Mongol

In the 12th century, an orphaned young slave named Temudjin (Tadanobu Asano) escapes from his captors and begins the journey that will lead him to become one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever known. Honglei Sun and Ying Bai co-star in this Oscar-nominated epic adventure from writer-director Sergei Bodrov, the first in a trilogy that spans the life story of Genghis Khan.

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» Recommended for 5 people

» Reviewed by 6 people

Inaccurate. A large percentage of chinese now have khan heritage trackable through dna. This does not jive with the story told by this film at all. Khan expanded his empire so far he almost took over europe. In the film nothing really gives you a clue about this kind of expansionist power. In fact for most of the film what you see of the mongol society is so primitive and small that you would think they could barely defend themselves. The story is also thin on details, it jumps forward in time several times with little explanation. The essential details/story of how khan came to lead a large army of followers is simply skipped. It is instead just assumed you will accept it. The film also ends rather suddenly. Even worse the battle scenes are cheap feeling and unrealistic. It is all rather pg13 with swords constantly inflicting "fatal" shallow slicing flesh wounds. Other supposed battle tactics such as riding with two held out are just absurd. I'd suggest a recent BBC Genghis Khan (2005) directed by Edward Bazalgette which has far greater historical accuracy and is more compelling to boot. it does in 50 minutes what this film can't do in 2 hours, give you a real idea of the man. sadly i don't think this site carries this production for rental. please request it! people should know the real genghis, not the one portrayed in this film. imdb title tt0460806
- VL 741266

The cinematography was exqusitie. But you have a story to tell like Genghis Khan, the film could have been much more. The number of potholes annoyed me but didn't distract from a beautifully shot movie.
- Duke of Oysters

As counterpoint to some of the more positive reviews, I'd just like to say that I found this to be a thoroughly sentimental, Hollywood-style potboiler. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the ethnographic or historical detail, but there are some gorgeously-filmed landscapes, and the direction is lyrical and the action sequences muscular. For romance, action, and heroic myth-making, it's pretty okay. But for a truer sense of Mongolian life (well, Mongolian life in the 20th century), try another Russian director, Nikita Mikhalkov, who directed a great film called "Close to Eden" about Mongolian rural life.
- Mickster

This film is both wildly entertaining and wildly frustrating. Painfully obvious that this was made with western audiences in mind, the production values are as good as you're going to find anywhere. The look and feel of this movie is absolutely fantastic. You're in for a treat with its beautifully crisp imagery set amidst a phenomenal landscape. On the other hand, don't expect to get a history lesson here. I was particularly aggravated that important, relevant, character building aspects of his personal life were either quickly glossed over or ignored altogether. But I'm a snob, and those things generally bother me no matter how good a movie is otherwise. So having said that, I really expect that most people will thoroughly enjoy this. Unless they hate subtitles, that is.
- Photo Heathen

This is a hard review for me to write, because I have such mixed feelings about this movie, and it's hard to explain without giving something away. First of all I really liked this film even though there were many things that bother me about it. Genghis Khan to me is one of the most fascinating historical figures and probably my favorite conqueror. For years I have waited for a good movie about him. I hope this film generates lots of copycats and sequels. This covers Temudjin's childhood and then his rise to power up to his uniting of the Mongol tribes. It left me wanting more. I think I would have preferred a more summarized version of that in order to see the Mongols conquer part of China. There were many convenient plot loopholes where the scene would change or some assumed mystical force would resolve a problem without explanation. Temudjin was a really nice guy, too nice in my opinion, and didn't start killing anyone until he was an adult, which I think goes against both history and legend. Also I think there was too much romance. On the positive side I really loved the cinematography with the vast panoramas of the mongolian country and the battle scenes were pretty good. Also the costumes and weaponry appeared pretty authentic, but I think the horses were too big. Please excuse me for picking it apart but I would have loved to love this movie and I only liked it a lot.
- couchdog53

Mongol is a strikingly beautiful film. The cinematography is lush and utilizes the odd landscapes to truly evoke this era. Bodrov deserves lots of praise for this first installment of the epic life of Gengis Khan. The film is well casted, perfectly acted, and executed with precision. The storyline, though it's largely based on what is known of Gengis Khan's life, is very familiar and the filmmakers do not bring a whole lot of fresh storytelling to the table, but they do an excellent job with the format they've chosen for the story (an epic outline and a straightforward biopic). Despite the storytelling feeling a little too familiar the film is beautiful and worthy of all the praise that has been heaped upon it. The next installments of this film are certainly something to look forward to.
- Dlukenelson