This tense, uncompromising African actioner affords Victor Mature one of his best screen roles. When his family is wiped out by Mau Mau insurrectionists, white hunter Mature assembles an expedition to track down the tribal leader responsible for the massacre. The British authorities don't want Mature to foment further difficulty by seeking revenge, so they revoke his hunting license. Still, he manages to embark upon his justice-seeking safari by hiring himself out as a guide for millionaire lion hunter Roland Culver and Culver's fiancee Janet Leigh. The grimness of the proceedings is occasionally leavened by an incongruously upbeat musical score. Safari was photographed on location by Ted Moore and directed by Terence Young, who'd later collaborate on the James Bond epic Thunderball (1965).
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide