waodani; in concepts and symbols that are present in everyday Waodani language (with the name of "God" being replaced with "Waengongi", the name of the Waodani creator god who no longer communicated with the people).
Due to the limitations of the movie format, they have had to compress various events and limit the number of characters. As a result, the main Waodani protagonist, Mincayani, is not actually one person in real life but rather a composite of the real-life Waodani named Mincaye and various other Waodanis. Some of Steve’s sister’s experiences ended up being attributed to Steve in the movie and the dramatic climactic reconciliation between Steve as an adult and Mincayani did not actually happen as depicted in the film – it was more of a slow, growing love and friendship between the real-life Steve and Mincayani.
Box office
Opening with a stronger-than-expected first weekend (January 20–22, 2006), End of the Spear took 8th place (behind four other new and expanding movies) with $4.3 million USD. End of the Spear became one of the few independently released Christian movies to draw more than $1,000,000 in its first three weekends of release. By the time the film left the box office, it had made $12 million. It has since made over $20 million more in rentals and video sales, including RedBox.Critical response
End of the Spear had a mixed response among film critics. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
Meter, an average of critics' ratings, as of December 26, 2009 had given the movie 41%; 20 positive, 29 negative reviews (avg. rating: 5.2/10).
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
, which also incorporates user ratings, had nearly 2/3 of viewers give the film an 'A' rating. The film won a Crystal Heart Award as well as the Grand Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the 2005 Heartland Film Festival
Heartland Film Festival
The Heartland Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. First held in 1992, its goal is to "recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life."In May 2007, Heartland...
.
Extra footage
The DVD and some theaters where the movie was shown also included extra footage after the movie ended showing the real life Mincayani (Mincaye) and the real life Steve Saint in our modern day. Mincaye visited Steve Saint in America with humorous results while trying to understand American culture.Cast
| Louie Leonardo | Mincayani |
| Chad Allen Chad Allen (actor) Chad Allen is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of seven, Allen is a three-time Young Artist Award winner and GLAAD Media Award honoree, best known for rising to prominence as a teen idol during the late 1980s as David Witherspoon on the NBC family drama,... |
Nate Saint Nate Saint Nathanael "Nate" Saint was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.... /Steve Saint Steve Saint Stephen Farris Saint is an Ecuadorian-born business entrepreneur, pilot, and author. He is known for being the son of Nate Saint, a famous missionary pilot, as well as for his own work among indigenous tribes.-Early life:... /Narrator |
| Jack Guzman Jack Guzman Jack Guzman is an actor, originally hailing from Barranquilla, Colombia.His most notable role to date is that of Danny Delgado, the Black Wild Force Power Ranger on Power Rangers Wild Force... |
Kimo |
| Christina Souza | Dayuma Dayuma Dayuma is a member of the Huaorani tribe and a citizen of Ecuador. She is a central figure in the Operation Auca saga, in that she was the first Huao convert to Christianity, as well as the missionaries' key to unlocking the Huaorani language, a language that had not been previously studied... |
| Chase Ellison Chase Ellison Chase Ellison is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in Mysterious Skin and Tooth Fairy.-Life and career:... |
Young Steve Saint Steve Saint Stephen Farris Saint is an Ecuadorian-born business entrepreneur, pilot, and author. He is known for being the son of Nate Saint, a famous missionary pilot, as well as for his own work among indigenous tribes.-Early life:... |
| Sean McGowan Sean McGowan Sean Michael McGowan is one of the few American writers to publish photographic novels... |
Jim Elliot Jim Elliot Philip James Elliot was an evangelical Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Waodani people of Ecuador.-Early life:... |
| Sara Kathryn Bakker | Rachel Saint |
| Cara Stoner | Marj Saint |
| Beth Bailey Beth Bailey Beth Bailey is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks, which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division in MI5. She is portrayed by British actress Sophia Myles. Beth Bailey was introduced in Spooks's ninth series as a private contractor in her... |
Elisabeth Elliot Elisabeth Elliot Elisabeth Elliot is a Christian author and speaker. Her first husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in 1956 while attempting to make missionary contact with the Auca of eastern Ecuador. She later spent two years as a missionary to the tribe members who killed her husband... |
| Stephen Caudill | Ed McCully Ed McCully Edward "Ed" McCully was an evangelical Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four other missionaries, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people, through efforts known as Operation Auca.-Early years:... |
| Matt Lutz Matt Lutz Matt Lutz is an American film, television, and theatre actor, who played Phil Newberry on the Hallmark Channel's "McBride" murder-mystery series from 2004–2006, and has had significant roles in the feature films "A Walk to Remember", "Bringing Down the House", and "End of the Spear"... |
Pete Fleming Pete Fleming Peter Sillence Fleming was an evangelical Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Waodani people of Ecuador.- Early life :Fleming was born in Seattle, Washington... |
| Chemo Mepaquito | Gikita |
| Gil Birmingham Gil Birmingham Gil Birmingham is an American actor of Comanche ancestry, known for his portrayal of Billy Black in the The Twilight Saga film series.- Personal background :... |
Moipa |
| Jose Liberto Caizamo | Nampa |
| Patrick Zeller | Roger Youderian Roger Youderian Roger Youderian was an Armenian-American evangelical Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.... |
| Madgalena Condoba | Akawo |
Soundtrack
End of the Spear: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on January 24, 2006 by Word RecordsWord Records
Word Records is a Christian record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a division of Word Entertainment , which, itself is co-owned by Warner Music Group and Curb Records...
. The soundtrack features most of the instrumental score by Ron Owen, plus featured music from the film by known CCM
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
artists like Steven Curtis Chapman
Steven Curtis Chapman
Steven Curtis Chapman is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist.After starting his career in the late 1980s as a singer/songwriter of contemporary Christian music, Chapman has since been recognized as one of the most prolific singers in the genre,...
and BarlowGirl
BarlowGirl
BarlowGirl is an American Christian rock–CCM all-female band from Chicago, Illinois. The band is composed of sisters Alyssa , Rebecca , and Lauren Barlow . The band has won several awards in their genre; their song "Never Alone" was the longest running No...
, among others.