History YMMV / Apocalypto

** The name of the city where the slaves are taken is never identified in the film, but an expert on things Mayan would guess that it is probably Copan, which was near the border between Guatemala and Honduras. Like the city depicted, Copan was within walking (or, in this case, running) distance of both the Caribbean Sea and a major river.
** The ending of the movie manages to reflect the seed of Spanish Conquest of America in a single scene: natives fleeing from other natives' imperialism run into the Spaniards arriving to assimilate the New World into their own empire. A few years after the film's events, conquistadors like UsefulNotes/HernanCortez and UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro would be taking over the land with armies 95% composed by native tribes seeking revenge, many of them not unlike Jaguar Paw's.
* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: Almost literally, as the film was a hit in Mexico despite all the historical licenses, the usual {{Mayincatec}}, and the overemphasis on the Mesoamerican cultures' bloodthirst. Aside from the big budget and artistic direction, the applicability of the final scene also helped to make the movie appeal to Mexicans of all political stances: ''Indigenistas'' loved it because it portrayed the power and glory of the Mayan civilization before the Spaniards dismantled it, while ''Hispanistas'' loved it too because it was an excellent showcase of all the indigenous brutality and infighting the Spanish Empire curbed.

* MisaimedFandom: Gibson stated he just wanted to portray how empires and civilizations rise and fall, if anything only making a comparison with 20th century United States; all the subsequent debate about what position the film stood on about imperialism, colonialism, religion, freedom and et caetera was not what he aimed for. Notable, people of all the sides and stances have adopted the film as an example of their points.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Most of the film's artistic licenses come from giving the Mayans a set of cultural traits that were actually more typical of the Aztecs, like imperialism and mass human sacrifices. By this point, logically, one wonders if it would have not been better simply making a film about the Aztecs themselves. Gibson preemptively answered to this, though, stating he wanted to portray the decadence of a civilization, which would have not been possible with the Aztec empire, as the latter was in its main splendour when the Spanish and their native allies (and the epidemics unwittingly brought by the Spanish) destroyed it.

** Many aspects of the depiction of Mayan civilization were criticized as unrealistic, but some have basis in fact, such as the Maya did practice human sacrifice (only that the movie gets nuances wrong; see Artistic License - History below), did wear blue body paint, and their civilization still existed when the Spaniards arrived.

* GeniusBonus: The name of the city where the slaves are taken is never identified in the film, but an expert on things Mayan would guess that it is probably Copan, which was near the border between Guatemala and Honduras. Like the city depicted, Copan was within walking (or, in this case, running) distance of both the Caribbean Sea and a major river.

* ItWasHisSled: The ProphecyTwist of the Spaniards setting foot on American soil and bringing the ''real apocalypse'' is the first thing you'd probably know about this film.
* MemeticMutation: Many viewers commented on Jaguar Paw's actor Rudy Youngblood being a lookalike of Ronaldinho, so it's common to see comments joking that the film actually stars Ronaldinho or that Jaguar Paw somehow jumped forward to present time and became a soccer player after the film's events.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Most of the film's artistic licenses come from giving the Mayans a set of cultural traits that were actually more typical of the Aztecs, like imperialism and mass human sacrifices. By this point, logically, one wonders if it would have not been better simply making a film about the Aztecs themselves. Gibson preemptively answered to this, though, stating he wanted to portray the decadence of a civilization, which would have not been possible with the Aztec empire, as the latter was in its main splendour when the Spanish, their native allies and epidemics unwittingly brought by the Spanish destroyed it.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Most of the film's artistic licenses come from giving the Mayans a set of cultural traits that were actually more typical of the Aztecs, like imperialism and mass human sacrifices. By this point, logically, one wonders if it would have not been better simply making a film about the Aztecs themselves. Gibson preemptively answered to this, though, stating he wanted to portray the decadence of a civilization, which would have not been possible with the Aztec empire, as the latter was in its main splendour when the Spanish and their native allies destroyed it.

