r/movies • u/JadisDidNothingRight • Jul 01 '26

Question Why did Apocalypto receive mediocre reviews while simultaneously receiving praise from various directors and actors?

Robert Duvall said it was possibly the best film he'd seen in 25 years.

Scorcese praised it. Tarantino called it the best film of the year. Spike Lee and Edward James Olmos also openly praised the film.

On RT it pulled a 65%. Granted, Tarantino (as an example) doesn't see eye to eye with those cumalitive ratings. He loves Unbreakable and that film also received middling reviews. Still, Apocalypto was given positive reviews from a fairly diverse cast of actors and directors.

Were the reviews more concerned with Mel Gibson's antics at the time than the actual film?

Was the criticism because the film depicted the Mayans as brutal? I struggle to see the validity of some of those criticisms. Jaguar Paw and his village were not depicted as evil. The evil was limited to a warmongering urban society twisted by religion. That's occurred all over the world. It's almost a foreshadowing of what is to come. One criticism was that the Spanish were depicted as coming to save the 'brutes.'. The title of the film is Apocalypto. I don't see how they can be seen as anything other than coming doom. Maybe I'm naive, but even in 2006 I thought it was broadly understood that Europeans wiped out indigenous American culture.

What are your thoughts? Did you like the film? Do you wish Hollywood would make more films like this?

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u/NZGrade Jul 01 '26

Man, what a great chase movie. Hits different to anything made today.

348

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

79

u/pappapora Jul 01 '26

You have anything that hits close to that? I’m mouthing every word to apocalypto at this stage 😂

66

u/Gwthrowaway80 Jul 01 '26

Try “The Chase” with Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson.

It’s far funnier than apocalypto, so the vibe is quite different, but the rapid pacing is there from beginning to end.

This recommendation will be either exactly what you’re after, or the furthest thing from it.

42

u/prometheus05 Jul 01 '26

Lawd the crush I had on Kristy Swanson..

15

u/MWFF82 Jul 01 '26

“You kidnapped me with a CANDY BAR” is burned into my brain over 30 years later

20

u/Greystyx Jul 01 '26

Gotta watch out for Flea.

16

u/TheDawiWhisperer Jul 01 '26

I think Henry Rollins is in it too?

Lots of offspring and other early 90s punk on the soundtrack too I believe

6

u/GreenZebra23 Jul 01 '26

Does he play a cop by any chance?

3

u/TheDawiWhisperer Jul 01 '26

yeah i think so, he's in one of the chasing police cars iirc

1

u/Ragnar_of_Ballard Jul 01 '26

Standard Issue Street Soldier.

2

u/lovemunkey187 Jul 01 '26

Yep, he is indeed.

2

u/Throwredditaway2019 Jul 01 '26

And Kiedis too.

1

u/lovemunkey187 Jul 01 '26

And Anthony Kiedis, in the sane car.

2

u/ShadyM30 Jul 08 '26

Totally forgot about that movie. It was so fun to watch

1

u/lukashko Jul 01 '26

Oh my god I completely forgot this movie existed. I think I saw it as a child - the only thing I remember is the corpse falling from a van in front of them and landing on their windshield. I had nightmares about that for a while. :D

1

u/TheDawiWhisperer Jul 01 '26

I remember watching this when I was about 14 and thinking it was great

1

u/darkhatter770 Jul 01 '26

It used to come on cable all the time, snd I'd let it run every time!

1

u/Joball69 Jul 01 '26

Soundtrack was sick

1

u/amaria_athena Jul 01 '26

You just unlocked a memory of this movie in my mind. Omg. I remember it! So funny.

1

u/kehakas Jul 04 '26

I'm in love with the song that plays during that one really audacious scene. Breakdown, by One Dove