1492: Conquest of Paradise

1492: Conquest of Paradise
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ridley Scott[1]
Produced by	Mimi Polk Gitlin Alain Goldman
Written by	Roselyne Bosch
Starring	Gérard Depardieu Sigourney Weaver Armand Assante Fernando Rey
Music by	Vangelis
Cinematography	Adrian Biddle
Editing by	William M. Anderson Françoise Bonnot Les Healey Armen Minasian Deborah Zeitman
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	9 October 1992 (1992-10-09) (United States) 12 October 1992 (1992-10-12) (France)
Running time	142 minutes
Country	France, United Kingdom, Spain
Language	English
Budget	$47,000,000 US (est.)
Box office	$7,191,399 US (Domestic)

1492: Conquest of Paradise (French: 1492 : Christophe Colomb) is an epic 1992 European adventure/drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Roselyne Bosch, which tells the story of the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus (Gérard Depardieu) and the effect this had on the indigenous people. The film was released for Paramount to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage.^[2]

Plot

Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people, starting with his solicitation of Queen Isabella I (Sigourney Weaver) to gain the necessary funding.

Cast

Release and reception

1492: Conquest of Paradise opened in theatres on October 9, 1992. It was rated PG-13 in the United States due to violence and brutality.

Overall, the film had mixed reviews and poor box office results.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The movie review site Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 47% "rotten" rating. However, movie critic Roger Ebert said in his review that the film was satisfactory, stating "Depardieu lends it gravity, the supporting performances are convincing, the locations are realistic, and we are inspired to reflect that it did indeed take a certain nerve to sail off into nowhere just because an orange was round."^[8]

Box Office

The film was not a success, debuting at No.7.^[9]

Music

Despite the picture's dismal box office intake in the United States, the film's score by renowned composer Vangelis became a successful album worldwide. Its main theme, Conquest of Paradise, was used by former Portuguese Prime-Minister António Guterres at his 1995 election and is used by the Portuguese Socialist Party as its anthem since then.^{[citation needed]} The theme is also used by New Zealand Super 14 Rugby Franchise, the Crusaders as they run onto the field, often accompanied by actors dressed as knights and riding on horseback and rugby league team Wigan Warriors who play in Super League. The theme was also played before the start of every match in 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Cricket tournament as well as the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. In these events the theme was played right before the national anthems of the two competing nations, as the flags of the two nations were carried into the ground, along with the players of the two teams. The German boxer Henry Maske (former world champion (IBF) in the Light heavyweight category) used the main theme as his official entry theme during his professional career.

See also

Film portal

• Carry On Columbus - A comedy-film about Columbus released in 1992
• Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, another film about Columbus released in 1992.

References

External links

• 1492: Conquest of Paradise at the Internet Movie Database
• Movie stills