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May 2007

APOCALPYTO

by Kam Williams

APOCALPYTO


Cast: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernández, Jonathan Brewer, Morris Birdyellowhead, Carlos Emilio Báez
Director: Mel Gibson
Format: Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating R
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
DVD Release Date: May 22, 2007
Run Time: 136 minutes

DVD Features:
Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: (Dolby Digital 5.1), (DTS 5.1)
Commentary by: Director Mel Gibson and co-writer Farhad SafiniaDolby Digital 2.0
Language: Mayan
Becoming Mayan: Making Apocalypto
Deleted scene with optional commentary by director Mel Gibson and co-writer Farhad Safinia

   

 

Messy Mayan Misadventure Makes Its Way to DVD

A pretentious saga of Shakespearean proportions, Apocalypto is set in pre-Columbian Mexico during the declining days of the Mayan Civilization. Though purporting to explore a litany of themes from revenge to rebirth to redemption, this messy, mythical tale is essentially a high-octane action flick masquerading as a cerebral costume drama.
 
Unfortunately, the movie amounts to little more than an aggravating test of patience, since you have to read the translation of its obscure Mayan dialogue. At the point of departure, we’re introduced to the picture’s protagonist, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), a noble brave living in a community of peace-loving natives in a jungle on the Yucatan Peninsula. efore long, their innocence is abruptly interrupted by the arrival of an army of plundering marauders. And just before he’s dragged off in a forced march to a Mayan metropolis, the quick-thinking Jaguar Paw hides his son and pregnant wife (Dalia Hernandez) in a pit, vowing to return to rescue them. Upon the captives’ arrival in the ancient city, Jaguar and his comrades are body-painted in preparation for decapitation on a sky-high altar before the court of the king. Of course, our dashing hero somehow miraculously escapes, and the chase is on. Thus, begins his Ulysses-quality return trip home, a harrowing ordeal where he must survive by his wits if he is ever to be  reunited with his family.
 
Unfolding more like an unapologetically violent video game than a history lesson, the bloodletting in Apocalypto pauses only briefly, sprinkling the screen with silly, off-color asides, and distracting allusions to screen classics. About the best that can be said for this overblown fiasco from Mel Gibson is that at least it isn’t anti-Semitic.