Apocalypto (2006)

Genre Suspenso Studio Disney / Buena Vista Movie Release Date 08/12/2006 Country USA Language English Audience Rating R Running Time 138 mins Format DVD Color Color

Cast Dalia Hernandez Rudy Youngblood Gerardo Taracena Mayra Serbulo Raoul Trujillo Morris Birdyellowhead Jonathan Brewer

Crew Director Mel Gibson Writer Farhad Safinia Writer Mel Gibson Producer Mel Gibson Producer Bruce Davey

Plot 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

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Edition Details Barcode 786936705089 Region Region 1 Release Date 22/05/2007 Packaging Keep Case Screen Ratio Widescreen 1.85:1 Color Subtitles English; French; Spanish Audio Tracks MAYAN: Dolby Digital 5.1 MAYAN: DTS 5.1 Layers Single Side, Dual Layer Nr of Disks/Tapes 1