Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" Worth Checking Out on DVD

Mel Gibson has been under a lot of fire lately, and a lot of it is probably well-deserved. Sure, he's a nut and grows a weird beard for no reason, but does that diminish his abilities as a filmmaker? After viewing the new DVD release of his latest, "Apocalypto," I can say that he has not lost any of his abilities. Here is a compelling, well-acted, beautifully shot, action-packed story that just happens to be set during the end of the great Mayan civilizations.

As for the story, the tale is that of Jaguar Paw. He is a hunter in a small village in the jungle. He and his village are small and pretty much all related to one extent or another. We meet him and his brothers hunting some kind of animal in the beginning of the movie. They use skill to lure the animal in certain directions and then a spring-loaded trap to kill the animal.

Things are about to change for Jaguar Paw, his village and his family. He has a very pregnant wife and a young son. Life appears to be good, until they run into a group of villagers who have already been run off their land. See, it turns out there is a very large Mayan city not too terribly far away that's undergoing a serious drought and a serious bout with some kind of plague. Well, what does a good Mayan do when the times turn bad? You have to make some sacrifices to the gods, of course.

Jaguar Paw wakes up one morning to find members of that particular city raiding his village. The men and women who are not killed trying to fight them off are tied up to bamboo poles and lead away as captors. You know the guy leading this party is a bad dude because he wears human jawbones on his shoulders and a scary headdress.

Once they reach the city things just get worse. There are many vivid and graphic sacrifices here. The hearts of these sacrifices are ripped out of the victim's chests while still beating. The heads of the victims are then lopped off and the head and body rolled down the many steps that lead up to the pyramid.