This film is not that bad. I know that's not the best way to start a review, but I was going in expecting the worst.
If you take this film completely seriously, then sure, it's rock bottom. If you don't take it seriously, it's a wonderful film. There are a lot of interesting moments and beautiful scenery. It doesn't just focus on the long sea voyage and the discovery of the Americas, and first contact with the natives. It includes the entire political situation around this. Spain had finally gotten the upper hand over the Moors, the Spanish Inquisition had recently begun, and there was an intense rivalry between Spain and other European powers over trade with China and India. It also doesn't gloss over the obsession over finding gold, converting the natives, and their maltreatment. And that's part of the problem - this film attempted to squeeze an enormous amount of events in just two hours, when the subject deserves two or three films, or a mini-series.
Some of the casting choices (like Tom Selleck as Ferdinand) wouldn't have looked so ridiculous if they had time to actually develop their characters instead of belting out a few key lines so the studio could advertise the roles as part of the line up.
If you take this film completely seriously, then sure, it's rock bottom. If you don't take it seriously, it's a wonderful film. There are a lot of interesting moments and beautiful scenery. It doesn't just focus on the long sea voyage and the discovery of the Americas, and first contact with the natives. It includes the entire political situation around this. Spain had finally gotten the upper hand over the Moors, the Spanish Inquisition had recently begun, and there was an intense rivalry between Spain and other European powers over trade with China and India. It also doesn't gloss over the obsession over finding gold, converting the natives, and their maltreatment. And that's part of the problem - this film attempted to squeeze an enormous amount of events in just two hours, when the subject deserves two or three films, or a mini-series.
Some of the casting choices (like Tom Selleck as Ferdinand) wouldn't have looked so ridiculous if they had time to actually develop their characters instead of belting out a few key lines so the studio could advertise the roles as part of the line up.