Both films contain the victim and his party being captured unexpectedly; horrific scenes of torture of the members of his party; and the remaining victim being turned loose to be hunted like an animal. In The Naked Prey, the torture is a variety of inhumane and humiliating ends to the members of Wilde's hunting party. In Apocalypto, it is human sacrifice atop a Mayan ziggurat. In both films, the hero is saved for a special hunt in which he is the prey. But the hunters never expect an extended chase, and they certainly don't expect to be picked off one-by-one by their victim - but that's exactly what happens, and it makes for two very exciting films.

Apocalypto is not for everyone. If you're squeamish, I would not recommend it. It is brutally real, disturbingly graphic and relentlessly intense - as is The Naked Prey. Also, it has subtitles - the Yucatan language, no less. But it is a very good story with an exceptional chase scene in the second half. It does not have a message - I don't care what Mel Gibson has said about declining civilizations and soldiers dying needlessly in Iraq. The Mayan civilization is not the subject of this film - merely its backdrop. Even the byline on the poster - "No one can outrun their destiny" - is misleading. This is not a film about destiny catching up with someone. If anything, it is about someone escaping a destiny imposed on him by other human beings.

Apocalypto is a very simple story about a young man named Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) and his young family, who are members of a small tribe in the middle of the Yucatan jungle, that wake up one morning to find themselves being attacked and overwhelmed by a group of fellow-natives from a nearby Mayan city. The adult villagers that survive the attack are carried off in "chains," leaving the children behind to fend for themselves; but before his capture, Jaguar Paw manages to hide his pregnant wife and young son in a cistern, promising to return for them.

The captives are taken to a city that is full of activity, most of it strange and difficult to understand - like slaves working in a quarry, removing some kind of white powder, its dust making their bodies white. These white people look weird walking through the streets of the city carrying their baskets of white powder. Where are they going? Then we see: the white powder is being used to plaster the walls of their buildings.

There are women whose hands are covered with blue paint, and they begin smearing it all over the bodies of the captives. “Why are they doing this to us?” the victims wonder. Then we see: as they are being led through a tunnel, there are drawings on its walls, paintings of blue people being sacrificed, being mutilated, being decapitated. Then they come out of the tunnel and see a great ziggurat surrounded by people that are "worshipping." On top of the ziggurat, priests are doing the things depicted on the tunnel walls. Once they've decapitated their victims, they roll their heads down the ziggurat steps as the worshippers cheer and a new batch of blue people are led to the top. Now Jaguar Paw and his friends know exactly why they have been brought here. Soon it will be their heads rolling down the steps.

It is quite interesting to see a primitive and ancient civilization depicted in this way. It is quite disturbing to see evil depicted in this way. The Mayans were a primitive civilization - I don't care how much archaeologists decry Mel Gibson for emphasizing their blood-thirst and playing down their scientific and other achievements. I think he has hit the nail on the head as far as what these people were: pagan beasts. And yet, they were created in God's image. It shows how low man can sink in his depravity when he has turned his back on God. It also shows the horrors of slavery, and how a person can be reduced in mind, body and spirit when he is forced to submit to the will and whims of another human being.

But there is a golden lining to this dark, nightmarish vision: one of the captives waiting to be sacrificed at the top of the ziggurat has hope. He remembers his pregnant wife and young son, and how they are depending on him. If he doesn't return to their village and remove them from the cistern, the next big rain will drown them. He knows he must live to help them. That is the real story. The rest is merely the hell from which he must escape, and the dogs of hell he must out run.

Besides Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo turns in a powerful performance as Zero Wolf, Jaguar Paw’s nemesis. Because of the subtitles, dialog is kept to a minimum in this Mel Gibson - Farhad Safina script. Production values are high throughout, with art direction taking center stage. Then there is the location: even though the jungle is lush, even though it is lovely at times, jungle life is harsh and brutal. My favorite scenes occur on a raging river. There is also a very good scene featuring a beautiful jaguar.

Michael Medved gave this film four stars out of four. I would give it five out of five. It is exceptional. But it is not for everyone. Nothing is romanticized in this film, nothing is idealized. It is hard, cold reality - jungle style.

Rated R

Waitsel Smith, December 15, 2006

Text © 2006 Waitsel Smith. Images © 2006 Buena Vista Home Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.