First Half: Disgusting. Second half: Entertaining. Gibson probably only wrote the first half.
All films should be true to the language spoken in their given setting geographically and historically. I'm not sure how accurate the rendition of ancient Mayan languages is in this film but you have to admire he director for trying.
Very risky film to make. Gotta respect that from such a big-shot Hollywood icon. Very impressed, visually beautiful and very exciting.
Actually this isn't much better than the rest of Gibson's films. The lush settings and thriller quality of it enticed a lot of people, but personaly I can't see past his rape of History to feed a religious agenda: something along the lines of "the Mexicans had it coming to them because they were heathens who didn't worship the correct god." The Conquistadores are presented as divine liberators. Despicable.
Overall, beyond the pretty mise-en-scène, it's just another episode of Mel's disturbed psyche and simple-mindedness splashed on screen, with protagonists that achieve catharsis through bloodshed, fetishizing of torture, plus some superficial and maniqueistic maiming of historical fact. Not my notion of entertainment.
Maybe, but I don't think I am. If you recall the escape through the jungle, the chasers are gradually rubbed out by Nature (snake, jaguar, bees, frog) i.e. God's plagues; there's also a girl who prophecizes their end at the hands of newcomers. I think the religious subtext is definitely there, and Gibson intended to represent the Aztecs as heretics smitten by Righteous wrath...
The bees and frog were just tools that the main character knew how to use. Jaguar and snake were random forest dangers. Sure those things and the eclipse were interpreted by the characters as divine intervention, but why is that pro-Christianity? Assuming it was divine intervention, what does it have to do with religious denomination? It's more likely they were just being punished for their actions against this innocent village-dwelling hunter. As for the girl prophesizing, that was just a fact, again, having nothing to do with religion. The spaniards came and killed them, mostly by disease. The only religious subtext is the fact that these were religious people, and there is certainly a commentary that the civilization had become rotten, which may not be fair given the historical inaccuracies, but what does it have to do with Christianity?
Visceral cinema of the highest calibre. The distilled essence of the chase movie, sprinkled with a light but pervading sense of decay and impending doom. There are volumes spoken in the blank, deadened gaze of the king who sits and watches the wanton sacrifices without a flicker of emotion. He doesn't react even to the eclipse. A genre masterpiece.
since everyone seems to be speaking in tongues on here to praise this, i figured i'd mention a couple obvious flaws.although the opening quote makes you anticipate otherwise, there isn't anything subtle or intelligent about this. Gibson cares more about violence than he does about Mayans, and there is very little Mayan about the plot, humor, and unambiguously good/evil characters that come straight from Hollywood
Si conoces bien la historia de la civilización maya y algunas otras características que la rodean, te darás cuenta de uno que otro error, para hacer una película así es muy importante estudiar una cultura de esa magnitud. La utilización de actores indígenas es impresionante, como los escenarios y vestuarios. Entretenida fuera de todo.
this wasn't the best movie. I really didn't like how everything happened at the exact perfect time for the main character. with that said, it was pretty entertaining. lots of action and fun and hooray!
Much better than Passion, but only by a few points. It's entertaining, it's filled with more action and it has great jungle backdrops. The film could've benefitted without subtitles (as the actions are easy to understand). This is by no means, an educational film. It's just a less technical savvy film than say... 10,000 BC, but more fun and less camp.
The more I think about this movie the more I like it. The film makers set out to create a classic styled chase movie, and they succeeded wonderfully in my opinion. A Man literally running for his life, while his civilization decays around him. Exhilarating stuff any way you look at it.
Despite some major historical errors (the Maya culture had disappeared by the time the Spaniards arrived to the Americas), Gibson's film nevertheless is exhilarating and visually stunning; a complete anomaly in contemporary Hollywood big-budget productions since it was made in an indigenous language and stars unknown actors.
Really fun. Gibson despite his personal faults is a really great director. The chase is certainly one of the best in cinema and my god is it beautifully shot.
Citizen Spain, if gibson gave any of the roles to "stars," and the movie was spoken in any language that wasn't of the Mayas, it would have killed, let me repeat that, both actions would have killed the movie this is as real as it could have gotten
