Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Naked Prey Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 12, 2018

Cornel Wilde's "The Naked Prey" (1965) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include an original trailer for the film; audio commentary by film scholar Stephen Prince; the original soundtrack for the film; recorded reading of "John Colter's Escape" by actor Paul Giamatti; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Atkinson, vintage interview with Cornel Wilde, and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The prey

Cornel Wilde -- a former professional fencer who exited the U.S. Olympic team in 1936 to pursue an acting career -- is the leader of a group of safari hunters who are somewhere deep inside West Africa. They are approached by tribesmen that request small gifts before they pass through their land, but the man that has organized the hunt (Gert Van Der Berg) recklessly humiliates them.

Later on, the hunters are ambushed and the majority of them killed. Three white survivors are taken captive and used to entertain a powerful local chief -- one is tied near an angry cobra and another is covered with clay and roasted, while Wilde is stripped of his clothes and set loose in the nearby bushes where a group of black warriors begin hunting him.

The rest of the film follows closely Wilde’s struggle to stay alive. He kills a few of the warriors but more appear and then he becomes an attractive target for different predators. The unbearable heat also lowers his chances of survival. Nevertheless, he manages to stay a few steps ahead of the warriors and eventually emerges victorious.

The Naked Prey is based on an original story by John Colter which is set in the American West. Colter was a trapper on the Lewis a Clark expedition who much like Wilde’s character was forced to run for his life after he miraculously escaped a group of angry Blackfoot Indians. Wilde liked the story and purchased the rights to it, but moved it to the much more exotic -- at least during the early 1960s when the film was completed -- and dangerous West Africa.

There are only a few lines in English in the entire film. There are some sporadic exchanges between the black warriors, but they are not translated. The majority of the time one can only hear Wilde’s heavy breathing or the sounds and noises produced by the wild animals.

There is quite a bit of interesting stork footage that focuses on the wildlife, but it does not work particularly well with the film’s overall gritty atmosphere. It is clearly meant to force one to think about the dark side of the human soul and the fact that violence is an integral part of human nature, but the uneven inserts actually create the impression that the film could and should have been edited much better.

The version of the film included on this release is fully uncut. Apparently in the past the British censors were bothered by select scenes and changes were demanded, but none of the cuts are retained here. First-time viewers who are bothered by graphic animal killings should keep this in mind as there are a few scenes that could be somewhat problematic. (This reviewer, however, continues to believe that the most disturbing footage is actually in the segment where one of the white hunters is quickly covered with clay and then roasted).

In 1967, The Naked Prey was nominated for Oscar Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Clint Johnson, Don Peters).

The Naked Prey Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit DataCine from a 35mm low-contrast print struck from the original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management. The soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm DME magnetic tracks, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle.

Transfer supervisor: Maria Palazzola.
Colorist: Gregg Garvin, Modern VideoFilm, Los Angeles, CA."

The master that was used to produce this release is the same one that the folks at Eureka Entertainment worked with when they prepared their release of The Naked Prey in 2015. I did some direct comparisons between these release and if any additional work was done it is impossible to tell. Naturally, the same source limitations that we highlighted in our review of the Region-B release are retained. For example, while detail and clarity remain very pleasing during some of the wider panoramic shots it is easy to tell that depth could be even better (see screencaotures #3 and 10). Density levels are good, but there grain exposure and distribution can be even better. Highlight can be managed even better, and this is something that would help smaller nuances appear even more convincing. Colors are stable and there are good nuances, but ideally both can be better saturated and balanced. There are no traces of distracting sharpening adjustments. Image stability is very good. There are no large damage marks, cuts, scratches, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Naked Prey Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only on standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The film has a pretty fluid organic soundtrack that utilizes plenty of natural sounds and noises, so the overall dynamic intensity has some pretty obvious limitations. However, clarity, depth, and stability are very good. There are no balance issues to report either.

The Naked Prey Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• English Trailer - original trailer for The Naked Prey. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• John Colter - presented here is a reading of John Colter's Escape by actor Paul Giamatti. It was recorded in 2007 and is illustrated with paintings, historical drawings, and other images. The story was written by historian Addison Erwin Sheldon for a 1913 collection entitled History and Stories of Nebraska. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080i).

• Soundtrack - presented here is the original soundtrack for The Naked Prey which features South African tribal chants recorded by Cornel Wilde, and instrumental cues directed by ethnomusicologist Andrew Tracey. The tracks presented here were taken from the music stems of the film's sound mix. (29 min).
  
  1. Theme
  2. Ambush
  3. Captives
  4. Celebration
  5. Lion
  6. Tracked
  7. Trap
  8. Dusk
  9. Pursuit
  10. "Burn!"
  11. Heat
  12. Serpents
  13. Desperation
  14. Husking
  15. Night
  16. Friend
  17. Fort
  18. Pursuers

• Statement by Andrew Tracey - this statement was written for Criterion in 2007. It is presented here in text-format.

• Audio Commentary - this audio commentary by film historian Stephen Prince (Classical Film Violence) initially appeared on Criterion's DVD release of The Naked Prey. The commentary was recorded in 2007.
  
  1. Parable
  2. Collaborators
  3. Motivation
  4. Critique
  5. Identity
  6. Flamboyant
  7. Colter
  8. Depth
  9. Complex
  10. Subversive
  11. Predation
  12. Violence
  13. Paradox
  14. Nature
  15. Colonialism
  16. Wilde
  17. Resistance
  18. Languages
  19. Song
  20. Contradictions

• Booklet - 24-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Atkinson, vintage interview with Cornel Wilde, and technical credits.

The Naked Prey Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I don't particularly like Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey. It is an interesting project, but it heads in two completely different directions at the same time and as a result the important contrasts and similarities it highlights look and feel more than a bit suspicious. I much prefer Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, which tells a very similar story but in a far more effective manner. Criterion's upcoming release is sourced from the same master that Eureka Entertainment worked with a few years ago when they prepared their release of the film, but it has a superior selection of bonus features. RECOMMENDED.