The Film & Presentation
Apocalytpo is set during the Mayan period, and focuses on a young warrior and hunter named Jaguar Paw. The film begins innocently enough with some exciting hunting action and humor amongst Jaguar Paw and other villagers, but quickly turns very dark and very serious when their village is over run by a ruthless band of warriors. Jaguar Paw’s pregnant wife and child were able to get away, but all other men and women were captured or killed. Jaguar Paw and the others are led away to a large temple and the real crux of the film is Jaguar Paw trying to get away to rescue his pregnant wife and child. I’m trying not to reveal too much here, because even though Apocalypto is an action packed, adrenaline-pumping film, there is a lot of great character and plot development scenes that are best witnessed first hand.
That said, the film is extremely captivating. The story is excellent and very intriguing. Secondly, it’s gorgeous on Blu-ray—definitely one of the most impressive Blu-ray videos I have seen. It’s not just technical quality, but the costumes and environments are superb in Apocalypto. The detailed jewelry and extravagant paint worn by the characters is impressive, as are the jungles and the Mayan temple set. Also, all dialogue is subtitled; the dialogue therefore sounds authentic, although I don’t know exactly what language is being spoken.
Sealing The Deal
So two of the big three elements of a great Blu-ray release are met: an excellent film, and superb audio and video quality. The third, which escapes a lot of otherwise great Blu-ray releases, is good extras or special features. While not as important as the previous two markers, extras can really make a difference in a release. Those included with Apocalypto aren’t too bad, but as always, more would have been nice. There is a deleted scene, with commentary by Gibson and co-Producer Farhad Fafinia, which is pretty interesting. It is a pretty simple scene, with no dialogue, but it does present a powerful visual. There is also a “Movie Showcase” feature, which we’re starting to see more of on Blu-ray releases, that automatically takes you to a few different scenes in the movie that are supposed to “showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound.” Useful, I guess, if you are showing the film or your entertainment setup to someone else. In practice though, this is about as useful of an extra as the “seamless menus” that are mentioned on the back of the box.
The best and most interesting extra feature runs about twenty-five minutes and is the ‘making of’ video. It’s in HD, which is unusual for an extra but it makes a huge difference. You’ll hear from Gibson, Fafinia, costume and weapons designers, and hear and see a lot of what went on behind the scenes.