Apocalypto
(Blu-ray + DVD-Video) + Lost King Of The
Maya (WGBH DVD-Video set)
Picture:
B+/B-/C+ Sound: B+/B/C+ Extras: C+/C- Film: B- Episodes: B-
Mel
Gibson is a good filmmaker, no matter what the controversy, producing as many
interesting films as he directs or stars in.
One theme that has been developing in films he is involved with is about
the struggle of men against men, with an emphasis on raw masculinity and its
limits. Apocalypto (2006) continues that exploration and is actually more
successful that the problematic Braveheart
in this respect.
Not that
many would agree with that, but you can start with our other critic’s original
theatrical review of the film with details about the film’s storyline and why
he did not think it worked like it could have:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4707/Mel+Gibson's+Apocalypto+(Theatrical
Now I
concur with much of what was said there, yet I still enjoyed the film overall a
bit more. For one thing, I liked its
pacing more and thought it tried to take us somewhere we had not been
before. Yes, some things were things we
had seen, but Gibson made the film unflinchingly and it has some good punch to
it. Though it is in a foreign language,
the story is also told by visual means.
In effect, it creates its own unique world out in the middle of nowhere
and asks us to think as the action moves forward.
Rudy
Youngblood is compelling as Jaguar Paw, the lead Mayan who watches his world
and his new family suffers from the invasion of a more advanced tribe. Though it is not the best film of last year,
it is one of the better and more ambitious ones and if you have not seen it, I
recommend giving it a shot.
Before I
get into the politics of the film, which are very interesting, there are the
versions issued we looked at. The film
was mostly shot in digital High Definition with some 35mm and even Super 16mm
footage shot, looking surprisingly good in 35mm prints. The ever amazing Dean Semler, A.S.C., A.C.S.,
delivers once again. Though there is
detail phasing resulting in lost focus when objects move as the camera moves or
people move, it is not as much a problem in the 35mm print I saw or in the
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition version on Blu-ray. Unfortunately, the DVD-Video suffers more
than the 35mm version from this and the 480 lines of the DVD cannot seem to
capture this properly for whatever reasons.
As for the HD, it is one of the few good such shoots to date and the
makers have said lighting the outdoors would not have been as financially
feasible on location with film.
I would
have liked to see more of it filmed, but Semler makes it work and it is very
good overall, especially in Blu-ray.
The sound
mix is also very good on this film and the DTS on the DVD is preferable to the
Dolby Digital 5.1, while the Blu-ray goes one better by offering only Mayan 5.1
48 kHz/24Bit PCM sound. James Horner
delivers one of his better scores of late and the result is a mix with much
character. Both version sound good, but
the PCM is especially impressive.
Extras
are the same on both discs, including deleted scenes with optional audio
commentary by Gibson and writer/co-producer Farhad Safinia, who also offer a
feature length audio commentary track, plus there is “Becoming Mayan, Making Apocalypto”
which all offer much information that enhance the final film. The deleted scenes have their moments, but I
think I like the final cut as it stands.
So then
there is the controversy about if Gibson made the Mayans look bad. The criticism was that he was stereotyping
them and making them just “look like a bunch of bloodthirsty murders” or
something to that effect. Since everyone
here was Mayan and not from the same tribe, it seemed to me that within the
narrative, it was not making some grand racial or racist statement and that
misses the point of the film.
As it
turns out, Gibson was more detailed and careful than anyone seems to have given
he and Safinia credit for. As I thought
I had recalled correctly, it turns out even native Mayans and archeologists do
not know everything about the past and history of this great and remarkably
advanced ancient civilization. Furthermore,
any item one might consider “barbaric’ is often sincerely from ancient beliefs
and rituals not just unique in conduct to The Mayans. Enter WGBH Boston Video with their DVD
release set to coincide with release of Gibson’s film on video.
The Lost King Of The Maya (2001) is fine installment of the
NOVA series about how an
archeological dig led to priceless information about the life, rule and death
of King Yax K’uk Mo, who was not the most sane ruler and played a murderous
variant of soccer that used human heads; those of the loser. The stories of this were dismissed until the
facts were discovered and artifacts translated.
We learn of the Blood Lords of the Mayan city of Copan and their
400-year reign of at least semi-terror.
That proves that anyone objecting to Gibson’s portrayal of similar
activities is ignoring history.
Then from
the Odyssey series comes the bonus
show Maya Lords Of The Jungle (1981)
that asks the other question; why did this civilization eventually
collapse? An older program than the NOVA installment, it digs (figuratively
and literally) into the tale about why the collapse happened. Both ask the question and Gibson at least
tries to say it was about lack of family, progressive government and (implied?)
no religious faith that preserved life properly. The film also says that it takes survival of
the fittest, individual or civilization to survive. All in all, see the film and after its
extras, strongly consider checking out the WGBH set.
Both WGBH
DVDs are 1.33 X 1, a little soft and run about an hour each, have Dolby Digital
2.0 sound that is lite stereo at best and The
Lost King Of The Maya also offers a single extra (both have weblinks, if
that counts) of DVD-ROM printable educational materials, which might as well
apply to the Gibson film to boot.
- Nicholas Sheffo
