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The Naked Prey

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Glamorous leading man turned idiosyncratic auteur Cornel Wilde created a handful of gritty, violent explorations of the nature of man in the sixties and seventies, none more memorable than The Naked Prey. In the late nineteenth century, after an ivory-hunting safari offends an African tribe, the colonialists are captured and hideously tortured. Only Wilde's marksman is released, without clothes or weapons, to be hunted for sport, and he embarks on a harrowing journey through savanna and jungle. back to a primitive state. Distinguished by vivid widescreen camerawork and unflinching savagery, The Naked Prey is both a propulsive, stripped-to-the-bone narrative and a meditation on the notion of civilization.

Special Features

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by film scholar Stephen Prince
- "John Colter's Escape," a 1913 written record of the trapper's flight from Blackfoot Indians, which was the inspiration for The Naked Preyread by actor Paul Giamatti
- Original soundtrack cues created by director Cornel Wilde and ethnomusicologist Andrew Tracey, along with a written statement by Tracey on the score
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Michael Atkinson and a 1970 interview with Wilde

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Cinephrenic wrote:Does anyone know or have news if Paramount is releasing The Naked Prey anytime soon?

It was originally co-produced by director and star, Cornel Wilde's production company, Theodora Productions and Sven Persson Films - Paramount were the original distributor and I have the feeling that they had no renegotiate the rights for the 1988 VHS, which was renewed in 1994. Chances are, Paramount holds the prime elements (original camera negative, internegatives, soundtracks and stems) but they need to renew the rights for DVD distribution, with Wilde's Estate. The same situation exists with No Blade of Grass (MGM did the VHS in 1987). I have a pan and scan (from 2.35:1 Panavision) DVD-R of The Naked Prey, which doesn't seem to suffer too badly once it is just Cornel on screen, though the imaginative credits sequence is mangled. Terrific film, hardly any dialogue - I love it! I also have a 2.35:1 non-anamorphic DVD-R of No Blade of Grass, which is clean and would be detailed if it was anamorphic and had a high bitrate. It's from a U.S. TV broadcast. Immense fun, quite tough, though a real bummer - great companion piece to Soylent Green, though the acting isn't as vigorous. Like Wilde's WWII film, Beach Red, it has flash-forwards, but this time, they are distracting and ruin the suspense and have no logic, ie. whose perspective is it - a psychic's?!

But, The Naked Prey is a gem of 'pure Cinema' and has a great score, which was released on CD for the first time last year. The Laserdisc was also pan and scan. The film itself is badly needed on DVD in 2.35:1 anamorphic, though.

I was asking the same question as Cinephrenic at DVDTalk. After watching Apocalypto last night I had the urge to watch this film over again. It is in Paramount's hands right now, so I hope they see the light and release it now that it is in people's mind thanks to the many things Mel Gibson took from it.

Pretty thin supplements, but that can be said of a number of $40 list price Criterions (like the recent Night on Earth). Great cover and the movie sounds intriguing, at least, though surely more for rental than purchase for those not already fans.

Wonder whether it'll be more of a Kurosawa Prince commentary or a Straw Dogs one (if there is indeed a difference: I've heard the latter is not quite in his usual style). Interesting to see Giamatti doing the reading of John Colter's Escape.

Non-anamorphic!?! tell me it is not true...

monkeybrow wrote:Non-anamorphic!?! tell me it is not true...

Criterion makes the same mistake just about every time a new title is posted. Nothing to be concerned about.

Tribe

Tribe wrote:Criterion makes the same mistake just about every time a new title is posted. Nothing to be concerned about.

thanks!

Really, I am looking forward to this film, while I may have Preferred a Malle or something, I have always loved those borderline cheesy chase films. Like Most Dangerous Game is one of my personal favorite flicks to toss in and just enjoy.

An interesting picture blog on the film.

thanks for that link! I can't wait for this one!!

Oh shit! It's the Big Combo dude!

