One complaint of the film that always annoyed me was people asking why the leaders carrying out the sacrifices weren't shocked by the eclipse. Hundreds of cultures around the world, especially those near the equator, learned how to track celestial bodies and could accurately determine when things like that would happen. Especially Mayans and Aztecs. They weren't stupid, like so many loud fools think they were. I personally loved that scene because it gave us a glimpse into their politics and how they maintained power. If you know things others don't, like an impending eclipse, a smart person can use that to take and maintain power. Brilliant scene in my opinion.
Yeah I was in my early teens when I first watched this and picked up on the looks between the king and the shaman immediately after the eclipse hit. There's a lot of visual storytelling once they hit the capitol.
One of Mel Gibson's best films he directed and such a really cool setting. Going to watch the reaction and I hope she enjoyed it. It's honestly so underrated.
It's such a great visceral experience, unfortunately Mel Gibson's personal life means people in media were afraid to give him the praise he deserved for this one. The only film I've seen match it as an immersive roller coaster is Fury Road. Two years before this he received unwarranted criticism for anti-Semitism in the Passion of the Christ, and then he went on a tirade about Jews to a police officer when he got arrested for DUI in 2006, when this move came out. So it was essentially buried despite being a really excellent film. It had modest critical acclaim and a good box office but it deserved to be recognised as the best film of 2006. Academy award nominations were for sound and makeup only, because Gibson was impossible to nominate at that time.
Totally, according to Mel none of the actors in the movie never acted before yet pull off a really good performance. I also love the way Mel Gibson handles the violent and gore in the movies he directing. He's using gore at its full effect mostly effective.
This is one of my top 5 of ALL time. Fun fact, the jaguar chasing Jaguars Paw is literally running after him. Of course there was a line to inhibit the max speed of the big kitty but that literal fear on his face.
I don't think jaguars are that big in the first place. They seem to be human sized from the few times I've seen them next to a human.@@Randomyoutubecommenter
Very few movies can pull off this sense of realism with the native language, the cast, and then what makeup and prosthetics were used to fill the gaps. Truly a visually stunning movie.
Mel Gibson released two films that required viewers to read subtitles the entire time...and they were both great films... The Passion of the Christ and Apocalytpo.
@@domingorubies656I’m an Atheist and I still love that movie. It’s not like it didn’t happen, and compared to people like Joe Smith and Jim Jones? I’m perfectly fine with Jesus being a role model.
Costume and set design were second to none in any movie, ever. Actors (not actors) completely nailed every scene. Gibson is a good actor, but a GREAT director. Kudos to you Samantha for acknowledging the young actor scene and how it lays the foundation for the rest of the movie. In my top ten list since first seeing it. Thank you for doing this particular movie. It is a masterpiece of film-making.
Apocalypto describes the flower wars (Nahuatl Xochiyaoyotl). These were campaigns of the Aztecs and several peoples in their neighborhood, which were not for conquest, but solely for the procurement of prisoners of war, which were to be offered to the gods as human sacrifices in the sacrificial cult of the Aztecs.
@@dougs7367true as this is, by the early 1500's Aztec culture had seeped into some of the Mayan peoples societies, and given how bad things were going for the Mayans even before the Spanish arrived it makes sense that in desperation they might have been trying things the Aztec way to try and ward off the decline
Whether it’s historically accurate or not, this movie is a visual feast for the eyes and a roller coaster of a ride. Mel Gibson is one hell of a Director.
People asked him about that, etc., etc., and I think he said, "you can make your own movie." Mel spent the time and energy to make a movie about a dead culture with a language almost no one speaks. Unfortunately, Mel also got arrested about this time and this movie was not popular when released. Realism, Apocalypto vs. Indiana Jones 4.
Many substantial speaking roles were filled by Mayan people who had never acted before. The Sick Girl, the great little girl actress who curses the hunting party, was played by a seven-year-old who lived in a dirt-floored hut in real life, in a village similar to Jaguar Paw's.
The movie is so kinetic in nature, it does not have a single shot where a character is still or the camera is stagnant. Gives the viewer anxiety in the best way possible, as if we are also running along with the central character.
the poison from the frog is still used in surgery anesthesia today. i was put under with it once and its very effectiv, out in seconds. also EVERY muscle in your body hurts for days afterwards, like you did an untrained marathon while out of shape while lifting weights at the same time.
They were Mayan because the Spanish met Mayans of the Yucatán. The Mayans were not really unified. They were effectively a bunch of cities-states with their own different traditions, but they sacrifice people. Some people volunteered to be sacrificed. Others were prisoners of war.
With regards to the sacrifices, it was very accurately portrayed. There was different tribes & castes within the Maya world & a lot were sacrificed to appease the Mayan Gods to ward off/deflect from localised disasters. It was thought it would bring good things to the bigger tribes. They were painted in different pigments so they stood out from the local population. Look into the history of Chichen Itza. It was a brutal place.
I can honestly say this is my number one favorite movie.. the story the visuals the action the surprises the acting.. it had you hooked from start to ending..
My favorite part of this movie is the tribal elder near the beginning telling the gathered tribe around the campfire the "story of man". The first time I saw it, I honestly wept.
This was my first Mel Gibson directed movie i had seen and it blew me away honestly. Very well made and awesome entertainment. Sent chills through my spine at times, specially the horrific abuse of astronomy related knowledge as an excuse to torture people to death and manipulate spectators. The psychopathic behavior of leaders... the class system, you see a divide between rich an poor. The battle between good & evil. So many interesting details to this movie.
One of my favorite movies of all time! Mel Gibson is so good in front AND behind the camera on all of his movies! This movie just sucks you in and keeps you hooked with its raw and intense story/action! I'm especially curious for Sams reaction! In my experience Apocalypto just isn't for everyone. I had to turn it off when I tried showing it to my GF, because it was too much for her. Thank you for all the awesome videos, you are still the best reactubers on the platform!!!!❤
44:42 yeah, that ending reveal is a total “…whoa” moment. 45:33 I remember reading a military book about some US special operation forces in Afghanistan from like 2005-2012 or something similar. Anyway, one story that always stuck out was when one of the SF guys is trying to get intel from a village elder (in a very remote & isolated part of the region) about another village & where a warlord was said to be hiding, etc, so the soldier shows the elder a map of the area…and the elder just looks at him like “what is any of this?” So then the soldier grabs basically a military version of an iPad, with basically a military/intel version of google earth and shows him the other village and then his own & zooms in on the homes where they were standing. The soldier said the elder was looking at him and at the technology like he’d seen a ghost…just totally out of even the wildest of imaginations. The book mentioned these people had been living there, totally isolated from everything, for hundreds of years, generation after generation. The ending scene with the Spanish ships always makes me think of that. But I’m with you on that point & thinking about how crazy it must’ve been to see things that you could have no conception of, couldn't even begin to comprehend, etc.