* CompleteMonster: All of the Maya warriors are a particularly nasty lot, but none stand out so much as the vicious [[TheDragon Dragon]] to the [[BigBad lead hunter Zero Wolf]] Middle-Eye. One of their best hunters and fighters, Middle-Eye is also the only rapist, who takes one of the women of a conquered village into a hut to violate her, and kills her after, as her husband Blunt struggles futilely to save her. When [[TheHero Jaguar Paw]] nearly kills Middle-Eye in a fight, Middle-Eye vengefully slits his father's throat in front of him and names Jaguar Paw 'Almost' in response. When the new captives are being marched back to the capital city, Middle-Eye at one point decides to lighten the load by throwing an exhausted slave to his death. Middle-eye stands above his fellow slave hunters in depravity and [[EvenEvilHasStandards the others consider him sick]].

** The DownerEnding. Jaguar Paw gets to reunite with his family, and his wife delivers an healthy babe, but Spaniards have just set foot on their land, and the world as they knew is doomed to end.

* NightmareRetardant: The conclusion of the film draws its menace from the Spanish Black Legend and all the pop culture stories about Spaniards genociding entire civilizations, but it might mean much less to those familiar with the infinitely less dramatic real life history of their conquests (especially given that the conquest of the Mayans was particularly slow and uneventful, lacking the huge multi-national battles of the Aztec and Inca Empires). If anything, for those viewers the true apocalypse brought by the Spaniards might be instead the diseases from the Old World, whose spread nobody at the time had the knowledge to understand or prevent and therefore caused the death of millions, but this lecture loses impact too by the film already showing signs of plague among the Mayans before their contact.

** The DownerEnding. Jaguar Paw gets to reunite with his family, and his wife delivers an healthy babe, but Spaniards have just set foot on their land, and entire civilization will be wiped out in few decades.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Most of the film's artistic licenses come from giving the Mayans a set of cultural traits that were actually more typical of the Aztecs, like imperialism and mass human sacrifices. By this point, logically, one wonders if it would have not been better simply making a film about the Aztecs themselves. (However, Gibson has stated he wanted to portray the decadence of a civilization, which would have not been possible with the Aztec empire, as the latter was in its main splendour when the Spanish and their native allies destroyed it.)

* TheWoobie: Blunt, being the object of cruel pranks and mockery from his fellow villagers while being constantly insulted by his wife's mother for being unable to have children. Then, when the Holcanes arrive, Blunt bravely fights back but gets overpowered...and has to watch his wife being raped and killed ''in front of him'' by Middle Eye. It becomes a TearJerker when Blunt and the other men are marched off to be sacrificed, and his wife's mother touches his face as if to comfort him...and his later [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice to give Jaguar Paw a chance to escape.]]

** The scene of the solar eclipse was criticized because the people of the city become awestruck and fearful of it, when the Mayans were renowned for their knowledge in astronomy. However, it's reasonable to say that such knowledge was not widespread among the common people, in fact the movie acknowledges this when it's shown that the priests timed the sacrifices to coincide with the eclipse.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The black jaguar is a very obvious puppet when it gets killed by the slavers.

* ItWasHisSled: the ProphecyTwist of the Spaniards setting foot on American soil and bringing the ''real apocalypse'' is the first thing you'd probably know about this film.

* UnfortunateImplications: The movie was seen by [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6216414.stm a reviewer]] as controversial in its portrayal of the Mayan people as savages, and a critic [[http://archive.archaeology.org/online/reviews/apocalypto.html said]] that the final scene of the Spanish conquistadors arriving might send a pro-colonial message that Mayans were so barbaric that they deserved to be "saved" by the white Europeans.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Creator/MelGibson specifically wanted actual buildings constructed, as opposed to relying on CGI. Extensive historical research was done on the period, with any artistic license done for the sake of cinematic beauty. Additionally, a dialect coach was on set every day to help the actors.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Mel Gibson specifically wanted actual buildings constructed, as opposed to relying on CGI. Extensive historical research was done on the period, with any artistic license done for the sake of cinematic beauty. Additionally, a dialect coach was on set every day to help the actors.
* FridgeHorror: Without its mother around, that black jaguar cub most likely starved to death.

