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.
Comment
06/27/08
Mongol (2008)
87
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
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 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... [More]
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren
Director: Sergei Bodrov
Reviews for Mongol
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 CriticThis - the first of a trilogy - is a coming-of-age story about the nomadic lad who eventually became the great warrior, Genghis Khan.
06/21/08
I liked it, even though the one-bloody-battle-after-another deal is not my sort of thing. If it's your sort, I bet you'll like it even more.
06/20/08
Bodrov's movie is most likely to be remembered for its fierce battle sequences, which frequently place the camera smack in the middle of the action.
06/20/08
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.
06/20/08
Bodrov has simply created an overwhelmingly awesome Khan who could believably conquer the overwhelmingly awesome landscape over the course of two more films.
06/20/08
Give Mongol’s makers credit for taking advantage of the spectacular scenery and creating an almost documentary reality regarding life among Mongolia’s nomads. But as storytelling the film goes nowhere slowly.
06/20/08
A broad, old-fashioned epic in the David Lean mold.
06/20/08
Bodrov and Arif Aliyev wrote the film, which was one of this year's foreign-language Oscar nominees, and their account is framed as a drama of inflamed loins and intense loyalty.
06/20/08
The movie would be an unbearably grueling endurance test for the audience and the hero were it not for the arid beauty of the Great Steppe and the sweep of the battles, rendered with splatters of gore that lend a Jackson Pollock-like excitement to [it].
06/20/08
Asano's Khan is a hero in the classic mold, and the portrayal is riveting. Not entirely so the film, however, which concludes with a lengthy endnote as though it were Steppe Wars IV: A New Hope and Equal Plunder for All Men.
06/20/08
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. 
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
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