Movies are art, fiction, a visual tale. Not a documentary or something that needs to be accurate (in fact not even documentaries are always accurate). The storytelling is brilliant, obviously it's a "fantasy" story very loosely based on some historical events. Anyone complaining about this movie not being accurate just doesn't understand how cinema works. Movies are just beautiful lies we enjoy watching.
I wouldn’t even call them beautiful lies, I would say that art of this nature reveals an actual truth that transcends historical fact. This actual factual story may have been impossible to play out in historical reality, but the messages about family, corruption, and courage in the face of change are SO true that the story resonates with audiences anyway.
I remember watching this for the very 1st time with my grandfather & it had me hooked from beginning to end. It became 1 of my favorite movies ever from that point on.
I like when people rate the move. Regular people, not move critical but regular people. I saw it when it first came out and i loved the movie and the director. Good job Mel and crew.
You should think of this as a historical based fantasy/fiction. It takes a lot of inspiration from real cultures, but ultimately Mel does mix it up and creates his own thing. It really doesn't deserve some if the hate it gets for the "inaccuracies". Like no one has that same energy for 300 or other historical fiction. Super epic and underrated film. Everyone in this movie gave such good performances and I felt so immersed in this world.
As an indigenous person, me and my family love this movie, we are Brazilian and the in the pre colonial era we use to live like that, hunting and having prophecies and storytelling. I think the movie is brutal and I ALWAYS cry in every death, even in the death of the evil guy son's (I actually don't cry in the death of the evil guy and the other guys that were hunting the protagonist in the forest, but I did cry in the others death). AND I do appreciate the movie being filmed all in the language of the indigenous people there, it make me feels like home, even though it's not my language. Love this movie. The prophecy girl gave me nightmares for weeks the first time I saw this movie. And the ships arriving in the end of the movie, super sad and super real.
I don't care what Hollywood says about Mel Gibson. Any director who can make such an action packed and engaging movie revolving around a foot chase through a jungle is a talented and skilled director.
Crazy that this was a Buena Vista Pictures release. Technically, this falls under a Disney Studios production. You can sell this movie to your friends as "have you seen the Disney movie 'Apocalypto'?" 😅
Yes! This is one of my all time favorite movies. I can't wait to see what yall think of it. Eta: the Mayans knew what eclipses were. Don't y'all remember the kerfuffle over the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012? Ancient civilizations were more sophisticated than we give them credit for, especially with regard to celestial events.
@@alfredstimoli2590 Not quite. Your education depended on what your father did and, even tho rare, your own talent. Anyway, the people they were talking about were priests and nobility directing the sacrifice. They knew exactly what the eclipse was per their formal education.
You're missing the point. Knowing how to calculate an eclipse is one thing. What an eclipse meant is another. It is literally the sun being blotted out. Ancient people were not materialists. They may have known mechanics but meaning is what was significant.
For clarification, the hunters and the Empire they hunt for are supposed to be one of the last remnants of the Maya Empire (Classical period, I think), and yes, they did conduct human sacrifices, though not in the amount that the Aztecs did. The little girl near the beginning in the ravaged village who gives the prophecy is suffering from what looks to be syphilis, which did exist in the Americas prior to the arrival of the Europeans. And yes, those Europeans are there several centuries too early.
What i REALLY APPRECIATE in any of Gibson's movies is how much RESEARCH went into this story... Right Down to the actual historical language of the Mayans inhabiting that area... You actually get a real life glimpse as to what the Mayans actually did..
@jackmarcuson660 sorry crying? what you on about? Literally laughing at his attempt at "historical accuracy" is not crying.I can only suspect that you're either some type of autism sufferer or, more likely, that talking bad about Mel has hurt your delicate little feefees?
The priesthood/royalty class of the Mayans and Aztecs absolutely understood the eclipse cycles and would use this knowledge to manipulate the population.
I remember going to see this movie when it first hit the theaters. No one I knew wanted to see it with me because it wasn't in English. And the idea that the movie was only in the Yucatecan Maya language from Mexico scared everyone off. So I went by myself and the theater was empty. I had lived in Mexico, so I really wanted to see this film. They were going sacrifice the people to please the Mayan Gods. The more people you kill for the gods the more luck and riches you will receive.
the aesthetics, culture, and architecture of these specific people is so insanely awesome!! I could watch fifty movies about them alone! I don't get why it's not its entirely own movie genre
Mel Gibson is an excellent director, you have to react to his most famous movie: Braveheart, directed and acted by him and winner of many Oscars, including Best Picture. And another very famous and controversial film by Mel was The Passion of The Christ.
The protagonists are Mayan, which is also the language spoken through the movie. The antagonists were the Aztec. The Aztec empire was actually such an oppressive empire that it actual drove other tribes to join the Spaniards in overthrowing the Aztecs.
The antagonists are all Mayan, they have the language, the white powder, the hair style, the architecture. That's why the movie is so inaccurate, at 1500 there was not a single mayan city inhabitated since 600 years!
As a director Mel has a sharp eye for camera work. I also like that here, as in Bravehart, Mel does not shy away from the brutality. I did think the fact that the Maya man was escaping the Aztecs only to come out of the jungle and see the arrival of the White Men. This was funny because he literally went from the frying pan into the fire.
People like to criticize this movie for being historically inaccurate because the Mayan civilization ended long before the conquistadors came to Yucatan but to be fair the Mayans did not vanish into thin air, they just fragmented into smaller tribes that are still living all over the area to this day. The actors in the film are Mayans. It is not like the film claims they are in Chichen Itza or something like that, there are similar pyramids everywhere. It is sort of interesting that just because they speak Mayan that people think that the film is set during the Mayan period when people still speak Mayan today.
