Apocalypto is a 2006 epic historical action-adventure film produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Farhad Safinia. The film features a cast of American Indian and Indigenous Mexican actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dalia Hernández, Gerardo Taracena, Rodolfo Palacios, Bernardo Ruiz Juarez, Ammel Rodrigo Mendoza, Ricardo Diaz Mendoza, and Israel Contreras. Set in Yucatán around the year 1517, Apocalypto portrays the hero's journey of a young man named Jaguar Paw, a late Mesoamerican hunter and his fellow tribesmen who are captured by an invading force. After the devastation of their village, they are brought on a perilous journey to a Maya city for human sacrifice at a time when the Maya civilization is in decline.
Theatrical release poster
Mel Gibson directed Apocalypto after he made The Passion of the Christ.
Pyramids like this at Tikal were reproduced for the film
Critics claim that human sacrifices depicted in the film are more similar to Aztec practices (as seen here) than to Maya.
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson is an American actor and film director. He is known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocalyptic action series Mad Max and as Martin Riggs in the buddy cop action-comedy film series Lethal Weapon.
Gibson in 2016
Gibson in 1985
Gibson in 1990 at an Air America premiere
Gibson with Expendables co-star Sylvester Stallone (background) in 2014
