Once again, Hollywood messes up a great story.

Rating: 2/10 (10 January 2006)

This could have been a great film, that is, if the fascinating true story were used instead of this boring deception. There was, in fact, no romance between Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. Sorry! Smith was 27 in 1607 and Pocahontas was 10 or 11.
I agree with a friend of mine who said that Smith comes across as a "love sick puppy." That was not the Smith of the historical record, not at all! Smith was a braggart and boastful, yet he was also a perceptive leader. Saving the failing colony was the great concern occupying Smith's thoughts, not a romantic fixation on a little Indian girl.
Smith was only in Virginia from the spring of 1607 until the fall of 1609...two and a half years. There was a real (and unexpected and wonderful) romance in Pocahontas' life, but years later in 1613 and 1614 with John Rolfe...when she was an adult, at an age when Powhatan girls (and English girls) typically married. Smith was out of the picture and long back in England when Pocahontas had her real adult romance resulting in a marriage to John Rolfe and a son Thomas.
This film was overly long, got the facts all mixed up, overlooked the most important elements of a fascinating story, had a poor soundtrack, and...well...it had some nice photography. (That's why I didn't rate it a 1.)
If you have an interest, read the amazing true story from the historical record written by Smith, Rolfe, Hamor, Strachey, Percy, Archer, Dale and others. It's all there. This is just another example of where "the book" is far more interesting than the movie. And, heck, much of the book was written by Smith and Rolfe themselves!
Too bad the creative types in Hollywood have to create fluff like this simply to showcase their high-priced celebrities. See it if you're willing to sit still for a very long time and you enjoy being bored almost to tears. At least the Disney deception back in 1995 had some pretty music.