Amazing reaction! This movie is great pretty original and the fact that it is in another language just makes it even better. Iam not sure if you guys already saw Braveheart but if you haven't you should definitely check it out. Mel Gibson is in it and he also directed it. ❤
This theme of a man who is first captured, released and pursued by the enemy has been used many times in past movies. One such well known movie was "The Naked prey", a 1965 movie by Cornell Wilde.
The character Blunted, the one who ate the balls is my friend from my rez here in Alberta, Canada. Kainai (Blood reserve). I remember when he was away filming this movie.
Great reaction guys, I believe the scene with the using of ant mandibles as sutures is accurate. Ancient cultures uses certain types of ants , if you read the book ROOTS by Alex Haley , there is a story of Kunta Kinta having a wound closed this way.
You guys are correct, Mel Gibson and/or the writers did take some artistic liberties in the events they portrayed, still, in my opinion it is an epic masterpiece that did not get all the attention it deserved. Of course I am a bit of a history buff and biased in that regard. The Mayan Empire did predate the Aztec Empire, but they also practiced ritualistic sacrifice, just not to the same extent. The Mayan civilization existed at the same time as the Aztec but had waned in strength while the Aztec were at their pinnacle at the time the Spaniards arrived. Both civilizations had a deep knowledge of astronomy which is exemplified by their calendars, they also could predict eclipses which the rulers, particularly their high priests would use to control their subjects. The use of the macuahuitl, or Aztec war club and the obsidian knife are examples of the blending of the two cultures in this film, but then again, the Mayans were great traders and their trade routes covered much of Mesoamerica and perhaps even into South America. The conquistadors did make landfall in the area of the Yucatan first where the Mayans still existed and then worked their way north to Mexico City (Tenochtitlan) in their quest for gold and riches, but that is another story. If you are interested in this period of time please contact me directly as I have made my first attempt at writing historically based fiction. I have thoroughly enjoyed your review of this film. Thank you!
With all due respect, the film is a story within what was the Mayan culture in Mexico. If you investigate a little you will know why the way of work, slaughter, sacrifices, etc. and the ending you didn't expect is just the Spain coming to conquer their lands like it was in real life. good reaction.
13:44 is what the Myan women looked like and then once the captives are in the 'city' part it's the Aztecs. So Mel is showing them moving their way north. There was no "spanish" peoples in current latin america. Spanish is a language brought over *by* the spaniards when they showed up and conquered the indigenous.
An incredible, tragic and great movie. Mel Gibson outdone himself.. And the vision ... One of the greatest scene that pull you in where you suffocate almost like the protagonist is the set piece of the pyramids,the crowd the music. Incredible....also you two are great.
lol, Braveheart is not fiction as the battles happened, the characters existed, Mel just wanted the world to know the name William Wallace, and he succeeded
Braveheart is fiction bud. Based loosely on real people. Wallace was never a peasant but a noble for starters. The battle of sterling was actually the battle of sterling bridge. Pick up a history book sometime.
Apocalypto is a decent movie, but not historically accurate in any sense. History Buffs ( a great UA-cam channel ) does a detailed dive into the liberties taken with timelines, misrepresentation of the people’s at that time etc. ua-cam.com/video/U5pBZKj1VnA/v-deo.html
@@Belnick6666Braveheart is almost entirely fictional my dude. Almost nothing portrayed in that movie is accurate. The only thing he got right were the names or people but everything else was completely BS for the most part. Seriously even the battles aren't accurate, the Battle of Stirling Bridge doesn't even involve the bloody bridge which was integral to the real life victory. Most of the cultural details are bogus, as are many historical details. He got more wrong than he got right.
@@Belnick6666the character's existed, but Braveheart was the nickname given to Robert de Bruce. The French princess was 9 years old when Wallace died. Wallace was not a peasant NOR a highlander. Kilts were not used in Scotland until 400 years later Woad paint had stopped being used 1000 years before. The sterling Bridge battle had no bridge in the movie. Etc
Mel Gibson is an amazingly sure-footed, confident director. I loved this movie, but what I don't understand is why no one watches "The Year of Living Dangerously", which is one of Peter Wier's best films, features Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver at the height of their attractiveness and showcases an Oscar-winning, incandescent performance by Linda Hunt.
I've never cared about the "inaccuracies". It's a work of fiction and a thrilling ride. Maverick (1994), a western comedy staring Mel Gibson; inspired by the 1950s western TV show Maverick.
Yes!!!! Soooo frickin awesome!!! Loved watching you both watch another of my favourite movies!!! It was such a brutal and vicious movie. But once you can step back and put everything together? It is just epic! Not super poetic like Gladiator or Troy. But very great intensity still!!! Watched so many times in theatres and since then too!!! Thanks so much TBR & Samantha!!! 💯🤘🏾😆🍻🍻🍻🍻
I feel like a lot of people didn't read the Will Durant quote at the beginning that plainly says what the main theme of the movie is. I assume they're the same ones who immediately run to the comments section to tell reactors that O Brother, Where Art Thou? is based on the Odyssey, even though the movie tells you that in the opening credits.
There is an extraordinary podcast on UA-cam called Fall of Civilisations. If I’m not mistaken, the villagers in Apocalypto are taken to the Aztec capital city, where the great pyramid and sacrifices were made. Episode 9 of Fall of Civilsations: Clash of Worlds, gives detailed insight into why the Aztecs were spreading out from their city, and in warfare taking prisoners, and why the victors thought it was appropriate and right that these captives were sacrificed. Episode 9 part two goes into great depth why the Spanish visited the capital city, and the surprisingly circuitous events that lead to the Spanish transitioning from rather demanding guests into flat out raiders, conquerors and ransackers.
You are mistaken. This is a Mayan city, with Mayan people, Mayan archtitecture, Mayan hair styles and everything. Except that these kind of cities were extinct for hundreds of years before the Spanish discovered America. Director Mel Gibson just mixed the timelines together. If he had the same kind of movie taking part in central Mexico, maybe with Olmecs as the villagers (but then not jungle dweller) being captured by Aztecs, everything would have been okay.
According to eye witness accounts from the time, when the Aztecs inaugurated their pyramid of Huitzilopochtli they sacrificed 80.000 people in 4 days. 50 teams of killers to process people within a minute, lines of victims stretching for miles in every direction.. Truly horrifying. The whole purpose of warfare for the aztecs was to capture slaves and people who were to be sacrificed. They dominated the whole of Mexico through fear and terror. The whole conquest story is one of the most epic conflagrations in all of human history, I think.
