Ilia Muromets

I remember seeing this film on the "Million Dollar Movie" on channel 9 {in the New York area} in the early 60s and I also had the Dell comic book adaptation.As a child it was impressive and it still holds up today.Basically its the story of the legendary Ilya Murometz{the Russian Giant}and his attempt to rid his land of the invading Tugars-in reality Mongols-who had their name changed for this film.The film features beautiful color photography, some massive battle scenes set against an Eisenstein like darkening sky, decent special effects like the Wind Demon, the Pig Man , the three headed fire dragon and some musical numbers too,including a sexy belly dancer at the Tugar's camp-adolescent fantasy material! .There probably is a pro Soviet message, but due to the fall of the Soviet Union it is no longer relevant.The acting which has often been criticized is actually pretty good on its own level, its just the English dubbing that somewhat works against it.An early example of the medieval themed "sword and sorcery" genre that became briefly popular in the 80s with films like "Excalibur" and "Conan the Barbarian", this one is entertaining, well produced and has an overall sense of innocence and wonder about it that is hard to resist. It may not be perfect, but it does what it has to do very well. Give it a shot. You might enjoy it.

First things first: Get ahold of a good recording of Rheinhold Gliere's 1908-11 Op.42 - his Third Symphony - "Ilya Muromets".... Take a long drive in the most spectacular countryside you can find and make it a LONG drive as the symphony is 85 minutes LONG! In the grand tradition, then, of master Russian composers, Gliere' (think Bruckner or Mahler with Wagnerian overtones in a strong Russian accent!) created a complex and moving masterpiece of visual splendor. Google Gliere' and see what I mean; this masterwork is greatly beloved worldwide. You and the little kids must see this epic film of the bylini, or MYTH of Ilya Muromets. If you get the DVD, I suggest watching it with the symphony in your headphones and the remote in your hand. You will be able, with creative effort and grand delight, to 'orchestrate' the movie to the music, and vice-versa! It will thrill you even more to be such an interactive participant. In what for this writer is an indelible childhood memory: standing in a LONG line outside the Lowes Theater on Grand Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri - after drooling over the TV commercials for weeks- then being totally enthralled by Ptushko's theatrics and cinematic wonders on the Big Screen! But to top it off, dear Daddy took us home and cranked up the old SCOTT HI FI, put the 1956 Columbia recording of the #3 in B Minor by the Philaelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy (see the review at AMAZON by Avrohom Leichtling of Botstein's version with the LSO) and we acted it out all over again! What a stirring memory even now as I type these words! SO....Get this movie and see it with a couple of six and seven year old boys and pretend right along with them!

Like many who have reviewed the film before me, I saw this first as a child at a theater. The action parts impressed me, tremendous battle scenes with thousands of extras. The Wind Demon impressed me as did the Mountain of men, and the mountain of gold. Plot points were lost on me as was the erotic dance scenes. I remembered the heroic music, the beautiful scenery and the magic rug. It was with trepidation that I screened a you tube positing. If ever a movie cried out for restoration, it is this one. The color was faded to the point of being black and white. The print was fairly clean, but to view this on my small computer monitor made the loss of spectacle even more noticeable. One reads among the reviews the Soviet propaganda slant the people saw in the movie. It was based on a folk tale hero, one who like in the heros of our westerns of old, were straight shooters. Ilia plead his allegiance to the land, and those who work it. He would not be swayed by wealth nor power, from doing the right thing. You may call me old fashioned, but these time honored virtues are sore lacking in todays media. The Dragon of the title makes a very late appearance in he film, and is rather easily dispatched, still this was one of the first three headed fire breathing flying dragons I had ever seen in movies, and that alone boosts its "awesome to kids" factor way up. Glad I re watched it.

It is not easy to say why. To write about a familiar world, seductive - provocative scenes, the fairy tale air and the many stories about Bogatyrs is not exactly enough. The film gives more than an ordinary fantasy can give. Not the map of a fantastic world and remind of fundamental values but the flavors of a lost universe , so Russian than it is , certainly, universal. A lovely film , a great trip. Eccentric and silly and exagerated in few scenes, it is one of good return to fundamental values about things defining the heroic life.

I first saw this Russian/Soviet epic on WOR TV's "Million Dollar Theater" back in the 60s, on our old B&W set. I would compare it with Sergei Eisenstein's "Alexander Nevsky"-virtuous Russians fighting evil invaders, in this case with a big dose of fantasy, Russian folklore, and done on a Cecil B. DeMille scale. I have not read much about the making of this movie but I suspect most of the extras were Red Army soldiers, much the same way the Soviet Army provided all the extras for "Waterloo" in 1970. The acting probably is a little broad by our standards but they do things differently in other countries and seeing a foreign is like travel-you see something different. And this is a fantasy-were there any subtleties of expression in "Star Wars"? I think the 1950s special effects hold up even in our CGI era and they looked fine on a 14" B&W screen in 1963. A nice big bag of popcorn, a cold winter night-or just a rainy one, the lights down, sit back and enjoy the show.