1492 Conquest Of Paradise

The assignment for this class participation short essay paper was to watch and write a critical analysis of the film “1492 Conquest of Paradise.” The information I used for this paper came from various web pages, which are enclosed, “The American Nation Textbook”, and finally the movie itself. I believe the biggest item that should be talked about is how historically accurate this film is, and did the director try to accurately portray what really happened during that time period.

From the start of the movie I was thrilled to see how the Director “Ridley Scott” followed the beginning of Christopher Columbus adventures. The opening scenes were strong indications that the Director wanted us to feel Columbus convictions that the Indies could be reached by sailing westward. In my textbook chapter 1, page 6 there is an engraving by Theodore de Bry, showing Columbus about to depart from Palos. I mention this engraving for one reason. During the Movie after watching the scene where Columbus was about to depart Palos one thing came to mind the engraving.

Weeks at sea and Columbus’s crew becoming more and more restless, and mutiny becomes more of and option for the crew. Columbus was even losing trust from the Captain’s of his boats. Everyone on board knew in their mind that Columbus was lost at sea, and wanted to know just how he was navigating. This is where Columbus showed one of the Captain’s a way of navigation called “Dead Reckoning” or “DR”. I found this information concerning navigation at the Columbus navigation homepage.

There are many theories concerning where Christopher Columbus had landed in the new world, and the movie adds just a view of one of those theories of how the life really was in the new world. Columbus had lived a hard life during hard times, it really doesn’t matter if you read it from a textbook or find information concerning his journeys on the internet I think the movie I saw today was very entertaining, but also educated me in many ways concerning the history of his life.

In conclusion the movie entitled “1492 Conquest of Paradise,” is a well-rounded movie hitting key points of Christopher Columbus’s life and the adventures he confronted. You asked the question “can future students learn anything from the movie” the answer is yes. I really didn’t see differences between the information I had found concerning his travels nor the movie. If anyone has completed any type of research on this matter they would be able to say that the director hit it on the nose. Great movie! Information used for Essay 1. The American Nation 2. The Columbus Navigation Homepage 3. Columbus and Dead Reckoning Homepage 4. A Timeline of Christopher Columbus 5. The first Voyage of Columbus Note** All web pages can be found under the CTC Distance Learning Cite.