Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Apocalypto Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 2, 2020

Mel Gibson likes violence. It’s mother’s milk to him, especially with most of his directorial choices. There was 1995’s “Braveheart,” which hid tremendous bodily harm behind a traditional historical drama, also testing rear-ends with a three-hour run time. Gibson was rewarded with big box office and Oscar gold, empowering him to go deeper into the darkness of human behavior with 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” where he tried to visualize biblical suffering by showcasing all manner of torture and death. Gibson was once again rewarded with huge box office, with most of the bucks going directly to him after a self-financing leap of faith paid off enormously. Trying his luck once again with history and horror, Gibson captures Mayan mayhem with 2006’s “Apocalypto,” looking to mix cultural imagery with a B-movie-style survival/revenge picture, keeping up his interests in screen pain with another marathon of men facing certain doom from the ruling class.

Gibson goes back into time again for “Apocalypto,” highlighting a Mesoamerican story of a hunter in year 1500 who’s separated from his pregnant wife and children by malevolent Mayan forces, escaping sacrifice before battling his way back home. Gibson is dealing with exploitation cinema, but he tries to class up the joint by using the language of the time and area, and he’s determined to showcase the ruthlessness of the age, taking the action to a temple surrounded by screaming hordes who’ve come to see a human sacrifice. Historical details are open for debate, but Gibson loves to stage death, filling “Apocalypto” with beheadings, impalings, and sliced throats. He even offers a tacky POV shot of a severed head for some strange reason, piling on the grotesqueries because, hey, it worked for “The Passion of the Christ.”

“Apocalypto” is needlessly long at 138 minutes, with Gibson (joined by co-writer Farhad Safinia) trying to stretch 60 minutes of story into an epic movie. Narrative fatigue sets in at the halfway point, with the feature becoming a series of chases through the jungle, watching the lead character use his familiarity with the surroundings to evade recapture from ruthless Mayan enforcers. With pure filmmaking, Gibson has his highlights, dreaming up ways to pound the characters with naturalistic challenges. And when that fails, knives are often plunged into chests, or necks, or heads. Technical achievements are most impressive here, with eye-catching makeup and sophisticated costume efforts to keep the players memorable, and cinematography by Dean Semler captures the heat of the jungle and the dread of Mayan rule, offering some inventive imagery. Except for that beheading shot.

For a more positive impression of “Apocalypto,” please read Dr. Svet Atanasov’s 2007 review.

Apocalypto Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Originally released on Blu-ray in 2007, "Apocalypto" has been reissued by Samuel Goldwyn Films. A remaster doesn't appear to have occurred, but the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation only really struggles mildly with delineation, finding periodic solidification with dense hair and dimly lit cave survival scenes (HD cinematography limitations are noticeable as well). Detail comes through impressively at times, delivering a sharp view of skin particulars, and makeup achievements are crisp, picking up on fleshy ornamentation and jagged hair design. Costumes are also quite textured. Jungle travel and temple gatherings are dimensional, with a full look at swelling crowds. Colors are exact, offering significant skintones and more decorated characters, including blue paint and red blood. Greenery is lush. Source is in good condition.

Apocalypto Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix provides an immersive listening event for "Apocalypto," which uses surrounds for evocative jungle atmospherics, capturing wildlife and wind movement. Crowd bustle and rushing water also pushes out. Dialogue exchanges are clear, preserving emotional performances and more active scenes of panic. Scoring cues handle with distinct instrumentation and comfortable position, supporting suspense needs. Low-end delivers some thump with violence and pounding waterfall jumps.

Apocalypto Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (2:27, HD) has been included.

Apocalypto Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Samuel Goldwyn Films release puts "Apocalypto" back in circulation, only without most of its original supplementary features and subtitle options. There doesn't seem to be any significant improvement with A/V offerings, but for those who aren't interested in paying big bucks for the 2007 Disney release, here's a chance to acquire Gibson's adventure tale for a much more affordable price.