Apocalypto (DVD, 2007)

Apocalypto - Gibson's Thrilling Mayan Achievement

If the cast of unknown actors, the subtitles or Gibson himself have made you think twice about seeing Acpocolypo, think again. It's the kind of movie that pulls you out of your comfy theater seat and drops you into the middle of a Mexican jungle where you become part of the chase. Rudy Youngblood won't be unknown for long, nor will the rest of this excellent cast after proving that you don't need the big name actors to get powerful performances. This film is so engrossing that at some point you don't even realize you are reading subtitles; and as for Gibson, you'll leave the theater knowing one thing for sure about him, he sure can direct.

Apocalypto's story line is easy to follow. Mayan tribal hunters are captured by warriors and one of them, Jaguar Paw (Youngblood), escapes in a desperate attempt to rescue his pregnant wife and son back in the forest where they lived. Youngblood is well cast as this young warrior whose love, strength and determination move this fast-paced film along. We see the Mayan civilization through his eyes from the tribal pranksters in his own village to the brutality of the warriors and their god-fearing leaders in a city unknown to him.

Apocalypto is thrilling and suspenseful and a marvelous achievement in the motion picture industry.


Written and Posted by meeshmiami
Originally written on December 8, 2006
Posted on eBay August 25, 2007

I purchased this movie on Ebay, but it was an ILLEGAL COPY which does not play so I had to RENT it to WATCH it. Its really an amazing film. I was drawn to it because of the historical content and also because it is a Mel Gibson project. I appreciate how the partial nudity was handled - VERY tasteful and you really don't notice it. The people are beautiful and there is so much color and nature that it all fits and I felt very confortable, not assulated like so many movies that bombard you with nudity just for the sake of making it dirty. You really do enter into another world for the duration of the movie. You care about the charactors. They are so intelligent and know every inch of their land. Gibson made the charactors so real and so deep. I was horrified by the evil man is capable of, the greed and sick desire for power at any cost. I gained so much respect for the the simple village of people who's dignity was part of their moral fabric. These people would die for a friend or family memeber and see their responsibility through no matter what. We could learn a lot by the values of the village portrayed in this movie about humanity, decency, respect and honor. We can also see how easy it is to literally be posessed by evil when a people seek wealth and power - they forget about anything of real importance and revert to caveman-ish cruelty and child-like selfishness. The movie is very graphic and violent at times, but also very warm and touching. Your adreneline is going pretty much the entire time with few breaks! Very intense and intensely beautiful lush land and cinematography.
WATCH OUT FOR BOOTLEG/ ILLEGAL COPIES!!! Ebay has done NOTHING to help me get my money back and I can not contact the seller as their account was suspended.
I was better off RENTING than buying - should have gone to AMAZON!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I was engrossed. I laughed, I gaped in horror in certain scenes, etc. But I watched it with a friend of mine who was thoroughly disappointed. We argued about it after, and I felt my friend made some interesting points. 1) Is Mel Gibson trying to say that it's GOOD that white people came and took over this land? Because it certainly seems that the white settlers saved the day in the end. Maybe these Indians deserved to die? (That seems to be the "moral" of the movie, according to my friend) 2) In Braveheart, the lead character's love interest has her throat sliced open, which spurs him into action. In Apocalypto, the lead character's father has his throat sliced open, which... well, you get the point. 3) If you watch Braveheart, The Patriot, Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto in the same sitting, it's almost like you're watching the same movie. The plots are very similar. Obviously, they're different settings and such, but they're all about a lead character getting tortured, brutalized, and having his loved ones killed in front of him; and then he gets his bloody revenge. Hell, obviously Passion doesn't entirely fit that - but it IS in subtitles!!! :O) Also, that pretty much describes the plot in Lethal Weapon and Mad Max also. I think Mel needs therapy. :O) Lol.

STILL, that said, I friggin LOVED the movie. It was exciting, funny, sad - and not in a preachy way either. The plot may be very similar to his others, and the ending is defintely questionable from a moral perspective - but the action scenes were top notch. The design was incredible. The acting, great. And hell, Braveheart is one of the greatest movies ever made. Who cares if this is similar! :O)

=Dan

This is now one of my all time favorite movies. Why? Because its not like watching a movie instead for me it actually gives me the feeling of being there. It just feels so real as if to be viewing this beautiful culture through the eyes of God himself. In other words, these actors do not seem to be acting but actually living their lives before an unseen camera. I give each character in the film a perfect 10 for their performance. My favorite characters are the obvious in order jaguar Paw,Flint Sky,Blunted, Warrior chief, and the #2 Warrior(Tofi?). I also like how the prophecy from the little sick girl weaves its way into fruition. Jaguar Paw because he is the star, Flint Sky because he is pure brave and strong as a leader, Blunted, who doesn't like gentle yet capable giants. Warrior Chief is big and strong determined and sure. He has also got to be the most frightening warrior ever on film. The #2 Warrior because of his dedication to the Warrior chief and his sadistic and evil ways which he has no problem executing them. At times he's so evil I have to laugh at his level of intensity. Of course, I hate what he actually does though. I could write a book of positives about this film, so let me address the one negative. My daughter and I actually have to pull this disc out of each of our dvd players depending on who was watching it last. I must say the one scene where Blunted runs out of his hut in burning agony from the soanzo leaves should have stopped there. When the film actually shows his wife dousing her mouth with water, I just think thats way too suggestive for an otherwise good clean family picture! They really should edit that from future versions of the film. In closing I would love to meet the actors of this film, my five favorites as well as many others. I think Mr. Gibson should take them on a Character tour, they were all Excellent.
This film is definetly woth owning.

This is a great movie. To get the criticisms out of the way, it was panned by some for being too violent, but I found some of the scenes more gory rather than violent. It doesn't pull any punches when depicting the Mayan religious cermonies of human sacrifice.

Gibson tries to be true to the time period and the customs of the South American Indians. The characters all speak in their (supposedly) native tounges of the time, but the subtitles didn't make it too difficult to follow.

The movie relates the short time period when the village of a young man (Jaguar Paw) has his village raided and obliterated by Mayan warriors looking for fresh candidates for sacrifice. Jaguar Paw is able to conceal his wife and son from the attacking warriors before he is captured. And you'll just have to watch the rest.

Gibson's cinematics are breathtaking - especially the Mayan city, its pyramids, and its citizens. We get a close up look at Mayan society and the different classes (being a Mayan miner doesn't seem to be the best of jobs).

You'll also find a scene which is straight out of the Lord of The Flies. It lands like a hammer blow.