I just said in another comment that many tribes in Mexico allied themselves happily with the Spanish because they were less cruel than the Aztecs. We can all be very glad their civilization is gone.
Yeah. This was is a good film. I went to the cinema to see it when it came out. If you like Mel Gibson directed movies. Check out "Braveheart". He directed and stared in that one. It won a lot of Oscars when it came out. Hollywood doesn't really like Mel. But damn, he makes epic movies. They can't deny that! He's currently filming as we speak right now the sequel to "Passion of the Christ". It should be a good one too. Can't wait to see that one.
Mayans and Aztecs did sacrifice, their sacrifices were captured warriors from other tribes. The Incas also sacrificed they mostly sacrificed children and young adults. Mesoamerica at that time was brutal.
This is 1 o f my fave films of all time, i watch it yearly. It's an amalgamation of mayans and aztecs but not any specific culture. Also i highly recommend mel gibson's other directed films like the man without a face, the passion of christ, and braveheart. As to films he starred in, i highly recommend the bounty, tim, forever young, maverick, the patriot, mrs soffel, the river, hamlet, and signs.
The Aztecs were actually so brutal that many tribes in Mexico allied themselves with the Spanish because the Spanish were less cruel. The Aztecs actually sacrificed 60,000 people in a single religious ceremony and that was after the Spanish had arrived.
The book 1491 by Charles Mann covers this pretty good. IIRC Cortez had as many as 200,000 members of other indigenous tribes helping fight the Aztecs (AKA The Triple Alliance) but the thing that really helped Cortez in his conquest was Small Pox. Similarly the Incas were in the middle of a civil war and Spanish played one side against the other. The Incas were also dealing with disease and drought at the time. Minus the inter-tribal conflict, civil war and disease the Spanish conquests would have been far more difficult if not impossible.
This was controversial at the time because it was believed by some that it was an apology for the conquistadors - but the reality is that there ended up being more Aztecs on the Spanish side because of how barbarous they were in the Aztec capital
One of my all time favorite movies. Now, i am at work and will watch your reaction when i get home. Im sure it blew your heads off..😎 Just editing with the most epic reaction form your watch: 28:32 The bone is flying and the trap is triggered, we all know what is going to happen. Great watch guys.
One complaint of the film that always annoyed me was people asking why the leaders carrying out the sacrifices weren't shocked by the eclipse. Hundreds of cultures around the world, especially those near the equator, learned how to track celestial bodies and could accurately determine when things like that would happen. Especially Mayans and Aztecs. They weren't stupid, like so many loud fools think they were. I personally loved that scene because it gave us a glimpse into their politics and how they maintained power. If you know things others don't, like an impending eclipse, a smart person can use that to take and maintain power. Brilliant scene in my opinion.
cosign
Yeah I was in my early teens when I first watched this and picked up on the looks between the king and the shaman immediately after the eclipse hit. There's a lot of visual storytelling once they hit the capitol.
Yep and that's the basis of religion, theirs and Christianity also. Controlling the ignorant
@@dougs7367Yep. Hopefully folks will get around to figuring that out sometime soon..
Exactly
One of Mel Gibson's best films he directed and such a really cool setting. Going to watch the reaction and I hope she enjoyed it. It's honestly so underrated.
Tbh that's the only Mel Gibson's movie that I enjoyed.
It's such a great visceral experience, unfortunately Mel Gibson's personal life means people in media were afraid to give him the praise he deserved for this one. The only film I've seen match it as an immersive roller coaster is Fury Road. Two years before this he received unwarranted criticism for anti-Semitism in the Passion of the Christ, and then he went on a tirade about Jews to a police officer when he got arrested for DUI in 2006, when this move came out. So it was essentially buried despite being a really excellent film. It had modest critical acclaim and a good box office but it deserved to be recognised as the best film of 2006. Academy award nominations were for sound and makeup only, because Gibson was impossible to nominate at that time.
@@Sindamsc What about hacksaw ridge? That was also pretty amazing.
@@unyieldingmonotony4453 And Braveheart.
Totally, according to Mel none of the actors in the movie never acted before yet pull off a really good performance. I also love the way Mel Gibson handles the violent and gore in the movies he directing. He's using gore at its full effect mostly effective.
This is one of my top 5 of ALL time.
Fun fact, the jaguar chasing Jaguars Paw is literally running after him. Of course there was a line to inhibit the max speed of the big kitty but that literal fear on his face.
😂
I want to know how many takes they did....
I was wondering why the jaguar was so small, of course they hand picked the smallest one 😂
@@richieb7692one. Main actor was totally chill about making it.
I don't think jaguars are that big in the first place. They seem to be human sized from the few times I've seen them next to a human.@@Randomyoutubecommenter
Very few movies can pull off this sense of realism with the native language, the cast, and then what makeup and prosthetics were used to fill the gaps. Truly a visually stunning movie.
I love when he ends up covered in mud and then realizes the Aztecs can only see in thermal vision.
I like when he looks up at the Shaman from the sacrificial altar and says, "You're one ugly motherfucker."
He ain’t got time to bleed.
That didn't even make sense in the movie you're referencing
I thought it was pretty neat when he used gunpowder to cauterize his wounds.
Predator 😂
Dude when those ships show up… It’s like aliens landing
Dude imagine being In thier shoes and seeing that for the first time
@@kratos-iu9bs In the context of this movie absolutely... In reality the Native peoples already knew about the Spanish before Cortez arrived
I think this is an absolute Masterpiece. Incredible acting and direction. Thanks for Reacting!
This is one if the best movies i know, and Gibson's best for sure.
Mel Gibson released two films that required viewers to read subtitles the entire time...and they were both great films... The Passion of the Christ and Apocalytpo.
I wish more reactors did Passion, so intense
@@danholmesfilm Yeah , great Fiction
@@danholmesfilm , yes the film is very intense for sure.
@@domingorubies656I’m an Atheist and I still love that movie.
It’s not like it didn’t happen, and compared to people like Joe Smith and Jim Jones?
I’m perfectly fine with Jesus being a role model.
