Mongol is fantastic!

It's intimately epic - - I can't give it higher praise than that.

The storytelling is phenomenal - - it's been quite a while since I've seen a foreign language film where my memory of it is entirely in English. The story was so involving, so accelerating, so surprisingly fatalistic, that I was drawn into it as if it were my own. The cinematography is well beyond exemplary and teetering into painterly. The action scenes cut to the heart of the drama. The acting is Oscar worthy (that's if the Oscars themselves were Oscar worthy which, of course, they're not).

This little historical epic makes the recent LOTR adaptation look all the more like the juvenile interpretation it is. Take note of the director's name... Sergei Bodrov. You'll be seeing a lot more of it in the years to come.

...and this is merely the first part of a trilogy - - the early years of Ghengis Khan. I can't wait to see the rest of this brilliant film...

25 out of 5.

If you write me, don't write me with your bullshit nickname out of the Internet, so that I could track you down and rip you apart. Good Bye.

Ummmm. Yeah

Yeah, because I'm the only genius in the whole f$cking busines.

I believe the problem is that there are too many geniuses...

Heh, Can't believe no one apparently got Rump's quotes, especially with the latest one being so obvious (I got it after the first, though).

...

Oh.

I guess I'm not up on my Uwe - - but I still don't get the point of cluttering up this thread with it...

I guess that's because I'm humor impaired.

It has a very similar story to "Gladiator," so I'll compare the two.

These two films chronicle the rise of a tough warrior in an ancient kingdom. One film became a $150m+ hit domestically and $450m+, whereas the other will probably finish with less than $25m around the world.

And in my opinion, these are two similar-in-quality films, so why is there such a huge difference? Because one's in English and the other is not? Regardless...

"Mongol" is undoubtedly the most visually stunning foreign film I have ever seen, and its incredible landscapes and settings trump that of "Gladiator."

The acting in "Mongol" doesn't quite measure up to the great central performances in "Gladiator," but the actors do a solid job.

While "Gladiator" has some heavier visual effects, "Mongol" puts its effects to better use, creating stunning small-scale (and one large-scale) battles with a limited scope but a beauty to them.

The stories and writing on both parts was pretty much equal in my opinion; both had great, almost-over-the-top dialogue.

One of "Mongol's" problems was that, despite only being a bit over two hours, it seemed to drag a bit towards the end, something that I never felt with "Gladiator."

"Gladiator" had some awesome battles, especially for its time, but as I said earlier, "Mongol" has these visually impeccable, borderline artistic battles where even the blood has a visual impact on the image...it's kind of like the way I felt about the "Kill Bill" violent scenes, except done with more of an aim for realism.

The ending of "Gladiator" was stronger and more definitive than that of "Mongol," but both were very fitting for their respective movie.

In terms of entertainment value, as surprised as I am to say this, the two films come out equal. Even though "Mongol" had the foreign language, the quiet inner-struggle, and the slow scenes working against it, it's a VERY entertaining film as you watch the future Genghis Khan run and fight his way around.

In the end, I might deem "Gladiator" a hair better than "Mongol," but "Mongol" deserves a hell of a lot more praise than it has gotten, and stands as one of the better sword-and-sandals epics AND biopics that I've seen.

A-

At least Picturehouse is giving it a push and expanding it to 94 theaters this week.

Why is no one else going to see this awesome epic movie???

I really want to see this film. Its doing very well here - made it into the Top 8.

This film blew me away. Its one of the best period/biopic/action/genre/whatever you want to call films out there, dare I say its epic. Because if its not then its as damn close to one as you're going to get. The story is mesmerizing as it blends myth, legend, fantasy and truth into a truly engaging and enduring story. The story is so well done you actually feel sorry for one of the most brutal men who ever lived. While the cinematography is simply amazing. It captures the rugged beauty and brutality of the harsh enviroment in which our characters inhabit. I like Bradley's word for it painterly. This is worth seeing just for the way it looks.
For those of you who don't like reading your films this is a foreign language film that doesn't need the subtitles in order for you to understand whats happening. Everything you need to know is told through facial expressions and body language.

This is one of those films that should not be overlooked in theatres. If its playing near you go and see it.

Grade A+

Mr Pink, you need to update your sig.

Funny you should say that. I was in the process of updating it last night and my power went off while I was half way through. It's updated now.

Now come on people go out and see this great film

I thought we would see Mongols charging through the Great wall of China and we get a slow moving story where a guy gets kidnapped like 100 times.

B...

Watched it via Netflix Instant Watch tonight. Interesting but the unfinished nature of the film is inevitably frustrating. Kind of hilarious though that the film does show him getting captured seemingly countless times. I will see The Great Khan, the second part of the trilogy currently set for release next year.

I'm not sure the sequel is still coming...

Why wouldn't it? There's a Feb. 12, 2010 story from ScreenDaily in which the director states that production begins shortly in the same three countries the first one was filmed.

Because I can find no IMDB listing, no recent news on it and because it was supposed to hit the screens in 2009 as far as I remember.

See edited post.

Here's the story: