It would be difficult to imagine Mel Gibson directed this movie and I wouldn't believe it if it hadn't been so widely published that this was the case. It's a shame that he has been cast out by Hollywood because this was a truly amazing ride.

The story is a crazy one, and one that was likely just guessed for the most part seeing as how historically speaking we don't know a great deal about what happened 500 years ago. What is so amazing about this film is not just the story and how it is portrayed, but the language that is spoken by all the actors in the film is just the modern world's "best guess" about what was actually spoken by the people in the movie. To me that seems like having actors speak Klingon or some sort of Lord of the Rings language. It may as well be completely made up.

I did a bit of acting when I was younger and I can speak from experience the intense stress that you feel when memorizing your lines. I mean it is a lot to remember. Now let's make this even more stressful by having it not be a real language (and yes, i understand it WAS a real language, but it isn't now.)

source

The film follows one named "Jaguar Paw" primarily and it is centered around his village in what is now modern-day Mexico but in the 1500's. Things seem normal enough until his village is overrun by an invading tribe of truly brutal people who are there to destroy and enslave. They do a wonderful job painting the invaders as truly heartless and horrible people without empathy.

source

Jaguar Paw's eventual destination is a place where you definitely don't want to go and I am only not telling you what it is because it is pretty much the pinnacle of the film. You really should see this so I am being intentionally vague so as to not spoil it for anyone.

For me personally, something really crazy happened with this movie because I did not see it in theaters. I ended up with a DVD that did not have a subtitles track and someone told me (incorrectly) that this movie doesn't have subtitles and that we are just supposed to figure out the story based on what is going on. I didn't like the movie very much the first time because I took her word for it. Years later, i watched it again with subtitles and that completely changed how I felt about it. I now consider this movie to be one of the best ever made. It is perfectly shot and directed, and every actor in the film performs flawlessly. It also has a twist ending that will make you think.

I feel as though most of the negative press the movie received upon release had nothing to do with the film and everything to do with the bad publicity surrounding Mel Gibson after his famous rant while being arrested for driving under the influence. At least the public for the most part didn't listen to the biased press (sound familiar?) and this epic film tripled its $40 million budget at the box office.

9 / 10

Name: Apocalypto (film): an incredible action-packed film
Item: Apocalypto
Author: @gooddream

Comments · 7

@modernzorker(70)· 2738d

All I can really add is how absurdly expensive this movie is now on Blu-Ray. Seriously, try finding a copy for less than $50. :)

I had a feeling you had some actor's blood in you. I was the same way (went to college for it, actually), but like you said in another comment, life happened, there's so little money in it, and the stress of flubbing a line during a live performance is real.

Still...it's fun as hell if you can pull it off. Maybe that's why I enjoy Dungeons & Dragons so much. It's play-acting among friends. :)

@ebookwriter(52)· 2739d

The language threw me at first when I watched it
But wasn't the use of the natives' mother tongue one of the things that made the film so good?
It gave it an authenticity that was probably lost on most audiences used to SFX just for the sake of it
For all the sense some of the dialogue makes in Marvels non stop stream of dirge, they may as well be speaking Martian
The story telling in this film was so good I found I could make sense of the whole thing

Spoiler Alert

Maybe the story was based on what we now know of Inca traditions and culture
And what men across the globe have done for millennia
The end text telling of what happened with the arrival of the Conquistadors seemed a bit moralistic

@ikar59(54)· 2740d

I suppose some investigation about that culture and period was done, you know, the fact that many aspects of that culture were lost doesn't mean that nobody knows nothing about it as you suggested hahahaha. But is known that many liberties were taken in making the movie. Also, a quick google search reveals that an actual language was used to give some authenticity to the film, so it isn't a made up language for the movie hahahaha.

@aurodivys(79)· 2740d

Excellent review, @gooddream. Some time ago I read a polemic that arose about this film because it brought to light the warrior essence of the Mayas and their practice of human sacrifice, making it clear that they were not as peaceful as historically said. A great score. A big hug

@moghul(65)· 2740d

One of the best action films of all time.

Posted using Partiko iOS

@xrplover(55)· 2740d

"I did a bit of acting when I was younger"

That's cool. So why didn't you continue? About remembering the lines. I thought it wouldn't be that difficult, I would be more worried about the way I look etc. :) But she there is stress I can imagine lines are easily forgotten.

Interesting movie. I like the way it looks, camera work top notch.

@tipu(68)· 2740d

🏆 Hi @gooddream! You have received 0.5 STEEM reward for this post from the following subscribers: @cardboard
Subscribe and increase the reward for @gooddream :) | For investors.