Apocalypto

[jirpy100]

Saw this today... it's basically a very good action-adventure film. The Mayans are portrayed as one would expect the Romans to have behaved before their end - little respect for human life, and full of blood. The primary character is from a peaceful hunting tribe, who is captured for sacrifice by the Mayan city folk.
It's a race against time as he tries to make it back home in time to save his wife and children.
The film is quite fast-paced, but it's not strictly an action film, and the drama is quite human and simple.
The film is symbolic for how the empire destroyed itself by becoming decadent and bloodthirsty.
It's not an art-film per se, but something you can show to normal film buffs.
Forget what you read, it's not Braveheart in South America, it's just a simple, almost believable, action-story set in a very unique settings with great cinematography.
There is a nice twist at the very end...

I hope Mel Gibson continues making great and challeging films like these, and that people will stop including political commentary in reviewing this film.

[Daisho2004]

jirpy100, I agree with you 100% I thought it was a very good movie with a very good storyline, if you a little familiar with the Mayans then you know they were a little barbaric. And the scenes in which it showed them as such I was like WOW.

[kungfusamurai]

SPOILERS below:

The ending was a little odd. Did Mel mean to imply that the coming of the Spaniards was a blessing for the 'savage' native americans? That their barbaric ways would be tamed by the arrival of the god-fearing Europeans?

The movie overall for me started off okay, but as I watched it, I realized that this was a little too contemporary for my tastes. I don't know if the native americans carried on the way they did back then, but their behaviour seemed more like the actions of 21st century people. Also, the subtitled dialogue, like the use of the F*** word seemed anachronistic. I also didn't like the part where the Mayan people behaved like they hadn't seen a solar eclipse before. They were not that naive.

KFS

[jirpy100]

Spoilers:

I think people read too much in the appearance of the ships. It ties in with the opening comment, saying that the nation can be conquered because they have conquered themselves already, as seen by their behaviour during the film. The coming of the ships is just an extention of their downfall, total destruction by the white man.

As for their behaviour, we always see people all serious and whatnot in period movies, but why? Who says people didn't joke around with each other since the beginning of time. It seemed almost odd at first, but does seem natural at the end of the day.

[sevenhooks]

I also didn't like the part where the Mayan people behaved like they hadn't seen a solar eclipse before. They were not that naive.


Considering that solar eclipses only occur in the same area once every 350+ years or so, their reaction doesn't see all that odd.
I think it's safe to say that Panther Paw (or whatever his name was) was one lucky sunovabitch.

[Daisho2004]

KFS, as I said if your familiar with there history the Mayans/Aztecs were very brutal people to others I went to Mexico and I went on a tour of the ruins and you learned a lot about there culture and about how they sacrificed people to there Sun Gods. So it only seems like it really couldve been a lot like that. And as far as the Spaniards go I think it was them who really crushed there barbaric ways.

[limubai2000]

I liked the film for the chase movie it was. The depiction of the Mayans was great. Mel put all $80 million of that film on the screen.

However the Mayans did not routinely practice human sacrifice as is commonly believed. There has been new evidence in the last few years that purports the theory that they only sacrificed humans during times of duress, like an eclipse or in preparation for a large battle.

The only thing I can find at the moment is this (http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn1650) article from 2001 in New Scientist but I know there are others.

[jirpy100]

The Mayan height was from 400 - 900 CE. So, technically the people in the city would be Aztecs. As they were the ones who "fought" against the Spanish... and they were much more brutal, out of desperation, than the Mayans.

[Tue Sorensen]

Aren't the Mayans a sub-group of the Aztecs?

Anyway, prior to watching this movie, I was under the impression that they sacrificed their own people - not that they went hunting for some poor jungle shmucks and using THEM. But, we should probably not take too much historical stock in this movie.

I was a bit disappointed by it, since I had expected it to have some kind of message about the decline of Mayan(/Aztec) civilization, but all I got was a well-made action movie.

- Tue

[sevenhooks]

but all I got was a well-made action movie

seeing as how hard those are to come by nowadays, I was quite pleased.