Early Apocalypto Reviews: What The Hell’s Wrong With Mel Gibson?
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Early reviews of Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” are in, and there’s a bit of a theme running through them. This movie is vie oh lent. Between this, “The Passion Of The Christ” and that infamous drunken evening of antisemitism and “sugartits”, there’s clearly something wrong with Mr. Gibson. Don’t click that “read more” button if descriptions of horrific torture are on your “no thanks” list:
The brave people at Defamer have rounded up the gruesome first wave of news and views:
“If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to see heads and hearts removed without anesthesia, then this is the movie for you.” [FOX]
“There are gruesome, lingering shots of people having their faces torn off, their hearts ripped out, and worse,’ noted one AintItCoolNews.com reviewer” [MSNBC]
“The first thing seen is a freshly detached human head being bounced down the long steps of a towering pyramid toward a frenzied crowd below … as well as a high priest who, time and again, plunges a knife into a man’s belly and, while the victim is still alive, tears out his still-beating heart as an offering to placate the gods to end the drought.” [Variety]
“He removes pumping hearts from heaving chests, lops off sacrificial heads and bounces them down the Mayan Temple steps.” [Risky Biz]
And Disney are releasing this movie? Uncle Walt’s head must be spinning in its frozen cryogenic chamber thingy.
UPDATE: The first Screenhead review of Apocalypto is in.
YOU’RE A GOD GIFTED SON.WHEN U MAKE SOMETHING THAT COMES FROM HEAVEN.I LIKE YOU MOST.
Mel Gibson – and his fans – are nutz.
http://www.NoBeliefs.Com/nazis.htm
…nuff said? I thought so…
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Silly Rabbits! Christianity didn’t END violence and murder! REAL violence in society came WITH Christianity. See witch-burnings, biblical cannibalism, the holocaust. etc. etc etc. Just Google “Christian Crime-Line” and educate yourselves. Why isn’t Pat Robertson on trial in the Hague with his business partner, Charles Taylor? The BOTH owned the diamond mines and The 700 Club’s “Operation Blessing” airplanes flew in the guns and the mining equipment. Oh yeah. Pat Robertson is a rich, white Republican male, just like Scooter Libby or Shooter’s Lippy or Looter Skippy or whatever his name is. I just know that Paris Hilton is more of a man than any right-wing bible-thumper. Poor GOP, even their fall guys won’t take the fall, they can’t do ANYTHING right!
I watched the film last night, overall I thought it was excellent, however there was fault from my perspective, the violent scenes did not need to be so in depth, to me this added nothing to the film, instead it took away from it. Also I do not believe the story was accurate to the Mayan culture. Yes most races through history practiced sacrifice normally to appease gods and such, and different tribes of any cutlure would fight to protect thier own, it did not make them bloodthirsty, it made them protectors. I am sure their sense of humor was not as crass and modern as it was made out to be.
I think people seem to forget the main character in the film; who was a tribesman, a hunter, a protector, a family man; who fought his fear for the greater good of protecting his family and his way of life, and also to survive himself, and for those people who think you would not have killed off those who tried to take that from you I think are very much mistaken.
Not all parts of history are seeped with roses and fluffy bunnies, and not all cultures were ‘savage’. With a good knowledge of history I would reiterate the prior statements from others that certain religions (mainly but not solely christianity) and their followers were the cause of so much of the violence due to their attitude that they were the only right beliefs and they should be practiced by everyone. Look at slavery also, which is portrayed in this film very strongly; and look at the English.. we were one of the biggest contributors to the slave trade, and i for one am ashamed of the way some of my ancestors were back then, however I do not tarnish the whole european culture with the same brush; (look at some of the films about slavery; not every european was like that!!) just because some people did it, does not mean that all did, just the same with this film…. the mayan culture they showed does not include every Mayan person in history, just one aspect of them; among the many they must have had, at least it was contradicted in the film with the more peaceful forest tribes, although it could have been emphasised a bit more than it was.
