Apocalypto

From Academy Award winning filmmaker Mel Gibson ("The Passion of The Christ," "Braveheart"), comes "Apocalypto" -- a heart stopping mythic action-adventure set against the turbulent end times of the once great Mayan civilization. And despite its subtitles, unknown cast, obscure subject matter and the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson, "Apocalypto" found an opening weekend audience and topped the box office with $14.2 million in receipts.

Shot on location in Catemaco -- in one of the last remaining tracts of rainforests left in Mexico -- and in Veracruz, with a cast made up entirely of indigenous peoples from the Americas, APOCALYPTO is directed by Mel Gibson, produced by Gibson and Bruce Davey and written by Gibson and Farhad Safinia, who co-produces.

When his idyllic existence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, a man 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. The story unfolds on the screen like a timeless myth about one man's quest to save that which matters to him the most in a world on the brink of destruction. It certainly creates a magic and absorbs the audience in a time the mankind left behind long long back.

'Apocalyto' is already creating controversies for its questionable accuracy of history or its treatment of Mayan civilization, but overall it's a great cinematic experience that any cine-goer would like to enjoy. It's a grand creation from a great behind-the-scenes team who spent intense months shooting in the jungle and recreating a spectacular Mayan kingdom of soaring pyramids and mysterious temples. The team includes Academy Award-winning director of photography Dean Semler ("Dances With Wolves"), two-time Academy Award-nominated production designer Tom Sanders ("Saving Private Ryan," "Dracula," "Braveheart"), two-time Oscar-nominated film editor John Wright ("Speed," "The Hunt for Red October," "The Passion of the Christ") and Oscar-winning composer and multiple Academy Award nominee James Horner ("Titanic," "A Beautiful Mind," "House of Sand and Fog," and the forthcoming "The Good Shepherd").

Here is the official website of the movie: apocalypto.com. The movie is rated R for sequences of graphic violence and distrubing images. Also, read our posting in November, 2005 when Mel first announced his plan for 'Apocalypto'.