The image quality on this is amazing. It is the best it will probably ever look SD DVD. I saw this a long time ago in school,and have forgotten how much fun it is. I remember the impact it made on me. Wilde's character running from the tribesmen. Setting the fire to slow down the chase.Great acquisition Criterion!

WOW, it looks like a film from the late 70s, not the mid 60s. It will probably feel like watching a new film, I think. Massive kudos to Criterion and Paramount.

DVD Savant review

The Cinebeats blog

Was any stock footage used for this film? Or did they capture all of the nature on their own? Also, were the Elephants really killed? If not, it was quite convincing.

Morbii wrote:Was any stock footage used for this film? Or did they capture all of the nature on their own? Also, were the Elephants really killed? If not, it was quite convincing.

Sure looks to me like the elephants were really killed. We didn't get our consciousness raised on these things until the first Earth Day celebration which came four years after this movie was filmed. Upsetting to watch ... but, when I think of the human slaughter still going on in Africa ... maybe we need a Human Day.

Belmondo wrote:

Morbii wrote:Was any stock footage used for this film? Or did they capture all of the nature on their own? Also, were the Elephants really killed? If not, it was quite convincing.

Sure looks to me like the elephants were really killed. We didn't get our consciousness raised on these things until the first Earth Day celebration which came four years after this movie was filmed. Upsetting to watch ... but, when I think of the human slaughter still going on in Africa ... maybe we need a Human Day.

No kidding... I was just curious. If it wasn't real, I would immediately wonder how they did the effects. Not at all worse than Cannibal Holocaust's animal slayings, but still detrimental nontheless (assuming they are real). On the other hand, some of the nature that they captured is quite engaging. I would definitely deem it far more interesting than the film itself.

Belmondo wrote: looks to me like the elephants were really killed. We didn't get our consciousness raised on these things until the first Earth Day celebration which came four years after this movie was filmed. Upsetting to watch ... but, when I think of the human slaughter still going on in Africa ... maybe we need a Human Day.

Not to worry, as I read that the unethical honky cracker assholes in the film were also killed for real.

Can I warn you against ever watching Africa Addio then Belmondo!

Also the latest volume of Synapse's 42nd Street Forever collection features the trailer for Wilde's 1975 film Sharks' Treasure, which features the titular fish being harpooned under a narration assuring us that "no trick photography, no minatures, no mechanical models were used" - so it might be safe to avoid that one too!

I watched this over the weekend knowing next to nothing about it. Another great, blind Criterion purchase. I can't help but to think Malick has seen this movie a time or two.

Tim Lucas' review for Sight and Sound.

Finally got my copy of this. It was, as I suspected, a revelation to revisit this film in 2.35:1 after seeing a DVD-R rip of a pan-scan VHS. There are some brilliant compositions, even some deep focus work from Russell Thomson. Stephen Prince perceptively points out that many shots are daringly done in masters only, with a moving camera. Aside from the blown-up stock footage of animals. The Naked Prey doesn't real feel like a "jungle movie" from the mid-60s. It's a rigorous, bloody, yet humane film, I feel. Years of waiting for a bare bones from Paramount and we got this! Cheers, Criterion!

Person wrote:Finally got my copy of this. It was, as I suspected, a revelation to revisit this film in 2.35:1 after seeing a DVD-R rip of a pan-scan VHS. There are some brilliant compositions, even some deep focus work from Russell Thomson. Stephen Prince perceptively points out that many shots are daringly done in masters only, with a moving camera. Aside from the blown-up stock footage of animals. The Naked Prey doesn't real feel like a "jungle movie" from the mid-60s. It's a rigorous, bloody, yet humane film, I feel. Years of waiting for a bare bones from Paramount and we got this! Cheers, Criterion!

I was gushing for a week after this release.One of my favorites in the collection.I got the same kind of warm fuzzy feeling when they released Robinson Crusoe on Mars.