Apocalypto [R]

[USvsIRELAND]

Absolutely Fantastic.

Rudy Youngblood should win Best Actor Oscar.

I thought it was amazing.

[Ghost]

Liked the first half, the travelogue through the bizarre Mayan culture. Thought the chases got real repetitive real quick. Surprised how little I've encountered that the movie is less about the Mayans than it is Mel Gibson's prophecy of doom for us.

[argentine soccer fan]

I thought it was awesome, I was curious because I thought it would be unique, but didn't expect it to be so good. Gibson may be a dick, but he can make movies.

As far as the historical aspects, without being an expert in MesoAmerican cultures it is obvious that he got the timing all wrong. If he wanted to put in the conquistadores at the end he should have used the Aztecs instead of the Mayas. But I suppose the movie wouldn't have worked without the Maya jungle setting, and the Maya language.

But whatever. Even if the historical aspect was no more real than say, Conan the Barbarian, the movie is still very entertainment. And btw, it features a much better lead actor than Conan, with apologies to our dear governor. :D

Oh, and allowing for some differences, the lead actor reminded me a lot of Ronaldinho Gaucho. I was hoping to see some of the famous Mayan version of soccer, but I guess you can't have it all.

[Panfilo]

I thought it was awesome, I was curious because I thought it would be unique, but didn't expect it to be so good. Gibson may be a dick, but he can make movies.

As far as the historical aspects, without being an expert in MesoAmerican cultures it is obvious that he got the timing all wrong. If he wanted to put in the conquistadores at the end he should have used the Aztecs instead of the Mayas. But I suppose the movie wouldn't have worked without the Maya jungle setting, and the Maya language.

But whatever. Even if the historical aspect was no more real than say, Conan the Barbarian, the movie is still very entertainment. And btw, it features a much better lead actor than Conan, with apologies to our dear governor. :D

Oh, and allowing for some differences, the lead actor reminded me a lot of Ronaldinho Gaucho. I was hoping to see some of the famous Mayan version of soccer, but I guess you can't have it all.

The Spaniards disposed of the Aztecs pretty quickly.

They couldn't handle the Mayans at first. The Mayans captured plenty of Spaniards before they went down.

[argentine soccer fan]

The Spaniards disposed of the Aztecs pretty quickly.

They couldn't handle the Mayans at first. The Mayans captured plenty of Spaniards before they went down.

Yeah, but is it not true that the time of the hegemony of their large jungle cities as despicted in the movie was long before the Spanish came? At least from the history I remember being taught, I thought although their culture survived (indeed until today), their large population centers declined by aproximate 700 to 800 AD. But as I said, I'm no expert. Maybe I'm wrong and Gibson is right.

[Ghost]

Yeah, but is it not true that the time of the hegemony of their large jungle cities as despicted in the movie was long before the Spanish came? At least from the history I remember being taught, I thought although their culture survived (indeed until today), their large population centers declined by aproximate 700 to 800 AD. But as I said, I'm no expert. Maybe I'm wrong and Gibson is right.

Or maybe Gibson isn't really concerned about the Mayans.

[Panfilo]

Yeah, but is it not true that the time of the hegemony of their large jungle cities as despicted in the movie was long before the Spanish came? At least from the history I remember being taught, I thought although their culture survived (indeed until today), their large population centers declined by aproximate 700 to 800 AD. But as I said, I'm no expert. Maybe I'm wrong and Gibson is right.

yes you are right they had already past their so called golden age.

The Mayans the Spaniards encountered were disbanded groups throughout the Yucatan but nowhere near the numbers of 600 years prior to that.

[chapulincolorado]

Yeah, but is it not true that the time of the hegemony of their large jungle cities as despicted in the movie was long before the Spanish came? At least from the history I remember being taught, I thought although their culture survived (indeed until today), their large population centers declined by aproximate 700 to 800 AD. But as I said, I'm no expert. Maybe I'm wrong and Gibson is right.

No. You are right. Mel's timing is off. If he wanted to make a war epic of an Empire brought down by another one, Aztec vs. Spaniards. The whole politics of it would make an excellent movie. Hey, it even has a weird relationship between Cortes and La Malinche. :D

[GringoTex]

As far as the historical aspects, without being an expert in MesoAmerican cultures it is obvious that he got the timing all wrong.

