1492 Conquest of Paradise

We need more good films and I have no doubt that Ridley Scott will bring them to us .

Is Ridley Scott related to Tony Scott who directed Man on Fire another underated film. Denzil Washington was outstanding in the role as the bodyguard.


A tale well told   August 29, 2004
When I saw that Ridley Scott directed this film I knew it was going to be visually appealing but I remember the reviews from when this film was released (including Marshall Fine's review above) so I didn't expect much.
I was wrong. Despite Gerard Depardieu's challenge with English, he was magnificent and one can understand why Scott had Depardieu pegged for the title role before filming began. The cinemetography is brilliant and the story flows well. There are some dry, slow moving moments in the last 40 minutes but overall the film moves at a good pace. Depardieu did a great job depicting Columbus' character as history tells us: a visionary, an entrepreneur and a callous man. I recommend this film for history buffs and for those who are inspired by men who are driven by his beliefs.


Stunning!!   June 19, 2004
joshua gentili (Atlanta, Georgia United States)
This movie is incredible! The score by Vangelis is
breathtaking. I can't believe this has not been
released on dvd. One of Ridley's best!!!!


Realistc or Idealistc Conquest?   June 2, 2004
Oscar Suarez (San Bernardino, CA USA)
We could clearly see that there were many occurrences that the writers left out in Conquest of Paradise. Here, we see an idealistic version of what occurred after Christopher Columbus discovered the New world. The writers produced a cross-word puzzle that, us, the viewers were able to put together before the climax of the movie developed with intensity. I enjoyed the money greatly, yet I was expecting to se the other side of the Conquest, the horrible side. I wanted the rest of the audience to understand that the results of the conquest was not as pleasant as we have told our children. In Conquest of Paradise Gerard Depadieu is portrayed as a hero, or so we are led to think, yet we don't have a chance to see the other version of the story. I was expecting to see how the indigenous culture basically came to be extinct; how their religion was disregarded and Christianity was implemented. We don't see this in this movie; we only see one side of the dilemma.