Apocalypto

"No one can outrun their destiny."

2006 2h 18m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

★7.7TMDB · 6,709

ActionDramaHistory

Synopsis

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Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

“No one can outrun their destiny.”

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Cast

Rudy Youngblood
Jaguar Paw
Raoul Max Trujillo
Zero Wolf
Gerardo Taracena
Middle Eye
Iazua Larios
Sky Flower
Antonio Monroy
Chilam
María Isabel Díaz Lago
Mother in Law
Dalia Hernández
Seven
Jonathan Brewer
Blunted

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mel Gibson
Writers: Mel Gibson, Farhad Safinia
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

510+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mel Gibson, shot by Dean Semler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Wright shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Rudy Youngblood and Raoul Max Trujillo and Gerardo Taracena carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mel Gibson directs. Dean Semler behind the camera. James Horner scores. John Wright cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.0× over at the box office.
2Released 20 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
4510+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Mel Gibson, shot by Dean Semler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor John Wright shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Rudy Youngblood and Raoul Max Trujillo and Gerardo Taracena carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "No one can outrun their destiny.".
10IMDB entry: tt0472043 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 38 themes, including "loss of loved one", "maya civilization", "village", "solar eclipse".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dean Semler
Original score: James Horner
Editing: John Wright
Production design: Thomas E. Sanders
Costume design: Mayes C. Rubeo
Makeup / hair: Alexei Dmitriew
VFX supervisor: Ted Rae
Sound: Benjamin L. Cook
Stunt coordinator: Mic Rodgers
Runtime: 138 min · 2h 18m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $120,654,337
Return: 302% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Apocalypto (2006)

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Mel Gibson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2016-10-01
★ 6/10
I don't know if there is a better example of dedication in filmmaking out there than there is in Apocalypto. Brilliant, if overrated. Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go.
GenerationofSwine2023-01-11
★ 10/10
Let's be honest, almost all of the 1 star reviews are because of how the Mayan's are depicted and stem from a lack of historical knoweldge. There seems to be the misconception that the Mayans were peaceful and didn't sacrifice humans... which reminds me of when my wife and I went to visit her family in Guatemala where the high point was really watching the American tourists swim in pools of water that probably had the bodies of thousands of sacrificial victims at the bottom... mostly 14 year-old boys. Yeah, no way I would get in that water, but then I know what's beneath it. Apocaypto is kind of about that... but it doesn't really convey the fact that, like the rest of Central and South America the sacrifice was to prevent the end of the world... and this kind of makes it about drought (which hit about the time they made contact with the west) And it really doesn't convey the culture very well... but it does seem to zero in on the point that it wasn't their own people they were sacrificing, it was the people removed from the cities, the people that fell under the Mayan Empire, but weren't exactly a part of it... ... which is what the Aztecs did too. But, who cares, in the end it's a brutal fight for survival, and it's an entertaining one.
CinemaSerf2025-01-27
★ 7/10
Tapir's testicle, anyone? They're not quite the delicacy the playful warriors claim as they tease one of their pals, but it's illustrative of the nature of the relationship between these young Mayan tribesmen who, thus far, have found their greatest fear emanating from a menacing mother-in-law who is demanding that she gets grandchildren. That all changes when a more dominant war party arrive looking for sacrifices. The shrewd "Jaguar Paw" (Rudy Youngblood) manages to hide his expectant wife and their child in a deep pit, but he is himself taken prisoner by "Zero Wolf" (Raoul Max Trujillo) and removed to the capital - after witnessing his father's slaughter at the hands of "Middle Eye" (Gerarardo Taracena). Once there, in this sight of an almost complete pyramid, they are to be offered to their great god Kulkulkan. It's as if by a divine intervention that this young man is spared, but that mercy is short lived as he merely now becomes the plaything of the warriors. They have one chance of escape, but that only earns him the furious enmity of the powerful 'Zero Wolf" and soon one hell of a cat and mouse game ensues. The photography really does capture the density of the Mexican forests and the Mel Gibson's direction the gruesome and gruelling lives of the young men who lived and died at the behest of the priests. What we are also exposed to is a civilisation teetering on the edge. Disease is rife - hardly surprising when we see the sheer volume of corpses lying around, and amidst all this desperation some of the dialogue is rousing, powerful and sometime quite relaxed too. Many of the actors are genuine tribesmen and some deliver some more than incidental parts quite well, but it's Youngblood, Trujillo and perhaps best of all - Taracena, who make this a grudge match well worth watching. It's sumptuous, this film. Gritty, bloody, violent - but sumptuous. Well worth a watch, and a big screen does great justice to the super cinematography.