It's a lumbering, emotionally cold, slow-going old-fashioned escapist sweeping biopic on the early years of Genghis Khan.
Comment
07/19/08
Rate This Movie
Mongol (2008)
88 %
Reviews Counted: 93 Fresh: 82 Rotten:11 Average Rating: 7.1/10
Consensus:
The sweeping Mongol mixes romance, family drama, and enough flesh-ripping battle scenes to make sense of Ghenghis Khan's legendary stature.
Rated: R [See Full Rating]
Runtime: 2 hrs 4 mins
Theatrical Release: Jun 6, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $5,621,596
Synopsis: Award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains) illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan in his stunning historical epic, Mongol. Based on leading scholarly accounts and written by Bodrov and Arif Aliyev, Mongol delves into the dramatic and harrowing... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren, Aliy A
Director: Sergei Bodrov
Screenwriter: Arif Aliyev, Sergei Bodrov
Producer: Sergey Selyanov, Sergei Bodrov, Anton Melnik
Composer: Tuomas Kantelinen
Screenwriter: Arif Aliyev, Sergei Bodrov
Producer: Sergey Selyanov, Sergei Bodrov, Anton Melnik
Composer: Tuomas Kantelinen
Reviews
When we think of the fearsome Genghis Khan, we don't picture him as ever having been a little boy. But he must have been, and that is where this grand throwback to the sweeping historical epics of yesteryear takes up the Great Khan's story.
07/11/08
Top Critic
... Bodrov's engaging vision of Genghis Khan in several moments almost feels like the silent movie epics by the Russian cinematic pioneer Sergei Eisenstein.
07/10/08
A saga of blood feuds, betrayals, vendettas, and a lot of fighting The film is entertaining but more macho than intelligent.
07/07/08
It must have been a pretty weak year for subtitled fare if the Oscar voters sought to praise this inert, inept epic.
07/05/08
Mongol has just enough characterization to sustain its own reason for being -- cinematic fullness.
06/29/08
Top Critic
A thoroughly rousing hunk of celluloid, a war saga that blends the sturdiest conventions of old-fashioned heroic storytelling with a few pixilated battle enhancements — check out the soaring blood globs — of the kind that spattered across 300.
06/27/08
Top Critic
The battle sequences are tremendous, and the performances are captivating, making for the sort of rousing, giant-scale entertainment that a figure as towering as Genghis Khan deserves.
06/27/08
The melodrama is as thick as the blood in the spectacular battle sequences, but Asano's soulful performance brings this little-understood historical icon passionately to life.
06/27/08
Probably the only movie you'll ever see that opens in '1192 -- Year of the Black Rat.'
06/27/08
...an action movie that, for a change, comes from the history books, not the comic books.
06/27/08
There is plenty of violence. But anyone expecting the wrath of Kahn will have to wait for the sequel.
06/26/08
Even though the results might not be as stunning as Kurosawa's epics, the film certainly has its highlights, especially the often-bloody battle scenes.
06/26/08
Mongol, from its thrilling battles to its intimate romance, has the look, scale, story and feel of an old-fashioned epic in the best and biggest sense of the word.
06/26/08
The real star here is director and co-writer Sergei Bodrov, who largely turns his back on CGI effects and creates stirring battle scenes the old-fashioned way.
06/25/08
'Mongol' is so beautifully photographed that it should knock your socks off.
06/24/08
Not that I'm a fan of violent behavior, but if I'm watching a movie about Genghis Khan, I expect more gut-wrenching slaughter than this.
06/24/08
The action sequences here are first-rate, the performances are uniformly excellent, the cinematography as good as I’ve seen in any film this year.
06/23/08
Top CriticPictures
Trailers & Clips
News
Box Office Guru Preview: Black vs. Sandler in Comedy Showdown
posted by Gitesh Pandya June 05, 2008
Two big doses of comedy from a pair of Hollywood's funniest men will hit the multiplexes across North America on Friday...
posted by Gitesh Pandya June 05, 2008
Two big doses of comedy from a pair of Hollywood's funniest men will hit the multiplexes across North America on Friday...
IGN RSS Feeds