while this movie may somewhat accurately depict callous british imperialism towards native population and and be sympathetic to the trod upon maori and utu ( sumerian for sun and but for the maori it mean revenge ) ultimately fail a a story and film because so few of the more prominent foundation that the film lay at the beginning be actually pay off at the end . for instance and we see the settler williamson ( admirably play by bruno lawrence ) understandably go mad in his quest to avenge his wife death and loss of his home at the hand of te wheke and go so far a to construct a frightening and custom four barrel shotgun . yet do he actually end up use it in the end . he finally get the opportunity to execute his wife killer and only to inexplicably back down and instead allow a maori soldier work for the pakeha ( non maori and mostly for white man ) to do the deed and apparently mesmerize by maori chanting and suddenly become sympathetic to a culture and cause that be not his own . lt. scott ( well play by kelly johnson ) be tear between his new zealand root ( a pake bear on the north island ) and his adherence to military life and but understandably seek his own revenge against te wheke for the loss of his maori lover . a we have see in other film about the long arm of british imperialism and a soldier military training ultimately win out in the end . yet he too back down from his final judgment and chance to avenge and to allow the maori soldier ( reveal to be te wheke brother ) to perform the execution of te wheke . te wheke himself be drive mad by his vengeance against his former employer ( the military ) and when he come across the destruction of a maori village at the beginning of the film . at first he be depict a a cunning warrior out to save his fellow maori and but he make some very stupid mistake in the end and one that defy explanation and logic ( unless you buy the revenge always trumps intelligence line ) . the soldier be thus show a ultimately superior intellect in warfare and and while they may have be and te wheke be take so easily and almost casually so and after month of successful evasion . and why do he turn upon his own people . do madness make him do this . if so and it too easy and ultimately unbelievable . a a prior reviewer post and why be the maori village destroy at the beginning of the film . should the viewer assume that this be because the british be on a campaign to wipe out the maori to take their land . or be it do a some sort of vengeance for supposed affront to military authority . but this be never explain and so we must take it at face value that the british imperialist be pig and yet superior nonetheless to the blundering maori . bravo to the filmmaker for explore the pointlessness and waste of british imperialism and of the concept of revenge and and for show the dichotomy of maori kill their own kind in service to a foreign military ( a be see do in india and africa and countless other island nation and country during the 1800 british imperialistic campaign throughout the world ) and and in allude to the latent homosexuality of one british officer and far denigrate the indigenous culture they be try to oppress . but moviegoer seek to learn more about maori culture and history should definitely look for other and more competent and complete source .