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Product Description: All Movie Guide - As the foundation of the Mayan civilization begins to crumble one man's previously idyllic existence is forever changed when he is chosen as a sacrifice needed to appease the gods in director Mel Gibson's mythic end-times adventure. The Mayan kingdom is at the absolute height of opulence and power but leaders are convinced that unless more temples are constructed and more human sacrifices made the crops and ultimately the people will suffer. Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is a peaceful hunter from a remote forest tribe whose life is about to be changed forever. When Jaguar Paw's village is raided and he is prepared as a sacrifice that the Mayan deities have demanded the brave young hunter is forced to navigate a horrific new world of fear and oppression. Fearlessly determined to escape his captors and save his family from a harrowing demise Jaguar Paw prepares to risk it all in one final desperate attempt to preserve his dying way of life. However few who have seen the sacrificial alter of the Mayans have managed to live to see another day. Now in order to rescue his pregnant wife and young son Jaguar Paw will have to elude the most powerful warriors of the Mayan kingdom while using his vast knowledge of the forest to turn the tables on those who would rather see him dead than set free. Inspired by such ancient Mayan texts as the Popul Vuh Apocalypto marks a comprehensive collaboration between director Gibson Cambridge-educated screenwriter Farhad Safinia and world-renowned archeologist and Mayan culture expert Dr. Richard D. Hansen -- whose services as a special consultant on the film lent the production an unprecedented degree of historical accuracy. - Jason BuchananFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE UPC: 786936705089 Manufacturer No: 05064600 Amazon.com: Forget any off-screen impressions you may have of Mel Gibson, and experience Apocalypto as the mad, bloody runaway train that it is. The story is set in the pre-Columbian Maya population: one village is brutally overrun, its residents either slaughtered or abducted, by a ruling tribe that needs slaves and human sacrifices. We focus on the capable warrior Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), although Gibson skillfully sketches a whole population of characters--many of whom don't survive the early reels. Most of the film is set in the dense jungle, but the middle section, in a grand Mayan city, is a dazzling triumph of design, costuming, and sheer decadent terror. The movie itself is a triumph of brutality, as Gibson lets loose his well-established fascination with bodily mortification in a litany of assaults including impalement, evisceration, snakebite, and bee stings. It's a dark, disgusted vision, but Gibson doesn't forget to apply some very canny moviemaking instincts to the violence--including the creation of a tremendous pair of villains (strikingly played by Raoul Trujillo and Rodolfo Palacias). The film is in a Maya dialect, subtitled in English, and shot on digital video (which occasionally betrays itself in some blurry quick pans). Amidst all the mayhem, nothing in the film is more devastating than a final wordless exchange of looks between captured villager Blunted (Jonathan Brewer) and his wife's mother (Maria Isabel Diaz), a superb change in tone from their early relationship. Yes, this is an obsessive, crazed movie, but Gibson knows what he's doing. --Robert Horton Beyond Apocalypto 
More films directed by Mel Gibson | 
Apocalypto soundtrack by James Horner | Stills from Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (click for larger image) Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
Entertainment Now
Apocalypto is one of those films that deserves thought over it. Oddly enough, it is also one of the few films with depth that can also evoke immediate responses. As testament to that, you can see the many visceral reactions that came out at the time of the films release.
Oddly enough, as impactful as the film is in terms of the violence and the ferocity of the performance, I can still safely say that many aspects were held back, I would guess for censorship reasons, and probably because Mel Gibson wanted the film to do well at the box office. The Combination of Actors, animals, practical effects, animal puppets, over 400 Visual FX shots, give rise to a near perfect illusion of the frenetic paced action which is this story.
I can but urge you see this film. Then listen to the DVD commentary, and see the far too short Features on the one disk.
THE DVD: Great Visuals, great sound, and another near perfect film done by a Master Craftsman in the world of popular film.
ENJOY Rating:
Date: 2008-07-07
Very Authentic Mayan Movie, Great!
