After his village is attacked by a band of vicious warriors, a young Mayan hunter named Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is taken prisoner, marched across the jungle, and selected for sacrifice. Escaping from his captors, Jaguar Paw makes a desperate attempt to return home to his young son and pregnant wife.

CRITIQUE

I can sum up the good and the bad of this movie in one simple sentence: Apocalypto is the latest directorial effort from Mel Gibson. That being the case, you can assume you’re going to a get a technically masterful production, helmed by a man who will go to just about any length to capture his singular vision. Honestly, how many other filmmakers would self-finance a movie about the decline of an ancient empire, cast it with non-professionals, and have all of the dialogue spoken in an ancient tongue? On the flipside, you can pretty much guarantee that the director will also manage to let some of his more oddball proclivities get the better of him. This movie contains moments of great beauty and power, but there are also moments when you’ll find yourself wondering what in the world Gibson was thinking.

I think the best way to approach Apocalypto is as a simple adventure tale, another variation on the hero’s journey. It’s almost as if Gibson, unwilling or unable to adapt an old Mayan fable or legend, set out to create one of his own. The plot is as simple as an old campfire tale, and nearly every component of such a tale can be found here. And the movie is very entertaining on that level. The hero is likeable, the villains are worthy of hisses, and the action is exciting, especially the breathless last forty minutes, during which the fleeing Jaguar Paw is doggedly pursued by his captors (Gibson has said he constructed this sequence much as one would a car chase, which is probably why he chose Road Warrior cinematographer Dean Semler to photograph the movie). Gibson and his team also work wonders in recreating the Mayan world. I don’t know how authentic the portrayal is (I don’t want to get into the middle of that particular argument), but it certainly feels authentic, and that’s really all that counts in a fictional tale. 

Now for what doesn’t work. Gibson is known for his love of silly, lowbrow humor, and while it would be hypocritical of me to fault him for that, there are a couple of humorous moments here that are simply out of place. The first involves an infertility remedy, and while I admit that in and of itself it’s a funny sequence, I still think it has no place here. There’s also a scene during which a character barks a line that’s obviously a reference to Midnight Cowboy, and I still can’t figure out why any movie dealing with Mayan culture would contain a reference to that particular film. But what bothers me most about the movie is its ending. The penultimate scene features the first arrival of conquistadors into the Mayan world, and Gibson (however ironic he means the ultimate outcome to be) conveniently uses it as a way to resolve the main plot. Given the story he’s trying to tell, there’s no way Gibson was going to end the movie without introducing evidence of European conquerors, but had he wrapped up Jaguar Paw’s journey in some other manner, yet kept the final scene (which contains a far more subtle image regarding the arrival of the Spanish) intact, I think he could have ended the film on a far more effective note.

Gibson, in both promotional interviews and the supplements on this disc, has stated that parallels can be drawn between the plot of Apocalypto and the state of the world today. I can almost see what he means here (the people who kidnap Jaguar Paw have let fear and religion corrupt them, and they’ve also started decimating nature in order to create a more expansive, opulent empire), but I think Gibson may actually be too subtle in his approach here (there’s something I never though I’d find myself thinking). For example, a shot of a tree being felled is meant to represent the rape of the natural world, but given the way it’s staged and photographed, it comes across as little more than a simple shot of a tree being felled. And while there’s an obvious contrast between Jaguar Paw’s tranquil jungle realm and the bustling city of his captors, I don’t think Gibson’s intent comes through particularly well here, either, primarily because he never gives us a clear idea of the size and scope of the encroachment into nature.

The violence in Apocalypto was attacked by detractors as being both factually unsound and yet another example of Gibson’s bloodlust. While what’s shown here is nowhere near as brutal as what was depicted in The Passion of the Christ, this movie is still unflinching in its portrayal of human cruelty. It’s clear that Jaguar Paw’s captors value no lives other than their own, and are on a downward spiral of devolution, so consequently the graphic nature of their murderous ways doesn’t seem especially gratuitous (and remember--the weapons of this time weren’t as cleanly efficient as those of today). As for the movie being an unfair, risible depiction of Mayan culture--as I mentioned earlier, I won’t get into the middle of that argument, but it appears to me that the violent faction here represents only a small fraction of the movie’s characters, and I’d say that’s a fair depiction, as it’s analogous to every society throughout history.

THE VIDEO

Gibson and Semler employed a mixture of 35mm film and digital video for the movie, with a little 16mm stock thrown in for good measure. The resulting combination isn’t seamless, but the 1.85:1/1080p transfer is uniformly fine throughout. There’s some motion blur in the DV footage (which was employed primarily for the action sequences), and the 16mm footage is more than a little grainy (a result of its being blown up), but these traits are representative of the respective media and therefore shouldn’t be seen as flaws in the transfer. In fact, other than a bit of digital noise, I was hard-pressed to find any flaws here. Contrast is a bit high, but this does nothing to impact the amount of detail. Colors are bold and vivid, and black levels are solid. All in all, this is a beautiful transfer.

THE AUDIO

Audio is available in Mayan uncompressed PCM and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. The Oscar-nominated sound design is impressive from start to finish. The surrounds are constantly engaged, channeling both directional effects and ambient sounds (the jungle always seems to be alive). Bass action is deep and tight. Dialogue rests perfectly in the mix. English, French, and Spanish subtitles are included.

THE EXTRAS

The commentary by Gibson and co-writer/co-producer Farhad Safinia is a generally laidback discussion, and while there’s some interesting info contained within, there’s also a lot of Gibson’s not-so-wise wisecracking.   

The behind-the-scenes featurette Becoming Mayan: Making Apocalypto (25 minutes) is a mixture of interview and production footage. Much of the focus is on locations, production design, costuming, makeup, and weaponry.

You also get one deleted scene, which comes with optional commentary from Gibson and Safinia.

FINAL THOUGHT

While undoubtedly flawed, Apocalypto is still an impassioned, expertly produced adventure spectacle, and the reference quality technical specs of this Blu-ray disc make it even more worth your while.