Stop bashing the possibility of the protagonist beating the odds, peeps!

Having read quite a few threads herein, I've noted the commonly touted objection that the Cornel Wilde character didn't have a prayer and the whole idea his surviving the pursuit of his hunters is "unrealistic." Oh, really now?

First, the hunters basically had him where they wanted him at last, near the end of the movie, but he was now within firing range of the fort. Meaning, he actually LOST this "most dangerous game" but was rescued!

Second, he was chosen by the hunters because they were expecting to enjoy the challenge of hunting somebody who was in good enough physical condition to make it interesting for them. Note that the tribesmen summarily executed everyone else in Wilde's party; Wilde was the only person from among that doomed party whom they deemed fit enough to have any hope of escape if given even the slightest opportunity.

The "prey" made his living as a hunting / exploration guide and had long learned the lay of the land and all the survival techniques that go along with that line of work.

Finally, he had the advantage of being grossly underestimated by his hunters; the hunting party began to thin out during the course of the narrative (at least two deaths among them and one snake-bitten and escorted back home by one of his fellows) and these also increased his chances of escape, luring them to territory which was even more familiar to him than it was to them.

Give the devils their due, though -- they were rightly expecting their hunt to be a short one because most civilized folk, especially Europeans, were many generations removed from savagery (a term pertaining to the lowest level of human technology and culture) and, thus, not accustomed to the rigors of life in undeveloped areas of the world. It's pretty much the same reason the civilized portions of Europe and Asia had such a hard time defending themselves against hordes of the likes of Vikings, Huns and Mongols during the Middle Ages; civilization does have a way of making most people grow soft. But exceptions always abound, as in the case of the title character in THE NAKED PREY.

Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!