Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan

One of my all-time favorite movies. A different view of the world! Genghis Khan as seen through the eyes of eastern Asia. The story of his childhood, youth, and early years up to the point that he goes on his international campaign. He is told as a hero with high moral and spiritual stature, extraordinary leadership skills, and a pure and dedicated spouse. Sweeping vistas. Beautiful cinematography. Subtitles are easy to read and effective. Very compelling and fun story. Lots of war scenes between up-close-and-personal scenes in which you learn the details about characters and their interactions. This would be an unusual combination for Western movies (e.g., war and real character development). It works well for an Asian movie. The lead actor was also recently in Silence (2016), a movie about missionaries in Japan in the mid-17th century; and 47 Ronin (2013), a shogun/magic story that is a sort of stand-in, in its own way, for East/West relations (set in an unspecified earlier century).

I did not know this movie was not in English (only subtitles) until my husband started watching it. I had bought it because I knew the subject matter would interest him. I know he does not like to read subtitles, so I offered to remove the movie from the DVD player for him, but he chose to continue watching it. At the end of the DVD, he said it was one of the best movies he had ever seen, and that was even with having to read the subtitles.

I don't think I've ever seen Genghis Khan being portrayed as what he was a human being and an amazing warrior and human being ... what he endured and he rose above .this movie revealed a side to a man who indeed.... was a great man..On a personal note I've studied... no no not of schooling but as schooling just for my own personal knowledge ... I love learning of people in history ... Warriors in part to learn not only of who they were as Warriors but who they were as people and you really did capture that and I thank you for that especially ... Genghis Khan who doesn't usually get a fair shake in movies.thank you for telling the story and the way that history did not remember him ...Kathy from Vacaville California

Pros*Beautiful and epic cinematography of Central Asia and the Mongolian Steppes-Immersive*Excellent actors-Tadanobu Asano gives a quiet but intense portrayal of a young Genghis KhanCons*Story omits or skips over several pieces of Temujin's life-It does so in favor of focusing mainly on his relationship with his wife, Borte-This, however, prevents us from fully seeing how Temujin acquired the brutal aspects of his personality (ruthless attitude toward enemies)RecommendationI recommend watching this film. It was well made and is a pleasure to watch and hear.For those desiring to learn more about Temujin and his life, I highly reading Conn Iggulden's "Genghis: Birth of an Empire" (part of a 5-part Historical Fiction series) which provides a plausible and more fully-rounded view of his early life.

Definitely one of those hidden gem films that you would never think to watch on its own, but once you see it you become hooked. This movie tells the story of Temujin prior to becoming Genghis Khan. Obviously a "based on a true story" movie, but it is really well done and does a great job of telling the story of how the man went from slave to the leader of one of the largest empires in recorded history.The multi-ethnic cast does well and has pretty good chemistry together. The action scenes are well done and although the blood spatter is a little fake, it does not take you out of the scene too much. It's well shot, well acted, and while some parts are a little rough due to using so many different groups of people, it still does an amazing job of entertaining you and telling an exciting story. It is definitely one you shouldn't miss!

This was a very good story for people like me that like history and culture. The Mongol culture depicted in this movie was fascinating to me because I do like history and culture. Reading the captions in English while they were speaking Mongolian in the movie was tedious. Can't take you eyes off the screen or you would miss something that matters to the story. The movie, because of the content, the telling of the story of Genghis Kahn's life and what he did, was very long. My wife got up and left. I would never recommend this movie to anyone who does not really like studying history and/or culture because it would drive you away because it is so long. But the movie's story, was accurate entertaining and well done.