@@domingorubies656 You're so edgy. LoL
What blows my mind about this film, is the fact that none of the people featured were actors. The Prophecy Girl, absolutely nailed her part.
On the first take, no less.
Yes. Prophecy Girl was the best character. He only wishes he was hallucinating.
Say you don't know how to use IMDb without saying you don't know how to use IMDb.
@@liquidbraino say you're a douche without saying you're a douche.
There are a lot of actors, like the leader of the mayan warriors. Played in Sicario as well.
But that girl was something special. Her eyes
Costume and set design were second to none in any movie, ever. Actors (not actors) completely nailed every scene. Gibson is a good actor, but a GREAT director. Kudos to you Samantha for acknowledging the young actor scene and how it lays the foundation for the rest of the movie. In my top ten list since first seeing it. Thank you for doing this particular movie. It is a masterpiece of film-making.
Apocalypto describes the flower wars (Nahuatl Xochiyaoyotl). These were campaigns of the Aztecs and several peoples in their neighborhood, which were not for conquest, but solely for the procurement of prisoners of war, which were to be offered to the gods as human sacrifices in the sacrificial cult of the Aztecs.
This is the top comment.
Except the Aztecs were in central Mexico and this is in the Yucatan where the Mayans lived. They are even speaking the Mayan language.
These people are not supposed to be mexica, which is part of my complaints. It has mexicas and mayans all mixed up.
The mayans also sacrifice prisoniers of war.
@@dougs7367true as this is, by the early 1500's Aztec culture had seeped into some of the Mayan peoples societies, and given how bad things were going for the Mayans even before the Spanish arrived it makes sense that in desperation they might have been trying things the Aztec way to try and ward off the decline
Wonderful movie! Mel Gibson is such a an amazing actor and director. Happy to see you two enjoying this classic.
One of those films you never forget. Great reaction!!
Whether it’s historically accurate or not, this movie is a visual feast for the eyes and a roller coaster of a ride. Mel Gibson is one hell of a Director.
It would be better if it was the Aztecs instead of Mayans. That ending with the Spaniards still gets me
People asked him about that, etc., etc., and I think he said, "you can make your own movie." Mel spent the time and energy to make a movie about a dead culture with a language almost no one speaks. Unfortunately, Mel also got arrested about this time and this movie was not popular when released. Realism, Apocalypto vs. Indiana Jones 4.
@@GrosvnerMcaffrey I want to see any movie at all about the Moche or the Norte Chico. I want something other than a panel on a clay pot.
@@putinscat1208It's not a dead culture nor a dead language. The mayans are still around.
It is not historically nor culturally accurate.
Many substantial speaking roles were filled by Mayan people who had never acted before. The Sick Girl, the great little girl actress who curses the hunting party, was played by a seven-year-old who lived in a dirt-floored hut in real life, in a village similar to Jaguar Paw's.
That scene when Jaguar Paw gets covered in mud and comes out looking like a human jaguar is awesome.
He directed Braveheart too.
The movie is so kinetic in nature, it does not have a single shot where a character is still or the camera is stagnant. Gives the viewer anxiety in the best way possible, as if we are also running along with the central character.
the poison from the frog is still used in surgery anesthesia today. i was put under with it once and its very effectiv, out in seconds. also EVERY muscle in your body hurts for days afterwards, like you did an untrained marathon while out of shape while lifting weights at the same time.
They were Mayan because the Spanish met Mayans of the Yucatán. The Mayans were not really unified. They were effectively a bunch of cities-states with their own different traditions, but they sacrifice people. Some people volunteered to be sacrificed. Others were prisoners of war.
With regards to the sacrifices, it was very accurately portrayed. There was different tribes & castes within the Maya world & a lot were sacrificed to appease the Mayan Gods to ward off/deflect from localised disasters. It was thought it would bring good things to the bigger tribes. They were painted in different pigments so they stood out from the local population. Look into the history of Chichen Itza. It was a brutal place.
I can honestly say this is my number one favorite movie.. the story the visuals the action the surprises the acting.. it had you hooked from start to ending..
My favorite part of this movie is the tribal elder near the beginning telling the gathered tribe around the campfire the "story of man". The first time I saw it, I honestly wept.
This is one of the most intense chase thrillers of the new millennium. Brutal, intense, somber and epic. The ending just makes it.
This film does not get the recognition it deserves as being one of the best films ever made. It is truly a masterpiece in every sense of the word.
Imagine seeing this in theaters! A Masterpiece, I was blown away :)
This was my first Mel Gibson directed movie i had seen and it blew me away honestly. Very well made and awesome entertainment. Sent chills through my spine at times, specially the horrific abuse of astronomy related knowledge as an excuse to torture people to death and manipulate spectators. The psychopathic behavior of leaders... the class system, you see a divide between rich an poor. The battle between good & evil.
So many interesting details to this movie.
Please watch "The Neverending Story".
One of my favorite movies of all time!
Mel Gibson is so good in front AND behind the camera on all of his movies!
This movie just sucks you in and keeps you hooked with its raw and intense story/action!
I'm especially curious for Sams reaction! In my experience Apocalypto just isn't for everyone. I had to turn it off when I tried showing it to my GF, because it was too much for her.
Thank you for all the awesome videos, you are still the best reactubers on the platform!!!!❤
44:42 yeah, that ending reveal is a total “…whoa” moment.
45:33 I remember reading a military book about some US special operation forces in Afghanistan from like 2005-2012 or something similar. Anyway, one story that always stuck out was when one of the SF guys is trying to get intel from a village elder (in a very remote & isolated part of the region) about another village & where a warlord was said to be hiding, etc, so the soldier shows the elder a map of the area…and the elder just looks at him like “what is any of this?” So then the soldier grabs basically a military version of an iPad, with basically a military/intel version of google earth and shows him the other village and then his own & zooms in on the homes where they were standing. The soldier said the elder was looking at him and at the technology like he’d seen a ghost…just totally out of even the wildest of imaginations. The book mentioned these people had been living there, totally isolated from everything, for hundreds of years, generation after generation. The ending scene with the Spanish ships always makes me think of that.
But I’m with you on that point & thinking about how crazy it must’ve been to see things that you could have no conception of, couldn't even begin to comprehend, etc.
