Mongol

This film portrays the rise of Genghis Khan in a grandiose fashion that really likes to show off landscapes. The historical period is very violent and there is a lot of warfare and slavery in this film. Ultimately it is quite dramatic in the vein of Gladiator (2000) but does not reach those heights.

Epic cinema is typically characterised by large, historical stories, and stunning visual environments. These days, it mainly utilised computer-generated imagery (whereas once it involved the construction of giant sets and the employment of thousands of extras); but CGI can be disappointing, when overdone, it makes the impossible look real - but the impossible never convinces, however superficially realistic. Sergei Bodrov's 'Mongol', a story of the rise of Ghengis Khan, thankfully doesn't go overboard on the CGI; what it does feature is the awesome and (to many viewers) unfamiliar landscape of central Asia, and it's this that is the real star of the film. The narrative is ropey, the interplay between the characters much thinner, say, than that in 'Cleopatra'; but the amazing landscape drives the story and keeps you watching. I doubt there's much true history to be learnt by watching this; but the spectacle is immense.

this is the second film about Genghis Khan i have viewed.the other one is entitled(the English translation) Genghis Khan: to the Ends of the Earth and Sea.i enjoyed that one.i also liked this movie,although they are two very different movies.this one is much more story driven.there is lots more dialogue and slower moments.most of the central characters are the same,but the circumstances involving how they meet are changed somewhat.there are also some characters that are not in the previous movie.visually,this movie looks great,and the music is haunting.the acting,once again is good.there is no option for English dubbing on the disc,but there are Spanish and English subtitles.i can't say i enjoyed this movie quite as much as the other Genghis Khan movie,although i may have to watch it again,and my opinion could change.regardless,it's a very well done film.8/10

Very pretty scenery. Good cinematography. Everything else is stupid. With a fascinating subject to work with the filmmakers produced an annoying and almost plodding film. Instead of showing even one moment regarding uniting the tribes (except for a battle scene), they instead resort to empty scenes of abracadabra. Scenes of Temujin's childhood, instead of expounding on his personal relationships or giving a taste of period Mongol culture, show only scenes of cruelty or completely fanciful interactions. The film does nothing to explain how Temujin's formative years created an emperor beyond saying, "people were mean to him." A very disappointing film.

I'd read in a newspapper that Genghis Khan was in top of long list as the most killer of all time, left behind Hitler, Napoleon, Alexander and many others, his history were told several times in the cinema, around 800 books written over the bloody man, according some reliable sources one third of the worldwide population has your genes due he raped many thousand chinese women and all neighbors of Mongolia countries has the same destiny,that's no small thing, their inroads in a chinese villages he and his army didn't spare children up to 7 years old, back to the picture itself actually a well done production, if it was true or not who cares, has been an Russian-German co-prodution, a lavish and sumptuous enterprise, l've reserve myself to see this nasty characters as really he was to his victims!!! Resume: First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

Enjoyable as art, but don't leave this movie thinking you've learned all that much about Genghis Khan or Mongolia during that period. Most of the "information" you'll absorb is just fiction. The details of Temujin's early career and the culture and costumes of the Mongol nomads are wildly embellished here. The filmmakers are obviously capitalizing on the fact that most westerners know very little about Mongolian history, and are presenting a fantasy view of it. This movie teaches you as much about real 12th century Mongolians as 300 taught you about real ancient Persians. Enjoy the spectacle, but take the history with a grain of salt. But anyone who is encouraged to learn more should check out an old BBC documentary miniseries called "Storm From the East". It covers the whole Mongol empire in plenty of detail.

There is much discrepancy with history and its starts from the beginning of film: - Temuchin left to live in Borte family camp; - There was only one enslavement in his life, which is first in the film; - There is no word about Van-khan, the man, who helped him to defeat other tribes, including Tatars; - the battle with Jamukha is really unrealistic in the movie... and the last - too many interesting and significant episodes were omitted by producers... And I could close my eyes on it, if the movie was positioned as "fantasy of Bodrov about Chinigiskhan", but it considered as historical... It is far below my expectations