Apocalypto (DVD)

An epic chase movie, the adrenaline-fueled Apocalypto tells the story of the beginning of the end of the ancient Mayan culture through the eyes of one brave young man, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood).

The 2-hour plus movie starts out on a happy note (with the exception of a tapir, who's on the native tribe's menu), as we get to know all our players: Jaguar Paw is kindly and easy-going; his pregnant wife, Seven (Dalia Hernandez), and their young son Turtles Run (Carlos Emilio Baez) are his perfect counterparts; Jaguar Paw's dear friend Blunted (Jonathan Brewer) is a gullible fun-lover; his father Flint Sky (Morris Birdyellowhead) is a stoic warrior; and so on. Not everyone is likable, but they're all <i>people</i>. Real, three-dimensional characters (what a concept!).

After we meet this peaceful, rainforest-dwelling tribe, we witness their way of life torn asunder as they're raided by a band of mercenary Mayans. A great many of the indigenous people are marched cruelly in shackles over rough terrain to the grand city, to be used as human sacrifices to appease the Sun God, who, it seems, has turned a blind eye to the fortunes of the royal family.

Zero Wolf (Raoul Trujillo) is in charge of the smash-and-grab, and his right hand man is Snake Ink (Rodolfo Palacios), a sadist who wants to "sacrifice" a few of the men and women himself before they reach the city's grand pyramidal temple. Once the city is reached, and the ritual killings begin, a chain of events unfolds that's at times pretty unbelievable, yet always wholly riveting.

An epic without obvious CGI (and no shaky-cam! Extra kudos to DP Dean Semler for that), Apocalypto is a real achievement in gripping, classic-style adventure filmmaking. The chase scene, which take up perhaps just less than half of the film, is, as I mentioned, truly epic. This foot-chase is on par with some of the greatest cinematic pursuits of all time (The French Connection, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Run Lola Run, etc.).

The movie was shot 98% digitally, using Panavision's high-definition Genesis™camera system, which allowed for exceptionally long takes, the filming of sequences with very little light and lots of speed — it looks very real, yet not gritty or low-budget. Apocalypto is vivid, sumptuous feast for the eyes. Shot in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, the movie moves everywhere from the rainforests, to the ocean, to teeming cities with equal aplomb.

Apocalypto is, indeed, spoken in Yucatec Maya, with English subtitles, but even those who don't like captions shouldn't find it too annoying because there's very little dialogue anyway. The actors, mostly untried before this, all do such an amazing job of embodying their characters with gravitas, at times you will get so sucked into the world as it must have existed in 15th-Century Mesoamerica, you'll barely notice you're reading. In addition, the makeup, sets, hairstyles and costumes are so realistic, it's like being sent back in time. The only things that look somewhat fake are the dead bodies (of animals, and people), which is a relief… because those death scenes are pretty brutal already!

Still, if you're a fan of gore, stabbings and beheadings - you can't go wrong with the Apocalypto DVD.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson