1492: Conquest of Paradise

1992
PG-13
2h 34m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

34K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:42

Historical Epic Period Drama Adventure Biography Drama History

Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

34K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,508

1,258

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations

Beatrix
(as Angela Molina)

Fernando Rey

Marchena

Michael Wincott

Moxica

Tchéky Karyo

Pinzon
(as Tcheky Karyo)

Kevin Dunn

Captain Mendez

Frank Langella

Santangel

Mark Margolis

Bobadilla

Kario Salem

Arojaz

Billy L. Sullivan

Fernando (aged 10)
(as Billy Sullivan)

John Heffernan

Brother Buyl

Arnold Vosloo

Guevara

Steven Waddington

Bartolome

Fernando Guillén Cuervo

Giacomo
(as Fernando G. Cuervo)

José Luis Ferrer

Alonso
(as Jose Luis Ferrer)

Director
- Ridley Scott
Writer
- Rose Bosch
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The replicas of Columbus' ships used in the film were built in Spain between 1990 and 1992. In 1992 they sailed the route of Columbus' first voyage to commemorate to 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. Today they are exhibited in Palos de la Frontera, Spain, and they are visited by approximately 200.000 people each year.

Goofs
In the film, the nobleman Adrián de Moxica cuts the hand of a Native American because he wasn't able to pay taxes in gold to the Spaniards, something which Columbus condemns. In fact, it was Columbus himself who introduced this practice of cutting the hands.

Quotes
[first lines]
Young Fernando Columbus: Of all the words my father wrote - and there were many - I remember these the most: "Nothing that results from human progress is achieved with unanimous consent. And those who are enlightened before the others are condemned to persue that light in spite of others."

Alternate versions
Japanese laserdisc is a longer cut of the film with five deleted scenes and a few extended ones. And R-rated violence that was cut for the US PG-13 version. The soundtrack for the film indicates that the film was originally much longer.

Connections
Edited into Catalogue of Ships (2008)

Soundtracks
Amazonia
Permission of Grem Records, France

User reviews118

Review

Featured review

Good film. After reviewing it again I can see why Ebert liked it better.

Christopher Columbus - THE DISCOVERY (1992) Warner Brothers opened in theaters same time as this film "1492". Viewed "1492" film again on Hulu for this holiday (Columbus Day 2017). I prefer "DISCOVERY FILM" for a number of reasons. At film's end Columbus is hero having completed first voyage successfully and long before things went wrong in Haiti (La Espaniola). "1492" film goes beyond first voyage up to his Third, next to last voyage. Things were truly as bad as depicted in second film. This is shown clearly in the manuscripts of his son Fernando. Fernando's book actually shows things were worse than shown in film. Both films were box office disappointments. However,year 1992 critics seemed to like "1492" film better. It shows Columbus as a victim, failure and basically a "schmuck". This may be why Europeans view Columbus in a good light. In the USA he seems to get little credit......but all the blame.