What took so long for a movie about the mayans or other similar culture to be made? I don't know of any others besides this one. Mel Gibson decided to make this movie totally realistic. It's a grimy, dirty, 100% real looking version of Mayan civilization. I was expecting it to be more hollywood, i.e. more beautiful and artistic looking, but it's not like that. It's not like a Cecil B DeMille movie. This movie is not so much like a movie but more like traveling back in time and looking at the real Mayans with your own eyes. But there's also an exciting adventure story in it. And it has the OBLIGATORY love story that every movie must have in order to attract female viewers and make a profit? Fortunately, the love story is a very minor aspect of Apocalypto, unlike other movies such as Titanic. Personally I'm not interested in seeing love stories in Historical movies! The warrior captain looks like he came straight out of a Mad Max movie. In fact the story of this movie is vaguely reminiscent of Mad Max. Apocalypto seems to have a lot of things vaguely in common with many of Mel Gibson's other movies. At the same time I felt kind of like I was watching a historical film on PBS. This movie is more serious-minded than your typical summer action movie. At one point I stopped being horrified at the human sacrifice scene and started to appreciated it on a historical level. By the way, the Mayan culture was very cruel, sadistic, bloody, and demonic. I can see why the missionaries erased that culture. I'm not sure, but maybe they were even right to do so. Their culture was very interesting, but so evil.
Apocalypto is not enough! I want to see more movies about the Mayans, Aztecs, etc. I would like to see a movie about the Spanish conquest of the mayans and aztecs. That would also be a lot of bloody good fun, if you know what I mean :) I also want to see a LOT more of those ancient temples, pyramids, palaces, etc. I didn't feel like I got to see as much of the buildings as I wanted to in Apocalypto.
Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-03
Review of Apoc by sepptagenerianalypto
I enjoyed this unuaual movie. Though it was not historically accurate, it still gave me insight into the Mayan period.
it was well acted and had enough drama to be interesting. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-02
Better once you watch the extra commentary
Apocalypto
Before I start this review I'd like to say that I am not a history major. I am not going to analyze this film for its inaccuracies like many other reviewers. I am just going to review this movie for what it is...a movie.
Mel Gibson is at it yet again. With the success of the The Passion of the Christ, Mel can pretty much do anything he wants now. This movie takes place in the early 1500s when Mayans were still a dominant force. The Mayans would conquer villages and tear down miles of forestry just in build their cities. They would sacrifice lives just to increase their empire. Speaking of sacrifice, you will see a ton of that in this movie. The Mayans worshipped Gods that were appeased by sacrifice.
When I first watched through this movie I was a little disappointed. I had heard so many great things about it and felt that the movie was lacking. I was considering giving it three stars. Then I watched it with Alternate Commentary by Mel Gibson and Farhad Safinia as well as the Making of extra. These changed the way I thought about the movie. If anyone feels let down by the movie, these extras will help you much better understand the movie and appreciate it.
Your main character is Jaguar Paw. He is a part of a small village of hunters. The movie starts of with a very humorous sequence that shows Jaguar and a few others playing a joke on another tribesman. This truly established that these were fun loving, normal people. I'm glad they introduced the film this way. Soon after their village is attacked by the Mayans. Some of them are killed, but most are taken as slaves. Jaguar luckily lowered his pregnant wife and child into a pit to hide before he was captured.
After that point you will see them walk all the way to the Mayan capital. This is fairly long and has its moments, but I felt it was fairly boring. When they get to the place a sacrifice is where things really start to pick up. Jaguar doesn't get sacrificed, but instead is used as Target Practice by the Mayan soldiers. Suddenly, he escapes, but not with out killing the chief's son first. This sets up a huge chase scene with a ton of great moments. Jaguar must get his wife and child out of the pit before they drown from the rain filling it up. The ending to the movie is a surprise and if you know your history is very interesting.
My problem with the film is that the gore is not what I expected it to me. Most of it is good, but part where they are tearing organs just looks unrealistic. Mel Gibson tried so hard to make sure that the 800-member cast looked perfect, but added in people ripping out organs that took me out of the film. Also, Jaguar Paw is one of the most uninteresting characters in the movie and he is your main character. He garners no emotion at all.
Overall I would say that this is a pretty good movie. Some people my find it difficult to read subtitles constantly, due to the movie being in the Mayan language, but it's not that bad. Also, I'm really happy that they gave us subtitles for the alternate commentary. My girlfriend is partially deaf, so it is very helpful for us. Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-01
Possibly, the worst movie I have ever seen
This was not the type of movie that was so bad it became funny, it was so bad it became exhausting. I never thought a movie this violent could also be this BORING. The movie had no point, it was a long snuff film set at the end of the Mayan civilization (vaguely, historically accuracy is fuzzy at best). |
