APOCALYPTO

DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 138 minutes, feature audio commentary, deleted scene, featurette

VIDEO: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO: Mayan 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, 5.1 DTS

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish (deleted scene commentary and featurette have English subtitle option)

STUDIO: Touchstone Pictures/ Icon Productions

RELEASE DATE: 5-22-2007

APOCALYPTO is a world of it's own. the film sucked me into an alien world unseen. James Horner's score fits with the eye-popping cinematography. The jungle scenes, the rivers, and the rain look as striking as anything seen in THE LAST OF THE MOHICHANS.  The Mayan city is a very available piece of t6he film for the few minutes it is featured.  Mel had a city built and each extra required their own make-up and wardrobe person.  No CGI people or city.  It's real.

Hunter Jaguar Paw is part of a village tribe.  His life is simple until the day he and a group of hunters (which includes his father Flint Sky and a young warrior who is the butt of many jokes) encounter a fleeing tribe who had their village destroyed.  Flint Sky tells Jaguar paw to forget it and not let fear enter his heart (or the village).  Soon he has a dream that warns him of danger before he awakes a group of warriors out to take prisoners to sell and sacrfice the men.  Jaguar Paw hides his son and pregnant wife.  He gets captured and must find a way to escape to get back to his family.

The scenery, the chcracters, and the details of the plot (like the prophecy about the man who runs with the jaguar and the day that becomes night) make APOCALYPTO an experience that transports you to another world.  Definitely it will be one of the best films I've seen on DVD this year.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Director Mel Gibson is joined by Co-Producer/Co-Writer Farhad Safinia for the feature audio commentary and the limping deer deleted scene (which doesn't add much at all). They don't take themselves seriously and let a few production insights drop.

BECOMING MAYAN: CREATING APOCALYPTO is a five chapter featurette that shows all of the detailed work that went into making this film. Just incredible.

FINAL ANALYSIS: APOCALYPTO was ignored to a point at the box office, but hopefully DVD will bring Mel's masterpiece to an even wider audience.