We had high hopes for another Mel-Gibson-directed
flick, and boy did "Apocalypto" not disappoint! Read our full review
below.
Hollywood home video seems to be all about
history this week, because "Letters from Iwo Jima" hits the streets as
well. And lastly, if you didn't catch "Afro Samurai" when it aired on
SpikeTV, now's the time to get all 5 episodes of the Samuel L. Jackson
voiced mini-series, raw and uncut.
As
always, leave your mini-review in the comments!
The
Stuff We Care
About
Apocalypto
Mel Gibson has a knack at
creating movies that endear you to its main characters, only to grab
you by the throat as those characters are subjected to torment and drag
you through a harrowing journey. He's
done the same this time around with "Apocalypto," a no-holds-barred
look at the ancient Mayan civilization near the end of its prime.
"A
great civilization is not conquered from
without until it has destroyed itself from within." - W.
Durant
So reads the quote
opening the film, which can cloud your
judgment from the outset as to what type of movie this is trying to be.
Don't be fooled - Gibson's latest is not a cold analysis of Mayan
history and the reasons for its downfall; rather, the setting serves as
a set-piece for the drama of one man trying to survive enslavement and
save his family.
In the opening moments of the film we are
introduced to our protagonist, Jaguar Paw, who is out hunting with his
father and other men from an outlying Mayan village. During this
outing, the party encounters a battered tribe that appears to be moving
everyone to a new location after their lands have recently been
ravaged. Jaguar Paw is disturbed by the horror present on the refugees'
faces (accompanied by fresh wounds), and later, after returning to
their own
village, Jaguar's father warns him of letting the fear seep into his
own
heart.
In the village, we
get glimpses of the love shared between the tribesmen, in the form of
humorous banter between the men, and poignant scenes between Jaguar
Paw, his wife, and his young son. Gibson gives us just enough of these
moments, as he did at the beginning of "Braveheart", to quickly
ingratiate the characters into our hearts. Even so, looming
danger is as tangible as the hint of coming rain.
In the morning, Jaguar Paw wakes from a nightmare,
only to find that a few moments later his village is in the midst of
one. Raiders have entered his village and begin to make quick work of
the men
and women, tying up those they can, setting fire to the huts, all in an
effort to take slaves back to one of the more prominent Mayan cities
(unnamed). Jaguar Paw, before being subdued himself, manages to lower
his wife and son into a cave, where they manage to elude capture. The
raiders haul their new slaves away, leaving the children (as well as
Jaguar Paw's stranded wife and son) behind.
Thus begins a harrowing trek through the
Mexican Yucatán
Peninsula with Jaguar Paw and his tribe bound to wooden poles, where
they are led back to a Mayan city and imminent slavery, as well as a
horrific ritual that shall remain unmentioned here to leave at least a
modicum of surprise and horror at the events that unfold within the
city.
Gibson,
as always, manages to once again evoke such a mounting concern for his
characters that the entire movie puts you on edge, even before its
climactic escape and chase scenes. Even though you may not have learned
how a civilization can eat itself from within (although one can take a
guess from the glimpse of the city), the story itself is a brutal
journey of courage that will have you breathless by its conclusion.
Film
grade: A DVD Grade: C+
Features
Rating: Rated
R for sequences of graphic violence and disturbing images.
Runtime: 138 Minutes
Label: Disney
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
DVD Format: Keep Case, Widescreen Anamorphic, Color
DVD Features: Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Audio Track
1: , Dolby Digital 5.1, Audio Track 2: , DTS 5.1, Audio Track 3:
Commentary by Director Mel Gibson and co-writer Farhad Safinia, Dolby
Digital 2.0
Special
Features
Language: Mayan, English subs
Becoming Mayan: Making Apocalypto
Deleted scene with optional commentary by director
Mel Gibson and co-writer Farhad Safinia
Preview:
Letters
from Iwo Jima (2-disc Special
Edition)
Synopsis:
"The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United
States and
Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the
Japanese who fought it."
Features
Rating: Rated
R for graphic war violence.
Studio:
Warner Home Video
DVD Format: Widescreen Anamorphic,
2.40:1, Closed Captioned, Color
DVD Features: Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French, Audio Track 1: Japanese, Dolby Digital 5.1
Special
Features
"Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of Letters
from Iwo Jima":
Led by Clint Eastwood, take an inside look at the creation of the film
with many of the key players involved who brought this epic film
together
"The
Faces of War: The Cast of Letters from Iwo Jima":
Cast members introduce the characters they portray in the film
Images from the Front lines: The Photography of
Letters from Iwo Jima world premiere at Budo-kan in Tokyo
November 2006 world premier at Budo-kan in Tokyo
November 2006 press conference
Preview:
Afro
Samurai (Director's
Cut)
Synopsis:
"A Black samurai goes on a mission to avenge the
wrongful death of his father in a futuristic feudal Japan."
Features
Studio: Funimation Prod
DVD Format:
Widescreen Anamorphic,
1.78:1, Color
DVD
Features: Audio Track 1: English, Dolby Digital 5.1, Audio
Track 2: English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Special
Features
Unedited dialogue
and picture as it was meant to be seen
15 minutes
of never-before-seen footage including an extended ending
Exclusive
original artwork from the creator, Takashi Okazaki
In
the Booth: the voice talent of Afro Samurai
RZA
Music Production
Character
profiles with commentary
by Afro Samurai co-producer Eric Calderon
Apocalypto
Letters
from Iwo Jima
Afro
Samurai
Hannibal
Rising
Spider-Man 3
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