Movies are art, fiction, a visual tale. Not a documentary or something that needs to be accurate (in fact not even documentaries are always accurate). The storytelling is brilliant, obviously it's a "fantasy" story very loosely based on some historical events. Anyone complaining about this movie not being accurate just doesn't understand how cinema works. Movies are just beautiful lies we enjoy watching.
I wouldn’t even call them beautiful lies, I would say that art of this nature reveals an actual truth that transcends historical fact. This actual factual story may have been impossible to play out in historical reality, but the messages about family, corruption, and courage in the face of change are SO true that the story resonates with audiences anyway.
I remember watching this for the very 1st time with my grandfather & it had me hooked from beginning to end. It became 1 of my favorite movies ever from that point on.
The Aztecs In 1487, at the Great Temple's dedication, 20,000 to perhaps 80,000--were sacrificed in just four days.
I like when people rate the move. Regular people, not move critical but regular people. I saw it when it first came out and i loved the movie and the director. Good job Mel and crew.
2:01 "Jesus. OMG." 😇😆
Samantha always looks beautiful but you are glowing! Hope you are feeling well with the pregnancy. xx ❤
You should think of this as a historical based fantasy/fiction. It takes a lot of inspiration from real cultures, but ultimately Mel does mix it up and creates his own thing. It really doesn't deserve some if the hate it gets for the "inaccuracies". Like no one has that same energy for 300 or other historical fiction. Super epic and underrated film. Everyone in this movie gave such good performances and I felt so immersed in this world.
The idea of the movie is to present what life was like during the time, showing different aspects of different cultures condensed together.
As an indigenous person, me and my family love this movie, we are Brazilian and the in the pre colonial era we use to live like that, hunting and having prophecies and storytelling. I think the movie is brutal and I ALWAYS cry in every death, even in the death of the evil guy son's (I actually don't cry in the death of the evil guy and the other guys that were hunting the protagonist in the forest, but I did cry in the others death).
AND I do appreciate the movie being filmed all in the language of the indigenous people there, it make me feels like home, even though it's not my language.
Love this movie.
The prophecy girl gave me nightmares for weeks the first time I saw this movie. And the ships arriving in the end of the movie, super sad and super real.
I don't care what Hollywood says about Mel Gibson. Any director who can make such an action packed and engaging movie revolving around a foot chase through a jungle is a talented and skilled director.
i didn't believe it is a movie when watched for the first time. It seems so brutally real.
Crazy that this was a Buena Vista Pictures release. Technically, this falls under a Disney Studios production. You can sell this movie to your friends as "have you seen the Disney movie 'Apocalypto'?" 😅
Hard to believe that Mel got this film financed. Well told story. Nice reaction. BTW, Mel picked non-professional actors for all the major roles.
As all films should be
Yes! This is one of my all time favorite movies. I can't wait to see what yall think of it.
Eta: the Mayans knew what eclipses were. Don't y'all remember the kerfuffle over the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012? Ancient civilizations were more sophisticated than we give them credit for, especially with regard to celestial events.
General population was kept dumb. If you're an elite you tell the peasants SFA.
@@alfredstimoli2590 Not quite. Your education depended on what your father did and, even tho rare, your own talent.
Anyway, the people they were talking about were priests and nobility directing the sacrifice. They knew exactly what the eclipse was per their formal education.
You're missing the point. Knowing how to calculate an eclipse is one thing. What an eclipse meant is another. It is literally the sun being blotted out. Ancient people were not materialists. They may have known mechanics but meaning is what was significant.
I can do without the Human sacrifices.💀
@@alfredstimoli2590reminds me of what is happening today, our leaders keep us dumb
For clarification, the hunters and the Empire they hunt for are supposed to be one of the last remnants of the Maya Empire (Classical period, I think), and yes, they did conduct human sacrifices, though not in the amount that the Aztecs did.
The little girl near the beginning in the ravaged village who gives the prophecy is suffering from what looks to be syphilis, which did exist in the Americas prior to the arrival of the Europeans.
And yes, those Europeans are there several centuries too early.
What i REALLY APPRECIATE in any of Gibson's movies is how much RESEARCH went into this story... Right Down to the actual historical language of the Mayans inhabiting that area... You actually get a real life glimpse as to what the Mayans actually did..
This movie is not accurate on most things it depicted.
@@AleksPizanaYou only need to look at Braveheart to see how much "research" he does. Whole movie is inaccurate as hell!😂😂
@@jonnydarkfang2816 He did a lot of research for Braveheart, he just did not care and didn´t like the real William Wallace IIRC.
@jackmarcuson660 sorry crying? what you on about? Literally laughing at his attempt at "historical accuracy" is not crying.I can only suspect that you're either some type of autism sufferer or, more likely, that talking bad about Mel has hurt your delicate little feefees?
The priesthood/royalty class of the Mayans and Aztecs absolutely understood the eclipse cycles and would use this knowledge to manipulate the population.
I remember going to see this movie when it first hit the theaters. No one I knew wanted to see it with me because it wasn't in English. And the idea that the movie was only in the Yucatecan Maya language from Mexico scared everyone off. So I went by myself and the theater was empty. I had lived in Mexico, so I really wanted to see this film.
They were going sacrifice the people to please the Mayan Gods. The more people you kill for the gods the more luck and riches you will receive.
the aesthetics, culture, and architecture of these specific people is so insanely awesome!! I could watch fifty movies about them alone! I don't get why it's not its entirely own movie genre
that ending with the arrival of the conquistadors.. brilliant
The animal at the beginning is a Tapir, a related species to rhinos and horses.
Mel Gibson is an excellent director, you have to react to his most famous movie: Braveheart, directed and acted by him and winner of many Oscars, including Best Picture. And another very famous and controversial film by Mel was The Passion of The Christ.
You would definitely enjoy The Mission from 1986. Hopefully it makes it to one of your Patreon Polls sometime! 😁 Great reaction as always!
How this movie seemingly flys under the radar astounds me.... one of a kind forsure.
The protagonists are Mayan, which is also the language spoken through the movie. The antagonists were the Aztec. The Aztec empire was actually such an oppressive empire that it actual drove other tribes to join the Spaniards in overthrowing the Aztecs.
Why do people keep saying it's Mayan culture. Not arguing. I thought it was the Aztecs too but google says it's Mayans
The antagonists are all Mayan, they have the language, the white powder, the hair style, the architecture. That's why the movie is so inaccurate, at 1500 there was not a single mayan city inhabitated since 600 years!
