Apocalypto

2006 "No one can outrun their destiny."
7.8| 2h19m| R| en| More Info
Released: 08 December 2006 Released
Producted By: Icon Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

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Reviews

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.
The Movie Diorama Not often I watch a film that utilises an uncommon language...in fact this is probably the first. The dialogue extensively consists of Yucatan Maya and is used brilliantly to recreate a once great civilisation. It depicts the journey of a Mesoamerican hunter named Jaguar Paw whose entire tribe is mercilessly slaughtered and captured. They traverse the rural jungle and become prisoners to an almost civilised Mayan city who's culture and ideologies consist of ritual sacrifices. You see that 18 rating on the cover? Yeah, justified. This is relentlessly savage. I'm no expert on Mayan civilisation but the primal depiction and bloody savagery was completely believable. There's one scene that consists of beheading prisoners and letting the heads roll down the stairs of a colossal temple. Beautifully disgusting. There's only one director crazy enough to pull off this, Mel Gibson. Say what you want, there is no denying that he can direct the heck out of a film. His artistic integrity and attention to detail is one that allows films like this and 'Passion of the Christ' to be aimed towards mainstream audiences. The indigenous cast was revelatory and all of them took to their roles whilst preventing it from looking like a cosplay. The makeup and costumes oozed authenticity, some of those ear and nose piercings were eye watering! The chase sequences were adrenaline fuelled and well executed also. The major problem is the story, it's far too basic. It started off well, establishing character hierarchy within the tribe and how they interact with each other. Then Gibson chooses to focus on the savagery at an expense of losing the character focus. The third act literally consists of running with minimal dialogue, it's a tonal shift that didn't work. Think of it as 'Home Alone' but in a 16th Century jungle. Having said that, all the technical aspects outweigh the weak narrative to create a visceral artistic vision that is not for the faint hearted. Too many cut out hearts in one film...
Arun M R "Apocalypto" is a film about the demise of the Mayan civilization. The story revolves around a mesoemedan tribe who has to survive human beings after his village was broken and saved his wife and child...
stormhawk2018 If the attraction of films is immersion into another reality, this bad boy fills the bill and then some, on steroids. We go to the heart of the South American jungle at the start of the decline of the Mayan civilization, just before the arrival of invading Europeans, and Mel Gibson's evocation of the times puts to shame nearly every historical epic before, very nearly the history lesson of teachers' dreams, and then there's the story of a simple family man trying to survive in a violent world. Gibson may well be the D.W. Griffith of his time, emboding sensational film making and bad politics simultaneously ... but so what? Hollywood needs to forgive him. I have.Although slow and sometimes difficult to understand, this is truly a visual masterpiece with so many brilliant performances it's hard to choose who to credit first. A fantastic voyage of a story which integrates you with these people and allows you to feel part of the gang; but then that's all spoiled by the ending which confuses my sense of time. At first it seems to be of the Mayan era but then the ships come along with a completely different period of clothing. I'm not sure if this was intentional to show that such barbarism was still in full swing in 'modern' times or to just be annoying. Good film though.
TonyMontana96 (Originally reviewed: 26/02/2017) Mel Gibson can tell a story and here is a film that has originality, respectable acting from an unknown cast and great direction from Gibson himself. I will admit I found the film slightly too violent at times and a bit nasty but at least there was no cannibalism present. The story is utterly engaging, you want to know what's going to happen next, as the film is always interesting and usually unpredictable. The cast are extremely impressive; these actors should be cast in some American films as well as they give solid performances here; this included Rudy Youngblood (Jaguar Paw), Dalia Hernandez (Seven) and Morris BirdYellowhead (Flint Sky) to name a few. I think the cinematography was brilliant and the camera-work exceptional, though the film is all subtitles, I could see that the dialogue was thought out and well chosen, and the picture has a decent sense of humour at times.There were one or two things I didn't like; one is the opening scene, where they kill an animal of some sort and divide it's heart, testicles's and so forth; and within this scene they are joking and one guys eats the balls and I felt slightly uneasy with that disturbing sequence but thankfully it was only a five minute scene, I also didn't see why Gibson needed to show s couple of the prisoners being sacrificed and having their heart cut out and head chopped off and thrown down a flight of steps; this seemed slightly over the top for me; I think one person would have been efficient to show that point. I also didn't like how the film slowed down during the middle where the protagonist and his village; well what's left of them, are captured and it takes a while for them to get to their desired location and it felt like that for me as well; however fortunately it picks up after that and the last half hour or so are entertaining and compelling as hell. Gibson also wrote and produced this picture; which really proves how talented this guy is; his storytelling is always comprehensible and clear, and his visual outlook of the Mayan civilization is equally as good. Overall Apocalypto is an engaging piece of filmmaking with strong performances, solid direction and originality; it's one of those films that has the guts to try something different and continue to surprise; good work Gibson.