Könige der Sonne

Writing in "Wild West Movies" Kim Newman draws attention to the lack of mainstream Hollywood product about America prior to Columbus .Indeed he identifies only two such movies -The Norseman (Lee Majors) and this one .Newman is dismissive of its merits but while no masterpiece ,and indeed it has no pretensions to being ,the movie is fun in its own cheesy way . It describes the flight of the Mayans after military defeat at the hands of their Toltec enemies,and their settlement in what is now the Southwestern USA .They form an alliance with the Apaches ,headed by Yul Byrnner and together they unite to resist the pursuing Toltecs.This is despite the conflict between Brynner and the head of the Mayans ,played by George Chakiris ,over the favours of the Apache princess played by Shirley Ann Field . Brynner lends his considerable presence to the role of the Apache chieftain and easily overshadows Chakiris in the acting stakes ,while Field is ridiculously miscast .Some attempt is made to give the characters modern resonance by having Chakiris make a stand against human sacrifice but neither characterisation nor script is really the issue here This is movie dominated by action and spectacle .The battle scenes are well staged and the sets are magnificent with some striking location photography ,shot in Chicen Itza ,Mazatlan and Yucatan ,being a definite bonus Low marks for intellect but its fun movie making and while cheesy its also enjoyable