Why would Gibson purposefully be off in the timing by 700 years? To justify European conquest?

[Davids26]

My girlfriend didn't want to see this one because the NY Times or some other paper gave it bad ratings. I dragged her to it anyways and she ended up really liking it, as did I. Historically its not accurate, but a really good movie.



Oh, and allowing for some differences, the lead actor reminded me a lot of Ronaldinho Gaucho. I was hoping to see some of the famous Mayan version of soccer, but I guess you can't have it all.

I thought this constantly throughout the movie. Although the guys isn't quite as ugly as Ronaldinho.

[needs]

So how is this movie different than the usual Mel Gibson sadism-fest? Is it just bodies being torn apart, or is there some compelling reason to see it?

And am I going to be horribly pissed off if I know quite a bit about Meso-American history?

[oman]

No. You are right. Mel's timing is off. If he wanted to make a war epic of an Empire brought down by another one, Aztec vs. Spaniards. The whole politics of it would make an excellent movie. Hey, it even has a weird relationship between Cortes and La Malinche. :D

After reading the book "The Conquest of New Spain", I always thought the Cortez/Aztec story was just waiting for someone who could command a big budget, recreate the Aztec temples and especially the city on the lake.

Here is hoping that we get some more historical epics out of the fabulous history of New Spain. Not sure I want to see Peter Jackson swooping over Teotihuacan (sp?), but the conquest is a helluva story.

[oman]

And am I going to be horribly pissed off if I know quite a bit about Meso-American history?

Why do you even go to movies if you are going to be pissed off by historical inaccuracies?

Less than two hours is not a particularly great medium for historical accuracy.

[needs]

Why do you even go to movies if you are going to be pissed off by historical inaccuracies?

Less than two hours is not a particularly great medium for historical accuracy.

I'm not talking about nit-picky "their face paint is totally the wrong pattern" inaccuracies, I'm talking about The Patriot-style, happy slave, inaccuracies.

[oman]

Why would Gibson purposefully be off in the timing by 700 years? To justify European conquest?

I think he is trying to show that a society that destroys inself within will be destroyed from the outside. I am not sure what the Aztecs spoke, but my gut thought is that Gibson had more historical "stuff" to work with by using the Mayans -- he has their language and their temples and their art to work with. The Aztecs were just so 1400s.

I don't know if he is justifying European conquest, but from our 21st century eyes, the invasion by a foreign race is certainly a much bigger deal than internal culling of one;s own population.

[oman]

I'm not talking about nit-picky "their face paint is totally the wrong pattern" inaccuracies, I'm talking about The Patriot-style, happy slave, inaccuracies.


I guess I am just giving you a hard time about getting upset about it.

This is Gibson's movie. He may not be interested in portraying the population in a way that you want them portrayed.

Given that his movie occurred pre-Conquest, I would think that he could probably find lots of different types of Mayans to portray. Vicious, happy, sad, and smeared with blood.

[TheSlipperyOne]

I'm not talking about nit-picky "their face paint is totally the wrong pattern" inaccuracies, I'm talking about The Patriot-style, happy slave, inaccuracies.

Well, since Mel Gibson neither wrote, directed or produced The Patriot I don't see the comparison. Especially since I and the majority of viewers would not be able to tell when it comes to inaccuracies of this time period and culture.

[needs]

Well, since Mel Gibson neither wrote, directed or produced The Patriot I don't see the comparison. Especially since I and the majority of viewers would not be able to tell when it comes to inaccuracies of this time period and culture.

I wasn't trying to imply that Gibson had anything to do with those inaccuracies (although, in retrospect, not the best choice of examples on my part), I was merely pointing out a film with glaring distortions of power relations in the past that damaged the film.

Forget the whole historical accuracy thing, I'm more interested in whether this is different than other Mel Gibson exercises in exploring the violent destruction of human bodies. Is it just bodies being torn apart, or is there some other compelling reason to see it?

[oman]

Forget the whole historical accuracy thing, I'm more interested in whether this is different than other Mel Gibson exercises in exploring the violent destruction of human bodies. Is it just bodies being torn apart, or is there some other compelling reason to see it?

There has to be some boobies, right?

[needs]

There has to be some boobies, right?

Now you're hearing me.

:D