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Mongol

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Mongol (2008)

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Reviews Counted:98

Fresh:85

Rotten:13

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.

Australian Rating: TBC

Runtime: 2 hrs 4 mins

Genre: Dramas

Australian Theatrical Release:
Jun 19, 2008 Wide

US 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... 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 early years of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader. Mongol shows us the making of an extraordinary man, and the foundation on which so much of his greatness rested: his relationship with his wife, Borte, his lifelong love and most trusted advisor.

Filmed in the very lands that gave birth to Genghis Khan, Mongol transports us back to a distant and exotic period in world history; to a nomad's landscape of endless space, climatic extremes and ever-present danger. In a performance of powerful stillness and subtlety, celebrated young Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu (Zatoichi, Last Life in the Universe) captures the inner fire that enabled a hunted boy to become a legendary conqueror. Asano's achievement is matched by those of his co-stars, including the radiant newcomer Khulan Chuluun as Temudgin's courageous, spirited wife Borte, and the Chinese actor Honglei Sun (The Road Home) as the Mongol chieftain Jamukha, Temudgin's dearest friend and deadliest enemy. Masterfully blending action and emotion against some of the most arresting terrain on earth, Bodrov delivers an exciting and awe-inspiring tale of survival and triumph, and a love story for the ages. --© Picturehouse
[More]

Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren

Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren, Aliy A, Ba Sen, Amadu Mamadakov, Ba Yin, He Qi, Sun Ben Hou, Ji Ri Mu Tu

Director: Sergei Bodrov

Director: Sergei Bodrov
Screenwriter: Arif Aliyev, Sergei Bodrov
Producer: Sergey Selyanov, Sergei Bodrov, Anton Melnik
Composer: Tuomas Kantelinen
Studio: Picturehouse

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Reviews for Mongol

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The visuals and performances make it worth it, but this is a wilfully oblique bit of warrior hagiography.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia | comment Comment
06/20/08
Michael Adams
Michael Adams
Empire Magazine Australasia
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Genghis Khan's lost decade fuels a handsome fantasy.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
07/10/08
Sandra Hall
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You might wonder how Bodrov could fail to make every minute of Genghis Khan's extraordinary life near edge-of-the-seat involving, but there are some dull stretches before the pace picks up again.

Full Review Source: Courier Mail (Australia) | comment Comment
06/13/08
Des Partridge
Des Partridge
Courier Mail (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Russian director Sergei Bodrov has made a magnificent epic which evokes some of the greats of the past, including Lawrence of Arabia.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
06/13/08
David Stratton
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

'Vast landscapes, savage battles, sparring blood brothers and a poignant love story form the essence of Sergei Bodrov's spectacular epic, among whose achievements are its extraordinary sense of place and time.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
06/12/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even the most intense human drama is somehow reduced by the landscape.

Full Review Source: The Australian | comment Comment
06/20/08
Evan Williams
Evan Williams
The Australian
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Temudgin is so single-minded that Asano has trouble suggesting much about his inner life.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
06/20/08
Jake Wilson
Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mongol is an impressive epic that also captures intimate moments in the early life of the Mongolian leader.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
06/20/08
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

There are plenty of haunting landscapes... along with the sort of warfare scenes that define epics, but also an unexpected take on one of history's most fearsome leaders.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
06/20/08
Walter V. Addiego
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle

If a hero is to deserve this much spectacle, he ought to be at least a little bit interesting.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
06/05/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Bold, epic battle-happy movie that humanizes the world-conqueror and gives him plenty to be aggressive about.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
06/06/08
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday

History's greatest subjugator finally gets the respect he deserves with a no-nonsense drama and an all-Asian cast, shot in the very lands he once ravaged.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
06/19/08
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Adventure story, love story, history lesson: What's not to like?

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
05/14/08
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International

Probably the only movie you'll ever see that opens in '1192 -- Year of the Black Rat.'

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
06/27/08
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

There's never enough detail to make these historical figures come to life in a compelling way.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
06/05/08
Geoff Berkshire
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com

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.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
06/27/08
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

shows a merging of the random vagaries of time with the divine machinery of myth, to create a truly rounded picture of the factors that can turn a flesh-and-blood individual into a living legend on the very crest of history.

Full Review Source: musicOMH.com | comment Comment
06/02/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
musicOMH.com

Mongol, for all the intense action and warfare, is also a character study of a great leader and strategist.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
06/06/08
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Mongol presents a Khan with a spring in his step and love in his heart. And, OK, some wrath.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
06/05/08
Paul Brenner
Paul Brenner
Filmcritic.com

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.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
06/25/08
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
 
 
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Latest News for Mongol

January 08, 2009: Broadcast Film Critics Name Critics' Choice Winners
The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were given on January 8, 2009, to honor the finest achievements in 2008 filmmaking. A list of nominees follows below, with winners in bold: More...

October 22, 2008: More impressed with its own olden days ready-to-rumble, flesh-ripping Far Eastern beatdowns, than fleshing out with any depth just who these characters were and how they struggled to exist back then. History as a scenic but dramatically sparse travelogue. Opens in new window
More...

June 05, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Black vs. Sandler in Comedy Showdown
Two big doses of comedy from a pair of Hollywood's funniest men will hit the multiplexes across North America on Friday in a fierce battle for the number one spot. For family... More...

March 30, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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