* HilariousInHindsight: Every time Middle Eye tells Jaguar Paw to "run". Boy does he run.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Many political interpretations have been weaved about the film. As a proof that reality is always weirder, Gibson has revealed the film's portrayal of the Mayan decadence is an allegory of the ''Bush Administration'' of all things.

** The sacrifices.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: The black jaguar is a very obvious puppet when it gets killed by the slavers.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Most of the film's artistic licenses come from giving the Mayans a set of cultural traits that were actually more typical of the Aztecs, like imperialism and mass human sacrifices. By this point, logically, one wonders if it would have not been better simply making a film about the Aztecs themselves.

* TheWoobie: Blunt, being the object of cruel pranks and mockery from his fellow villagers while being constantly insulted by his wife's mother for being unable to have children. Then, when the Holcanes arrive, Blunt bravely fights back but gets overpowered...and has to watch his wife being raped and killed ''in front of him'' by Middle Eye.
** It becomes a TearJerker when Blunt and the other men are marched off to be sacrificed, and his wife's mother touches his face as if to comfort him...and his later [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice to give Jaguar Paw a chance to escape.]]

* CompleteMonster: All of the Aztec warriors are a particularly nasty lot, but none stand out so much as the vicious [[TheDragon Dragon]] to the [[BigBad lead hunter Zero Wolf]] Middle-Eye. One of their best hunters and fighters, Middle-Eye is also the only rapist, who takes one of the women of a conquered village into a hut to violate her, and kills her after, as her husband Blunt struggles futilely to save her. When [[TheHero Jaguar Paw]] nearly kills Middle-Eye in a fight, Middle-Eye vengefully slits his father's throat in front of him and names Jaguar Paw 'Almost' in response. When the new captives are being marched back to the capital city, Middle-Eye at one point decides to lighten the load by throwing an exhausted slave to his death. Middle-eye stands above his fellow slave hunters in depravity and [[EvenEvilHasStandards the others consider him sick]].

* CompleteMonster: All of the Mayan warriors are a particularly nasty lot, but none stand out so much as the vicious [[TheDragon Dragon]] to the [[BigBad lead hunter Zero Wolf]] Middle-Eye. One of their best hunters and fighters, Middle-Eye is also the only rapist, who takes one of the women of a conquered village into a hut to violate her, and kills her after, as her husband Blunt struggles futilely to save her. When [[TheHero Jaguar Paw]] nearly kills Middle-Eye in a fight, Middle-Eye vengefully slits his father's throat in front of him and names Jaguar Paw 'Almost' in response. When the new captives are being marched back to the capital city, Middle-Eye at one point decides to lighten the load by throwing an exhausted slave to his death. Middle-eye stands above his fellow slave hunters in depravity and [[EvenEvilHasStandards the others consider him sick]].

* NightmareFuel: Quite a bit of it.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Jaguar Paw's "rebirth" from the mud and its immediate aftermath.
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Blunt's mother-in-law constantly berates and humiliates him, but tries to comfort him when he is captured.

* CompleteMonster: All of the Mayan warriors are a particularly nasty lot, but none stand out so much as the vicious [[TheDragon Dragon]] to the [[BigBad lead hunter Zero Wolf]] Middle-Eye. One of their best hunters and fighters, Middle-Eye is also the only rapist, who takes one of the women of a conquered village into a hut to violate her, and kills her after, as her husband Blunt struggles futilely to save her. When [[TheHero Jaguar Paw]] nearly kills Middle-Eye in a fight, Middle-Eye vengefully slits his father's throat in front of him and names Jaguar Paw 'Almost' in response. When the new captives are being marched back to the capital city, Middle-Eye at one point decides to lighten the load by throwing an exhausted slave to his death. Middle-eye stands above his fellow slave hunters in depravity and the others consider him sick.