Apocalypto (2006)

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within. W Durant

The quote above is flashed on the screen at the start of the movie, Apocalypto. Who would have expected that those few words would be the only understandable words in the entire two hour movie? The actors and actresses spoke in Mayan throughout the movie.

Well here I go reviewing another Mel Gibson film. Mel Gibson is a talented actor and director. Most of his movies are thoughtful and inspiring, but tend to be a bit violent (Braveheart, the Patriot).

Apocalypto provides a little bit of a glimpse of an ancient civilization. Despite the Mayan’s great achievements and innovations, at its core it was or became corrupt. Use of slaves to build its country and its godless human sacrifice are some of the reasons for its ultimate demise.

The movie depicts a raid on one peaceful Mayan village by the rulers of the Mayan in a nearby city. The story revolves around the plundering of the village and the murder or enslavement of the people. Particularly it is the story of one brave young man, who for the love of his expectant wife and young son, escapes his captures and tries to get back to his wife who he left behind.

We are provided a view village life and the decadence and absolute power of the wicked evil elite of the city who inflict all sorts of harm on their own people. They not only enslave and mistreat them, but they even cut open the hearts of some of their captors in order to offer those hearts in sacrifice to the Sun god or whatever god or gods they worshipped. I could not help but compare the elite of the Mayan city to the liberal socialist elites in America who crave for the absolute power to mold society into an anti-God anti-American image and reshaped into Soviet Union-like society or a part of a grand global socialist utopia, which has elitists exercise control over everyone else.

RATING
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gregjaye gives this movie **** out of *****. Because of the graphic content especially of the scenes of brutal killing and sacrifice, I recommend this movie for adult only viewing. The movie was realistic. The cinematography was excellent. The movie was fast paced and interesting.

I think that Gibson captures the flavor of what this great but mostly amoral society was is reality. Like the Mayan culture, America made great advances and was also once a great nation. However, America like the Mayan society, began to worship the god of greed and lust. In 1973 America began to permit and perform human sacrifice. We allow the sacrifice of our babies to the god of convenience, pleasure and expediency.

She is allowing herself to be destroyed from within, while her sons and daughters are fighting terrorism in the Middle East, Foolishly she is allowing terrorists intermingled in the massive invasion of illegal aliens,which is because the Bush Administration and Congress are complicit in permitting unsecured [open borders. We are on the way of the Mayans, Aztecs, Rome and Greece – extinction - unless we repent individually and nationally from our evil ways and turn once again to the one true God and Jesus Christ.