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One of the best historical action movies ever made is streaming for free for a limited time. Released in 2006, the film doesn’t get anywhere near as much love as its genre siblings, like Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II (Ridley Scott sure does love a historical action movie). But, you could argue that Apocalypto is just as good as Gladiator, and miles better than the latter two movies. Don’t believe us, see for yourself while it’s streaming for free.
Apocalypto is currently streaming for free on Tubi, but not for long. Apocalypto is listed on Tubi’s “Leaving Soon” page. The Mayans might have predicted the world would end in 2012, but even they couldn’t give an exact date as to when Apocalypto will actually leave Tubi. Movies tend to cycle through the free streamer every month. So, we’d assume that the film will depart from Tubi by the end of February.
Mel Gibson directed and co-wrote Apocalypto with Farhad Safinia. The movie starred Rudy Youngblood as Jaguar Paw, a Mayan hunter who is taken prisoner with his village by a powerful enemy. Instead of being sacrificed, Jaguar Paw is hunted for sport, giving him a glimmer of hope to survive and return home.
‘Apocalypto’ Is Just As Good as ‘Gladiator’
That’s a bold statement. Gladiator is often considered one of the greatest movies ever made, and definitely the reigning champion of the historical action genre. Russell Crowe’s turn as Maximus Decimus Meridius is legendary, and the scenes in the Colosseum are action-packed, adrenaline-inducing, and hold up incredibly well. Apocalypto has all of that, and then some.
The grand scale of the Colosseum is swapped out for the jungles of Mesoamerica. Jaguar Paw might not be a former Roman general, but he can certainly fight as well as one. The first act depicts the prisoners’ journey to the new civilization. But once Jaguar Paw is let loose and hunted by his captors, the action is dialed up to 11. Jaguar Paw sets traps and goes from the hunted to the hunter. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, it is set in the middle of the wilderness, so Jaguar Paw also has nature itself to contend with. With literally everything trying to kill him, Apocalypto depicts Jaguar Paw’s very desperate fight for survival against the odds.
‘Apocalypto’ One-Ups ‘Gladiator’s Most Intense Scene
If there’s one scene that stands out in Gladiator as the most jaw-dropping, it’s likely the Colosseum battle involving the tiger. Five Bengal tigers were used in the scene, and one nearly mauled Russell Crowe. Apocalypto saw that scene, said, ‘Hold my beer,’ and one-upped it. During the hunt in the final act, Jaguar Paw becomes the next target for, ironically, a jaguar. During production, Mel Gibson used a real trained jaguar, rather than CGI. The jaguar was trained to chase the actors, who were kept safe using invisible barriers. But, as is always the case when working with deadly animals, the jaguar got closer to the actors than expected on several occasions. The result is one of the best chase scenes in cinema history.