Oh yea , you're white so you must be right .
@@profshad3429the movie is based on Mayans but the director mixed Mayan cultured with Aztec (Mexicas)
As a director Mel has a sharp eye for camera work. I also like that here, as in Bravehart, Mel does not shy away from the brutality. I did think the fact that the Maya man was escaping the Aztecs only to come out of the jungle and see the arrival of the White Men. This was funny because he literally went from the frying pan into the fire.
Oh boy. Mel went all out on this one.
There's a book called 'Broken Spears' about the Aztec writings about Conquistadors. Yea, it's like encountering Aliens from another world.
People like to criticize this movie for being historically inaccurate because the Mayan civilization ended long before the conquistadors came to Yucatan but to be fair the Mayans did not vanish into thin air, they just fragmented into smaller tribes that are still living all over the area to this day. The actors in the film are Mayans. It is not like the film claims they are in Chichen Itza or something like that, there are similar pyramids everywhere. It is sort of interesting that just because they speak Mayan that people think that the film is set during the Mayan period when people still speak Mayan today.
Amazing reaction! This movie is great pretty original and the fact that it is in another language just makes it even better. Iam not sure if you guys already saw Braveheart but if you haven't you should definitely check it out. Mel Gibson is in it and he also directed it. ❤
I do particularly enjoy Samantha's movie reactions.
Love this film. It’s amazing and intense. Jaguar Paw is one of the most baddest of asses of all time.
This theme of a man who is first captured, released and pursued by the enemy has been used many times in past movies. One such well known movie was "The Naked prey", a 1965 movie by Cornell Wilde.
I saw Naked Prey in theaters ,an awesome movie. The quality of film making in this ,however, outshines it’s predecessor.
Highly underrated. I know its not how you all do things, but I would like to put in a request for LAST OF THE MOHICANS.
Two movies that I recommend are "Coherence" and "The man from Earth". Lower budget movies but very intresting stories.
The character Blunted, the one who ate the balls is my friend from my rez here in Alberta, Canada. Kainai (Blood reserve). I remember when he was away filming this movie.
Woot! Just got back from the store with an ice cream to find this ready. Giddy up! 🤘😁
So many amazing actors, who nobody will ever know.
Great reaction guys, I believe the scene with the using of ant mandibles as sutures is accurate. Ancient cultures uses certain types of ants , if you read the book ROOTS by Alex Haley , there is a story of Kunta Kinta having a wound closed this way.
Roots is inaccurate fiction.
yeah the ants is accurate , im Brazilian , tribes do that for real in the amazon , you pick a big ant , let it bite and cut the head
You guys are correct, Mel Gibson and/or the writers did take some artistic liberties in the events they portrayed, still, in my opinion it is an epic masterpiece that did not get all the attention it deserved. Of course I am a bit of a history buff and biased in that regard. The Mayan Empire did predate the Aztec Empire, but they also practiced ritualistic sacrifice, just not to the same extent. The Mayan civilization existed at the same time as the Aztec but had waned in strength while the Aztec were at their pinnacle at the time the Spaniards arrived. Both civilizations had a deep knowledge of astronomy which is exemplified by their calendars, they also could predict eclipses which the rulers, particularly their high priests would use to control their subjects. The use of the macuahuitl, or Aztec war club and the obsidian knife are examples of the blending of the two cultures in this film, but then again, the Mayans were great traders and their trade routes covered much of Mesoamerica and perhaps even into South America. The conquistadors did make landfall in the area of the Yucatan first where the Mayans still existed and then worked their way north to Mexico City (Tenochtitlan) in their quest for gold and riches, but that is another story. If you are interested in this period of time please contact me directly as I have made my first attempt at writing historically based fiction. I have thoroughly enjoyed your review of this film. Thank you!
With all due respect, the film is a story within what was the Mayan culture in Mexico. If you investigate a little you will know why the way of work, slaughter, sacrifices, etc. and the ending you didn't expect is just the Spain coming to conquer their lands like it was in real life. good reaction.
One of My favorite... so brutal and looks so realistic... I re-watch every once in awhile... I'm glad you guys react to this classic...
13:44 is what the Myan women looked like and then once the captives are in the 'city' part it's the Aztecs. So Mel is showing them moving their way north.
There was no "spanish" peoples in current latin america. Spanish is a language brought over *by* the spaniards when they showed up and conquered the indigenous.
This is a first for me to react to, cool reaction as always Schmitt & Samantha, you both have a nice day
Great to see you watching this film…..for me easily one of the best adventure films….ever! And that ending really packs a punch.
An incredible, tragic and great movie. Mel Gibson outdone himself.. And the vision ... One of the greatest scene that pull you in where you suffocate almost like the protagonist is the set piece of the pyramids,the crowd the music. Incredible....also you two are great.
18:29 GASP! 😮
next level sam.
I love this movie so much seen this back then
Love your reaction awesome
Just like Braveheart its obviously fiction but the world building and scale Mel brings to the screen is spectacular and usually practical.
lol, Braveheart is not fiction as the battles happened, the characters existed, Mel just wanted the world to know the name William Wallace, and he succeeded
Braveheart is fiction bud. Based loosely on real people. Wallace was never a peasant but a noble for starters. The battle of sterling was actually the battle of sterling bridge. Pick up a history book sometime.
Apocalypto is a decent movie, but not historically accurate in any sense. History Buffs ( a great UA-cam channel ) does a detailed dive into the liberties taken with timelines, misrepresentation of the people’s at that time etc.
ua-cam.com/video/U5pBZKj1VnA/v-deo.html
@@Belnick6666Braveheart is almost entirely fictional my dude. Almost nothing portrayed in that movie is accurate. The only thing he got right were the names or people but everything else was completely BS for the most part. Seriously even the battles aren't accurate, the Battle of Stirling Bridge doesn't even involve the bloody bridge which was integral to the real life victory. Most of the cultural details are bogus, as are many historical details. He got more wrong than he got right.
@@Belnick6666the character's existed, but Braveheart was the nickname given to Robert de Bruce.
The French princess was 9 years old when Wallace died.
Wallace was not a peasant NOR a highlander.
Kilts were not used in Scotland until 400 years later
Woad paint had stopped being used 1000 years before.
