pasany
Before I saw the Japanese letters I thought it's a Hollywood movie, its characteristic is so Hollywoodish: perceptibly big budget, nice effects, and baaad script. The movie has pretty nice battle scenes and costumes, but probably that's all positive in it. While watching it I kept feeling it's not how steppe people behave, and sometimes I felt it's not like any people behave. Many scenes were overacted and/or corny. Gengishes character was quite different than the real life Gengish probably was. And the movies atmosphere was killed by the totally inappropriate music. That bugged me the most, they constantly used those customary corny symphonic tones we usually hear in the love scenes in Hollywood films! The finishing stroke was the end title music, which was some pop song! For a movie like this they should have used some Central Asian music! Only that would fit.I try to cite some real wtf moments (SPOILERS HERE!): (I think the whole childhood part could be cited, it's the worst part of the movie. I'm not sure if the young actors were bad or the script or both, but that part got really screwed!) When Gengish goes with his father go to look for a wife, there is a kinda stupid conversation between them in which the father mentions the blue wolf, as if the 14 years old boy haven't heard about that before. It's clear that he actually tells it to the audience, not to his son, but then why must he tell it?! They use a narrator, why doesn't she tells it instead? That would sound much less stupid!When Gengish meets Börte, they just stand near each other, and the writers couldn't give them any intelligent lines!Then comes Börtes friend, Jamuka (or how it's written), he just meets Genghis, they speak a very few words to each other, and they go for an archery contest right away. (Of course Gengish wins, with exceptional accuracy.)After the contest they vow eternal friendship. (Remember, they know each other for no longer than an hour!!!)As they vow, Jamuka explains to Genghis (actually to the audience again) what this friendship means, as if he didn't know! Again, why couldn't they use the narrator for the explanation, this makes Genghis look like a complete idiot!1-2 days later a messenger comes with bad news, and instead of telling them right away, he says "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" for minutes. And when he finally tells, Genghis acts like a total moron again!One time he is too coward to pull out his sword and fight his enemy. He runs away, than returns and kills his enemy when he sleeps. I'm not sure, maybe this was his true personality, but then why do they suggest differently other times? And if they want to picture him as a positive hero, then why didn't they make him win in a sword-fight? (All the above-mentioned scenes are from the childhood part!!!)In the whole movie people sit (or stand) not in front of, but next to each other (and in front of the camera). It's so unreal!When he captures Jamuka (after bloody fights, where even he almost got killed), he offers him to be his right hand, but Jamuka turns it down and asks Gengish to choke him with his own hands. Gengish does this only after a long hesitation (and Jamukas body don't twitch a single time when he is chocked!). Common who buys this bullshit?!When his son dies, Gengish overacts his role so much, I almost turned the player off right away!There is a very stupid conversation at the end between Genghis and his bodyguard: she asks him why does he continue the conquests, when he managed to unify the Mongol tribes. He says that wherever he gets, borders are washed away, this makes flourish the trade, life will be richer, and ultimately, there will be peace! This is a lie from the mouth of any conquer, but especially bullshit from such a ruthless one as him! Yeah, thriving trade and richer life, when most people of the conquered towns are slaughtered mercilessly, and the rest are enslaved!The movie ends as he orders a cavalry assault against the Great Wall. Cavalry assault against a fort!!! Like that they would have never conquered China!Every tribe had uniforms! In the 12-13th century! That's not very realistic is it? But actually this is forgivable, because like that it's easy to make difference between the units in the battle scenes. It's still unreal tough.Well, there are much more, but these came to my mind now. And I think it's enough to see why is this movie a failure.
disdressed12
i thought this was a very well made movie,both from a technical and visual standpoint.i have no idea how historically factual it is.Obviously the character of Genghis Khan did exist and probably around the time the movie depicts.whether completely factual or not(and most movies,other than documentaries,are not)i did like how they depicted Khan.we see him at birth,as a young boy,growing into a man,finally at adulthood.they really showed him first as a human being,then a warrior.in this movie,he isn't some bloodthirsty tyrant.i also thought the battle scenes were pretty realistic.there was very little CG,maybe one overhead shot.the acting was very good,as was the music.the only thing i had a bit of a problem with was there were so many warring tribes,it was hard to keep track of who was who.and it is pretty long,about 130 minutes without end credits.this particular DVD had the option of dubbed English,or Japanese with English subtitles.i viewed the movie with the subtitles,after trying the dubbed version for the first few minutes,and finding it too distracting.my recommendation is the subtitles.for me,Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea is a 9/10
Wotan131
A very good movie about Temujiin's early life and how he became Genghis Khan, leader of all Mongol tribes. The acting was simply good, the costumes worn seemed very realistic and combined with spherical shots of the Mongolian steppes makes that you really get sucked into the story and the world in which it takes place. Battle scenes were also abundant and realistic, showing the mounted warfare of past times.As a rather critical person when it comes to historical accuracy, I'd recommend this to anyone that likes historical movies. Though this movie has it's inaccuracies, they do not hurt Temujin's character or the movie in general. Coming from the West, I also had no problem with the actors speaking Japanese instead of Mongolian. Simply see it if you have the chance, you won't be disappointed.
