Mongol on DVD (2008)

Its a docudrama without the voice over

Possfimh from Queens Park [Highly rated reviewer] , 28/06/2008

This really frustrated me. I saw it before the reviews came out, so I had no preconceptions.

The problem with it, is that is is empty... the set pieces are grand but.. there is nothing linking them.. Genkis' tale is one of apparent birthright arrogance... there is no insight into how he raised his massive armies... they just appear with him the leader, he doesn't really proving his worth on screen.

The love story feels like it was written by a monk who may have once had a prepubescent romance and the performances are un-emotive (which no reviews picked up on).

Don't believe the hype the only thing this managed to do blow a lot of russian culture incentive bucks. The only reason I believe it had award nominations was to fill a quota to assist east-west relations.

It's the kind of thing you should expect to see in a docu-drama. I was half expecting the start of every episodic chapter to have a beardy historian pop up ,and run me through a documentary style CGI family tree and tactical war strategy.

I gave it two stars because it's better than Nightwatch...

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A taste of things to come...

Meako [Highly rated reviewer] , 08/06/2008

From director Sergei Bodrov comes this semi-fictional telling of the early life of Ghengis Khan. The film aims high, attempting epic style story-telling, but doesn't quite achieve what it ambitiously aims for. That is not to say the film is not good, it is a damned fine film. However it feels too much like a set-up for later films that mean that it cannot be properly appreciated as a solo film.

The story is set in the early years of Khan's life, drawn upon from legends and myth surrounding the early life of the feared, and fearsome leader. Here he is known as Temudgin, born into a Mongol clan, and dragged through turmoil, beytrayal, and slavery, each event changing the will of the born leader and determining the laws and rules he will introduce to unite the different tribes of the Mongol nation, and create a formidable force that would eventually conquer half the known world. As these early years are not recorded, what the film draws on is the folklore of the period and builds a convincing portrait of what may the true basis of the legend, much in the same way that the King Arthur film did when it drew upon the Roman soldier myth. Some stunning set pieces help keep the audience hooked, and the tale itself is a strong on. Unfortunately it does jump quite a bit, and many events are simply skimmed over in a race to get to the big-battle-scene when he finally becomes Ghengis Khan. At this point the story would get really stunning, but we must wait for the proposed second and third films to hear that aspect of the tale of his life.

That is the biggest problem with this film, it is just a taster of what is to come, and just as it really finds its mark, it is over. Nontheless it is still a stunning film to watch, and showcases the talents of yet another epic scale Russian director.

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An amazing watch!

A customer from SW London , 16/07/2008

I don't really watch foreign films much because I find reading subtitles rather tedious! BUT after a few minutes into the film I completely forgot that I was reading the subtitles. The film is by no means perfect: there are several gaps in the film that spoil this film that could so easily have been a masterpiece: for example, the rather unromantic,clumsy relationship between him and Borte, his wife:the other gap was when he goes off after being with his family (after Borte saves him from slavery) and the next thing we see is him fronting a massive army. We don't get to see how he managed to get together that army. Personally,I feel that this gap was a huge mistake, because if this is indeed the first of several movies to come (I wasn't aware of that when I saw it, so didn't feel it was the introduction of more to come, but rather a long story compacted into one movie)the viewer needs to understand the rise of the Khan, because that will explain so much about what motivated and ultimately molded the legendary Genghis Khan. But all that said, I thought the movie was beautifully cast, with excellent performances from all concerned. Temudgin from a kid to an adult had a certain confidence and fearlessness about him which I thought was brilliant, it wasn't so much what he said or did, it was the manner he carried himself, how self aware he was of himself and the decisions he felt he had to make. So I don't agree with what a previous reviewers said, that he came across with an arrogant right to inherit his father's throne of Khan: I did not think that was the case at all. It's really refreshing to see the humane part of a man that was considered a ruthless brute.He went on to unite the Mongols and conquer half the world so there had to have been redeeming qualities about this leader,and this movie goes a long way to exploring that.But it's a shame about the gaps because I would've been quite happy to sit through more time watching this movie, because it was simply a really absorbing watch!

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Worth forking out for

MikeAth from Cheltenham [Highly rated reviewer] , 24/06/2008

Really good epic film. As it has been mentioned though, it's just a set-up for the next films and not really the complete tale in itself.

If you're into Crouching Tiger, Hero or House of Flying Daggers etc this is a film for you. The cinematography is second to none and characters are very convincing.

This is a difficult story to tell because it spans a large amount of time, so you find yourself being skipped forward 5 years or so at a time. The creators must have had some difficult decisions to make when deciding what to include whilst minimising the length of the film in total. Not quite as ass-numbing as some epics I could name but it's close!

Def worth a watch if you don't mind the subtitles.

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Impressive

CML from Glasgow , 10/10/2008

Gorgeous to watch and thoroughly entertaining. Don't expect a documentary - just watch it with an open mind...

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mongol

ukrush from s.wirral [Highly rated reviewer] , 09/10/2008

ok cant say much about this one

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