Mel Gibson criticizes war in Iraq

Hollywood actor Mel Gibson made a surprise appearance at Fantastic Fest in Texas , an event devoted to science-fiction and horror movies, where he screened his work-in-progress on Mayan adventure tale Apocalypto.

The two hour long version shown at the event was a rough cut of the finished product did not have any sound effects or musical score reporst Usmagazine.

The actor-director - who has kept a low profile since making anti-Semitic comments and being charged with drink-driving - drew parallels between the movie's subject matter and today's world saying:

"The precursors to a civilization that's going under are the same, time and time again.

""What's human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?" he asked.

"The precursors to a civilization that's going under are the same, time and time again," he said after a screening of an unfinished cut of "Apocalypto," his first directorial effort since "The Passion of the Christ."

The organizer of the film festival where the comments were made says that the quote was “exploited out of context� — but, in fact, Gibson made several other thinly veiled references to America today reports MSNBC. For example, the director talked about “the use of fear to manipulate people� then quipped, “so happy that doesn’t happen now.� Motivating people with fear is apparently a major theme of Gibson's new film.

“I just wanna draw the parallels,� Gibson said. “I just looked at it, and thought, we display that stuff here. I don’t wanna be a doomsayer, but the Mayan calendar ends in 2012,� he chuckled. “So have fun!�

Mel was recently invited to meet with three prominent American Jewish groups, after his apology for making anti-Semitic remarks..

"Apocalypto" is scheduled to be released Dec. 8.