In Spain 1519, two con artists, Tulio (Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branagh) win a map to the legendary City of Gold, El Dorado, in a rigged gambling match. Tulio and Miguel were playing with a loaded dice and won every hand. The rivals were broke and offered them a map for the last bet. Miguel recognizes the map as instructions to the lost city of El Dorado. They end up winning the map fairly, when the rivals change the dice and force them to use their dice instead. Tulio is the strategic planner, often becoming anxious and overthinking things. Miguel is more relaxed and laid-back in contrast to Tulio's more frantic nature. Tulio and Miguel are accused of cheating with loaded dice when Tulio gets down to pick up the winnings, the loaded dice falls out to the ground. The two evade capture as they both pretend that they were lied to by each other and pretend to fight for their own honor. This was only a ruse to get on top of a roof, from where the duo make their escape. They encounter a bull as soon as they get down from the roof on the other side. While getting chased by a bull and hide in water barrels, which are shortly loaded onto one of the ships to be led by Hernan Cortes (Jim Cummings) to the New World. Cortes is the merciless and ambitious conquistador leader of the expedition to find gold from the empires of the New World. The duo tries to escape from the barrels before the ship sets sail, but a huge box is placed on top of the barrels, and they are trapped. During the trip, they are caught as stowaways. Cortes says that they will be flogged and when the ship enters Cuba for resupply, and they will be enslaved on sugar plantations for the rest of their lives. Altivo is Cortes' horse and was looking for an apple that fell into the brig. Miguel lures Altivo to the brig with the apple and then uses it to bring them a pry bar, but Altivo gives them the keys to the brig instead. Tulio and Miguel manage to break free and take a rowboat with the help of Cortes' horse, Altivo (Frank Welker), in the middle of the night when everybody is asleep. While leaving, Miguel gives Altivo his apple, but the apple strikes the sails and falls into the water, and a hungry Altivo jumps in after it. Miguel and Tulio have no choice but to rescue the horse from the ocean. Altivo is a hungry horse and eats all of their food supplies, leaving Tulio and Miguel to row the longboat. They survive ferocious storms and have nothing to eat or drink. As the 2 friends accept their fate and say their goodbyes to each other, they land at an unknown shore. Soon, Miguel begins to recognize landmarks that are stated on the map starting with a stone shaped like an eagle's head, the shadow of an eagle, a weeping face, a dragon, etc. Tulio wanted to return to the boat, but Miguel lures him with the dreams of untold wealth in the City of Gold. The map leads them to final marker, a stone Stele bearing an image of the Divinities of El Dorado and their steed, which closely resemble Tulio, Miguel and Altivo. The Stele is located outside of a waterfall where a young woman named Chel approaches them, chased by a number of guards. The guards see the image of Tulio and Miguel riding Altivo as the same on the totem, and believing them to be Gods, escort them and the woman under the falls and into El Dorado, truly a city made of gold. Tulio and Miguel are brought to the city's elders, Chief Tannabok (Edward James Olmos) and Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante) the fanatically vicious high priest who has a religious fixation for human sacrifices. While Tannabok warmly welcomes them to the city, Tzekel-Kan mainly sees them as a way to enhance his own standing. The pair are mistaken for gods when a volcano coincidentally erupts (when they get angry) but simultaneously stops (when they cool down) during an argument. Tzekel-Kan accuses Chel of being a temple thief, but she claims that she wanted to welcome the Gods into the city. Tulio orders Tzekel-Kan to release her into their custody. After celebrations offered by both Tannabok and Tzekel-Kan, the two are taken to private quarters along with the woman they met earlier, Chel (Rosie Perez), who has seen through their ploy but offers to help maintain it as long as they take her with them when they leave. The guys realize that they need Chel as they don't know any of the local customs, which they would be expected to know as Gods. Tulio