Waffling aside, overall i loved the film, and class it as entertainment in the sense that it is in no way a documentary about that time. There were some extremely powerful shots in the film, and I found the emotion behind the film second to none. I wish Mel would focus more on the emotion next time than the gore, and he couldnt go wrong!
The biggest issue I have with all of Mel’s films is the melodrama, the acting is overdone to the point of being unbelievable. The indulgence in suffering, a trademark of Gibson’s films seen in both Braveheart and The Passion as well as this offering, make them silly and childish. I almost feel like I’m watching a high school production where all dignity is lost from the overacting. This film had some nice visuals but the story had the depth and believability of The Bold and the Beautiful.
i liked it and thought it was a good movie. apocalypto was very entertaining and thought provoking. the scenery was great the camera angles were great
the acting was great
i dont really care that it was made by mel gibson, who gives a shit? the movie was good. you guys are spending to much time criticizing and bein pissed off that u fail to realize that it’s a MOVIE!!!! it’s there for your entertainment. who cares if it was accurate. at least it ws in the ball park. stop worrying about it and enjoy it. mel gibson probably wasnt trying to state everything as fact so get over it..watch th movie again and this time with no bias towards mr.gibson and ejoy the shit, damn.
It is true that Mel Gibson took artistic license in the film, namely in portraying the Spanish arriving in the New World during the peek of the Mayan civilization instead of at the very end. But Mel readily admits to making such changes in his movies to make them more cinematically appealing. People who get too bogged down in his adjustments miss the points of his stories.
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This was the worse movie I have ever seen. I have never seen such a bad movie like this in my life. They don’t even speak english (thats not the point)… The point is is that it is a bad movie. We watched it in my Comparative Civ 12 class. When it started I new that it was going to be a horrible movie. The people do not even portay the right civilizations. The Temples are just horrible because they actaully portay the Azetec (however you spell them). Mel Gibson is trying to make a movie look good, but hes over dueing it and making it look bad. I gave the movie 2 stars jsut because Mel Gibson had the courage to make this movie and make put it to the big screen. I do not actually known if it actually made it to the big screens.. but it was a horrible movie. It showed the Mayan as barbarous, murderous people that can only be saced by the arrival of the spanish . WOW Racsit right there man. I thnk Mel Gibison needs to stop and think about what he is making before he takes action to produce movie. Everything about him is wrong. I watched other movie of Mel Gibson and it was just horrible too. Hes needs to learn to make a moive, instead of just putting together a 2 sec film in one day. I was just shocked that he would do this. Actually! I not! Becuase all his films like this are just to horrible to watch. I never new the Mayan swore… Mel Gibson learn to make it portray the right civilization and the right time. You made me fall alseep in this movie. There not even any famous actors in this moive. Thats not really the issue here because there does not have to be famous actors in the movie to make it good. If you guys want to hear more of my review you can vist my site. My site is not up yet. But in a couple of years it will be up. Maybe not because I will have a job and a life. In the end to make a short conculsion. The movie was horrible, Mel Gibson needs to learn to make a movie better and thats it it! Thanks, and I hope you put this comment on your site.
Hey Michtoatl, you’re right. Apocalypto WAS plagiarised. But it was from Jaguars Revenge and not Michtoatl. I can not even find this book and you say it was published in ’03? Why then can’t I find it?
@decota massie,funny reading your comment about them getting the temples wrong as in the film he was portraying the aztecs and not the mia,guess what its supposed to be the aztecs duh,the mia was long gone by the time the spanish arrived,so educate yourself before you start picking at others education,not that i am a fan of gibson,and the aztecs was murderous people
as to any other civilization which kills.
My only grudge with this film is the way gibson tries to portray christianity as the savior religion,when christianity is no better,remember the whitch hunts in europe
and the witch hunts in america,and all the other atrocities committed in the name of christ