Director Sergey Bodrov brings to the screen in this 2007 production with the use of stunning cinematography by Rogier Stoffers and Sergey Trofimov which shows off the vistas of Kazakhstan and China to great effect; the story tells of the early life of Genghis Khan and how events in the early part of his life lead him to become the legendary conqueror who rose from slavery to conquer half the World.This region B 25GB disc for once is superior to the US region free release as audio track on the region B copy of this movie has Mongolian DTS-HD Master Audio and Mongolian Dolby Digital Stereo with Hard encoded English subtitles whereas the American copy is only Dolby Digital 5.1 with English and Spanish subtitles the UK release is encoded using VC-1 codec as is the US but the UK version is in the original 2.39.1 aspect ratio the American has been changed to 2.35.1 ratio both copies are in full 1080p resolution but the UK copy seems to have had a better transfer showing off the wonderful landscapes to their full effect, there are only a couple of bonus items "The making of Mongol" and the theatrical trailer there also appears to be no extras at all on the US copy both versions of the movie have the full running time of 126 minutes.Comparing the Blu-ray against the DVD the sound of the horses hoof beats thunder across the plains watching the Blu-ray along with a better and more realistic palette of colours that look brighter and clearer and now watching the Blu-ray the DVD has a lifeless and dull looking with a lacklustre soundtrack that sounds muffled compared to the HD format a worthy addition to a Blu-ray collection.....

Mongol - The Rise To Power Of Genghis Khan [DVD] [2008 ]The name Genghis Khan raises thoughts of the world's most brutal conqueror, but director Sergei Bodrov seeks to change all this, showing us a highly intelligent, fair minded and forward thinking leader.With so little known of Genghis Kahn except for his conquests one wonders if all the humane characteristics attributed to him have historical validity, for example pioneering the concept of diplomatic immunity, not killing women and children, fairness, and a very simple legal code.Mongol is the first film in a proposed trilogy on the life of Genghis Khan (Tadanobu Asano), and covers the period from the death of his father to his status as leader.Terrible trials are attributed to the young Genghis with repeated captures and imprisonments, finally emerging as the leader, his selecting a wife Borte (Khulan Chuluun) at the age of ten and their future relationship. Also his best friend Jamukha (Honglei Sun) becomes his deadliest enemy.This is not an action packed epic, but towards the end there are some fine battle scenes. The best cavalry manoeuvre I have ever seen occurs when a charge suddenly changes into a crescent formation with the riders wielding two swords, (one in each hand with the tips touching their neighbours) mounting a truly terrifying assault.Shot in beautiful Mongolian country, dialogue in Mongolian, mainly with Japanese actors.Beautifully acted, filmed, produced and with a fascinating film score this is a great DVD. Mongol - The Rise To Power Of Genghis Khan [DVD] [2008

Excellent film, not sure how historically accurate it is, but its very good. The performances are fantastic, and the character of Ghengis Khan is outstanding. The film follows the rise of Ghengis Khan from childhood into the great Khan himself. He’s presented in a very human way, not the warlord you may have read about.This Blu Ray offers a very clear, beautiful picture and is the best way to view this epic.

I am greatly disillusioned at the rubbish meted out by the Westernized movie studio's, they all seem to be the same and, predictable these days, so, I took the bull by the horns and purchased this film based on an earlier review on here. I was not let down one jot. Yes it is a relationship story, it is also a take on history as it can be interpreted these days, it has a cast of seemingly millions, very scenic in content, acted brilliantly by a lot of amateurs rubbing shoulders with professionals, plus, very authentic in all scenes. I can recommend this film totally. It is neither bloated by CGI, without heavy script with meaningless symbolism, it is harsh, realistic and easy on the eyes... A very potent film for the 21st Century.

An exciting telling of the early part of the Genghis Kahn legend. This is a BIG PICTURE, with fantastic production all the way around. Great acting from veritable unknowns in the west but stars in their own countries. The exception is the young girl who plays Genghis Kahn's wife/love interest, who is exceptional and it turns out has never acted before. Their are a few bumps in the script but telling as grand a story as this, we forgave them. You must watch the "making of" included on the disc, to get a full enjoyment of the production and the difficulties they faced to bring this off.