is attracted to Chel. The two are showered with gifts of gold from Tannabok but disapprove of Tzekel-Kan attempting to sacrifice a civilian at the Gods' ritual. Tulio tells Tannabok the next day that they are only here for a visit but will need a boat to leave the city with the gifts the city has showered upon them. Tannabok says it will take them at least three days to construct a vessel to carry both them and the gifts given to them by the people of El Dorado. Meanwhile, Cortes has landed on the same beach and finds the longboat. He starts tracking the duo's path through the forest. Chel gets romantically close to Tulio while Miguel explores the city, coming to appreciate the peaceful life embraced by the citizens. Miguel realizes that Tzekel-Kan has been giving orders on behalf of the Gods, ruling the city by proxy. Tzekel-Kan tells Tulio that humans are imperfect, and they will never respect the Gods till they fear them. Tzekel-Kan wants to sacrifice the human offenders, but Tulio says that he will only decide after consulting with Miguel. When Tzekel-Kan sees Miguel playing a ball game with children, he demands that the Gods play against the city's best players. During the match, Tulio and Miguel are clearly over-matched, but Chel replaces the ball with a rolled-up armadillo, allowing the two to cheat and win the game. However, when Tzekel-Kan offers to have the defeated players put to death, Miguel orders him to leave the city and says that the city has no need for Tzekel-Kan anymore. As he is leaving, Tzekel-Kan sees a small cut on Miguel's forehead and realizes that they are not Gods because Gods do not bleed. The two friends are now drifting apart: Miguel, in an interview with the Chief about the ship, reveals he really wants to stay, and Tulio, increasingly in love with Chel, wants to take her and the gold and leave. Tannabok indicates to Miguel that he knows that Miguel and Tulio are not Gods and invites Miguel to stay forever, if that is what he desires. Afterward, Miguel, who has reconsidered leaving the city, overhears Tulio telling Chel that he would like her to come with them to Spain before adding he would like her to come with specifically him and to forget Miguel, straining the relationship between the two. At a party being thrown for them, Miguel and Tulio begin to argue about Tulio and Chel's conversation and Miguel's desire to stay. Tzekel-Kan conjures a giant stone jaguar to chase them through the city. Tzekel-Kan controls the jaguar as the stone animal mimics all of Tzekel-Kan's actions and through the jaguar's eyes, Tzekel-Kan can see what it sees. Tulio and Miguel manage to outwit the stone jaguar, causing both it and Tzekel-Kan to fall into a giant whirlpool, thought to be the entrance to Xibalba, the spirit world. Tzekel-Kan comes to outside El Dorado, where Cortes and his men are searching for gold. Thinking Cortes is a true God, Tzekel-Kan quickly offers to lead them to El Dorado. With their boat completed and loaded with treasures, Tulio is ready to leave but Miguel announces that he will be staying because he finds the city peaceful. As Tulio and Chel start to leave, they spot smoke on the horizon, realizing that Cortes and his men are approaching the city with the help from Tzekel-Kan. To protect the city from the Spanish troops, Tulio determines they can use the boat to slam against rock formations under the waterfall path that will cave in and block access to the city. The city residents pull down a large statue to create a wave to propel the boat, but Tulio cannot get the sails up to give the boat enough speed to avoid the statue. Miguel forgoes his chance to stay in the city and jumps into the boat with Altivo to finish hoisting the sails. The boat clears the statue in time, and Tulio's plan is successful. Though the boat and its treasures are lost, the entrance to El Dorado is sealed for good. Tulio, Miguel, Chel, and Altivo hide as Tzekel-Kan brings Cortes and his men towards the waterfall. Once Tzekal-Kan finds out that the entrance has been blocked, an angry Cortes takes this as a lie. Cortes and his men then march away with a humiliated Tzekel-Kan in their hands. Tulio, Miguel, and Chel, though disappointed they lost their treasure, take off in a different direction for a new adventure, unaware that Altivo still wears the golden horseshoes he was outfitted with in the city.
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