The sterling Bridge battle had no bridge in the movie.
Etc
Apocalypto is a masterpiece.
Mel Gibson is an amazingly sure-footed, confident director. I loved this movie, but what I don't understand is why no one watches "The Year of Living Dangerously", which is one of Peter Wier's best films, features Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver at the height of their attractiveness and showcases an Oscar-winning, incandescent performance by Linda Hunt.
I love how Sam says " Jag Wire" 😅
I've never cared about the "inaccuracies". It's a work of fiction and a thrilling ride.
Maverick (1994), a western comedy staring Mel Gibson; inspired by the 1950s western TV show Maverick.
Yes!!!! Soooo frickin awesome!!!
Loved watching you both watch another of my favourite movies!!!
It was such a brutal and vicious movie. But once you can step back and put everything together? It is just epic! Not super poetic like Gladiator or Troy. But very great intensity still!!! Watched so many times in theatres and since then too!!!
Thanks so much TBR & Samantha!!!
💯🤘🏾😆🍻🍻🍻🍻
The frog just chillin there like alright he’s stabbing me but it’s fine everything’s fine 🐸
I feel like a lot of people didn't read the Will Durant quote at the beginning that plainly says what the main theme of the movie is. I assume they're the same ones who immediately run to the comments section to tell reactors that O Brother, Where Art Thou? is based on the Odyssey, even though the movie tells you that in the opening credits.
Braveheart, The Patriot, We Were Soldiers, Ransom. All good Mel Gibson's movies he played in. Have you guys seen them?
There is an extraordinary podcast on UA-cam called Fall of Civilisations. If I’m not mistaken, the villagers in Apocalypto are taken to the Aztec capital city, where the great pyramid and sacrifices were made. Episode 9 of Fall of Civilsations: Clash of Worlds, gives detailed insight into why the Aztecs were spreading out from their city, and in warfare taking prisoners, and why the victors thought it was appropriate and right that these captives were sacrificed. Episode 9 part two goes into great depth why the Spanish visited the capital city, and the surprisingly circuitous events that lead to the Spanish transitioning from rather demanding guests into flat out raiders, conquerors and ransackers.
You are mistaken. This is a Mayan city, with Mayan people, Mayan archtitecture, Mayan hair styles and everything. Except that these kind of cities were extinct for hundreds of years before the Spanish discovered America. Director Mel Gibson just mixed the timelines together. If he had the same kind of movie taking part in central Mexico, maybe with Olmecs as the villagers (but then not jungle dweller) being captured by Aztecs, everything would have been okay.
According to eye witness accounts from the time, when the Aztecs inaugurated their pyramid of Huitzilopochtli they sacrificed 80.000 people in 4 days. 50 teams of killers to process people within a minute, lines of victims stretching for miles in every direction.. Truly horrifying.
The whole purpose of warfare for the aztecs was to capture slaves and people who were to be sacrificed. They dominated the whole of Mexico through fear and terror.
The whole conquest story is one of the most epic conflagrations in all of human history, I think.
One of the big reasons why so many tribes allied with the spanish. They wanted revenge and freedom.
I just said in another comment that many tribes in Mexico allied themselves happily with the Spanish because they were less cruel than the Aztecs. We can all be very glad their civilization is gone.
@@shinrapresident7010But not their legacy, they literally named a country after them
@@LC-xn4dp That's nothing to boast about. It's shameful.
@@rubydragon1034 if it was they wouldn’t have done it
In the theater it's so beautiful to look at the color when it wS there was intense...
Yeah. This was is a good film. I went to the cinema to see it when it came out. If you like Mel Gibson directed movies. Check out "Braveheart". He directed and stared in that one. It won a lot of Oscars when it came out. Hollywood doesn't really like Mel. But damn, he makes epic movies. They can't deny that! He's currently filming as we speak right now the sequel to "Passion of the Christ". It should be a good one too. Can't wait to see that one.
Gotta say his wife Seven was equally badass
One of the best movies of 2006 Mel Gibson directions was fantastic
Well guys if you want to see another great Hit as a Director by Mel is “ Braveheart “ 1995. This film won …….. 5 Oscars !!
I love seeing people react to this movie. It’s so ridiculously good.
Mayans and Aztecs did sacrifice, their sacrifices were captured warriors from other tribes. The Incas also sacrificed they mostly sacrificed children and young adults. Mesoamerica at that time was brutal.
All non-actors…amazing
I am writing this to help out Tbr Schmitt and Samantha and this video and this channel with the algorithm 🥰❤️✌️☺️
This is 1 o f my fave films of all time, i watch it yearly. It's an amalgamation of mayans and aztecs but not any specific culture. Also i highly recommend mel gibson's other directed films like the man without a face, the passion of christ, and braveheart. As to films he starred in, i highly recommend the bounty, tim, forever young, maverick, the patriot, mrs soffel, the river, hamlet, and signs.
The Aztecs were actually so brutal that many tribes in Mexico allied themselves with the Spanish because the Spanish were less cruel. The Aztecs actually sacrificed 60,000 people in a single religious ceremony and that was after the Spanish had arrived.
Believed to be grossly exaggerated by the Spanish
its Mayans tho in the movie, right?
The book 1491 by Charles Mann covers this pretty good. IIRC Cortez had as many as 200,000 members of other indigenous tribes helping fight the Aztecs (AKA The Triple Alliance) but the thing that really helped Cortez in his conquest was Small Pox. Similarly the Incas were in the middle of a civil war and Spanish played one side against the other. The Incas were also dealing with disease and drought at the time. Minus the inter-tribal conflict, civil war and disease the Spanish conquests would have been far more difficult if not impossible.
MAYAN
@@carlanderson7618mayan
This was controversial at the time because it was believed by some that it was an apology for the conquistadors - but the reality is that there ended up being more Aztecs on the Spanish side because of how barbarous they were in the Aztec capital
Right. People want to complain about colonialism while shit like this was going on before hand.
Aztecs brutalized the local tribes so they were very willing to take up arms against them with the Spanish.
One of my all time favorite movies. Now, i am at work and will watch your reaction when i get home.
Im sure it blew your heads off..😎
Just editing with the most epic reaction form your watch:
28:32 The bone is flying and the trap is triggered, we all know what is going to happen.
Great watch guys.