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 enlarge | Directors: Bibo Bergeron, David Silverman, Don Paul, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Will Finn
Actors: Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Rosie Perez, Armand Assante, Edward James Olmos
Studio: Dreamworks Animated
Category: DVD
List Price: $12.99
Buy Used: $3.86
You Save: $9.13 (70%)
New (35) Used (33) Collectible (3) from $3.86
Rating:  100 reviews
Sales Rank: 6456
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 2
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.6
MPN: MCAD86545D
ISBN: 0783247605
UPC: 667068654523
EAN: 9780783247601
ASIN: B00003CXG7
Theatrical Release Date: 2000
Release Date: December 12, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 50
Movie received March 16, 2007
K. Morgan (ohio)
We received the movie in record time. Was packaged carefully and in great shape
 Apocalypto, the Musical Comedy December 12, 2006
David McCune (Tacoma, WA)
7 out of 28 found this review helpful
Because, really, what better topic for easy laughs with the kiddies than ritualistic human sacrifice?
We really enjoy family movie night at our house. With kids of 13, 10, and 7, it can be a challenge to find something that a) no one has seen and b) has at least some appeal to all three. We came home from the video store with this movie with a rare consensus. By the time it was about 2/3 over, my wife and I had an even rarer consensus, we needed to turn this movie off. I can't say what happens after the point where we stopped, but the Spanish Conquistadors meeting with the Aztecs didn't seem like it would be good fodder for a children's movie. It is a measure of how bad this movie is that none of our kids objected.
Did I mention that the movie was bad? Bad, bad, bad, baddity-bad-bad. One of the worst children's cartoons I have ever seen. Possibly the worst ever. How is it bad, you ask? Let me tell you:
1) Bad plotting. I went in to the kitchen to make popcorn, and I missed the scene that introduced the European Villain (c'mon, it's a movie that includes Aboriginal Americans, how can there NOT be a European Villain). That's how little he was on the screen. Yet, fast forward to the ultimate conflict, and there he is, making a reappearance. Imagine Star Wars with Darth Vader showing up in the opening scene, and then only reappearing at the end to shoot at Luke outside the Death Star. That's what it was like. Bad.
2) Bad singing. I was listening thinking that it sounded like a bad Elton John impersonator who had cribbed from The Lion King. No, it actually WAS Elton John. I can't believe Sir Elton has not paid to have his name expunged from this turkey. This has to be the low point of his career. Elton, seriously, if you read this, if you ever need money this badly again, give me a call. I'll try to help. Bad.
3) Bad topic. I hope the idiot who gave this the green light lost his or her job. Murderous indigenous culture as a comedy vehicle? What's next? An animated musical comedy version of The Diary of Anne Frank? The whole time watching it, I had a creeping dread as to how they were going to deal with this. Bad.
4) Politically correct badness. Of course, the Aztecs were just a bunch of fun-lovin' pacifists with one bad apple leader. Of course they had magical powers that came from their superior communion with nature. Of course they were all fit, friendly, strong, and beautiful. Riiight. Bad.
5) Bad as in inappropriate. The female lead was drawn by someone who thought Disney's Pocahontas looked too childlike and demure. There is swearing for the sake of swearing. There is a love scene that, I kid you not, showed the male character, when interrupted, rising up from "off camera" between the female character's legs. None of this even advanced the plot. B-A-D.
6) Bad vocal talent. Kenneth Branagh's Royal Shakespeare British, Kevin Klein's American-pretending-to-be-British, and Rosie Perez's "you-got-a-problem-with-that" Puerto Rican are not so bad individually, but they were atrocious as a combination. Actively distracting, although, given the rest, maybe that was a good thing. Bad, bad, and bad.
So inappropriate, unentertaining, and politically correct, other than that, it was great.
(Did I mention that I thought it was bad?)
The Other City of Gold October 31, 2006
General Breadbasket (Melbourne, Australia)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm a big fan of the old 1980s cartoon series "The Mysterious Cities of Gold", a series about a couple of Spanish kids exploring the New World and discovering many strange things. A few years ago, there was no sign of it on video or DVD (and as far as I know, there still isn't), but a fan site did mention there was a DreamWorks animation coming out in cinemas called "Road to El Dorado", featuring two Spanish guys exploring a mysterious city... of gold! The similarities end there though, and this film is still pretty entertaining.
Tulio and Miguel are best friends, who live by their wits in the streets of Spain. They win a map to El Dorado, the famous New World city of gold, in a game of dice. Unfortunately, their opponents discover their dice are loaded, and in the duo's escape, they get caught on Hernando Cortez' ship bound for Mexico. (Don They are caught, then escape with a boat and a horse, and after many days in shark infested waters, run aground at exactly the place where the map begins. They discover El Dorado, and it's people mistake the two men on a horse for two of their gods, and pay tribute to them. The two men decide to take advantage of this misunderstanding and ask for gold and a ship to get home. But curiousity, a beautiful Mayan woman, and a bloodthirsty priest undo all their deception, and they are caught out several times. Will they make it out of El Dorado with their lives, or will the people allow them to stay?
The two best things about this film, I think, are the colourful design of the New World and the banter between Tulio and Miguel (played by Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh). They seem to be having a lot of fun in their roles, and though some of the dialogue is modern sounding, it's not cluttered with cheesy cultural references like some more recent animated features. Jim Cummings (the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Darkwing Duck) does the voice of Cortez, and though the tone of his words are all too familiar if you've watched his cartoons, he does a good job at capturing the bitterness and the greed of the man. The music, by Elton John, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer is pleasant enough too.
Special features on the DVD include a director's commentary with Eric Begerson and Don Paul, a fairly interesting making of documentary, a behind-the-animation montage, narrated by the crew, the original theatrical trailer, and Elton John music video, in which you see the singer animated. He looks very peaceful as a cartoon...
Worth a look for fans of adventure.
On The Road with the Children July 5, 2006
LuckeLaydieD (New York, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My kids love this movie, when we are in the car traveling all I have to do is pull out this DVD and there is instance silence.
Cartoon Nudity June 6, 2006
Serenity
5 out of 30 found this review helpful
Just a quick note for parents of young children- This movie has, in addition to some of the other suggestive scenes, some very raunchy scenes of exposed behinds, which was something that neither I nor my eight year old daughter were prepared for.
I really don't find the tone of this scene to be appropriate viewing for an eight year old. This scene could have been portrayed much more mildly and without the brazen and extended nature of the posterior nudity.
My daughter had never seen anything of that nature before and I was not aware that a Disney movie geared for children would be allowed to have those types of scenes. Partially my fault for being way out of touch with movie ratings, but I saw Disney and thought it was a "G" movie.
If I had known that it was for 13 and over, I never would have allowed her to watch it. In case other parents are new to the movie rating scene, this movie really is for way older children. I still don't think it necessary to have such an extended scene even for 13 year olds.
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