Gerard Depardieu struts his considerable physical presence as the great explorer in director Ridley Scott's version of what happened during the fall of 1492.

SEX/NUDITY 3 - Columbus is living with a woman to whom he is not married, and has had two children with her. There is some cleavage in women's costumes. There is one passionate kiss between Columbus and his girlfriend. Native garb, topless women from a distance. We see bare bottoms. One ship captain relieves himself and passes blood.

VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - Introductory scenes are etchings of natives being massacred. We see a woman and a number of other people tied to stakes where they are strangled and then burned; we hear them choking. The men on the ships are sunburned and their skin is blistered and pealing. 39 Spaniards are shown after they have been beheaded and burned. One native's hand is cut off because they think he was stealing gold. Men are shown hanging with their extremities cut off. Slow motion fighting complete with lots of blood and guts. After a tropical storm, we see a number of dead bodies, both human and animal.

LANGUAGE 1 - Bastard is used when referring to Columbus' sons.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Violence, murder, war, racism. Taking over land which is already inhabited. Obsession with dreams.

MESSAGE - War and destruction is in man's nature. Columbus says, after his discovery, "there are no crimes there, there will be no need for a judge." He was quickly proven wrong.