I mongoli

Historical adventure flick, but average epic movie, with known actors and a lot of extras, in fact it packs a cast of hundreds, if not of thousands. Genghis Khan: Roldano Lupi, lustful of territory and power invades Poland along with his encroaching army , sweeping in blood and fire the European countries. Then the Polish prince attempts to make peace but Attila's son, Ogotai : Jack Palance, rejects it , being supported by his lover, the Swedish/Italian model-actress Anita Ekberg who portrays Hulina, an action woman perfectly capable matching him in badness and brutality, both of whom wish wage war. Along the way they try to conquer the Polish stronghold of Cracow. While the Poles, wary of the approaching Mongols send Stefan of Cracow : Franco Silva, to negotiate a peace arrangement with Genghis Khan and his another son Temujin : Gabriele Antonini. By the way Stefan of Cracow enters into a love/hate relationship with a Polish village girl who finishes falsely believing that Stefan klled her would-be betrothed.

This spectacular sword and sandal film shot in Yugoslavia packs noisy action, large frames of men on horseback ready to fight, breathtaking battles , a scorning love story, thrills , hokey historical happenings and a cast of thousands. The picture is partially based on historic events about the Mongol encroachment over North and Central Europe. Weak screenplay by Luciano Martino, Ernesto Gastaldi, Ugo Guerra, blending various facts with no much sense. Overacting by Jack Palance, as usual, as the violent and cruel Ogotai, he is at his menacing here . Palance dominates this historical adventure with his hysterical acting as a relentless warrior with only one thrist : bloody revenge and annihilation. Palance played several exotic/historical roles featuring plenty of treachery and deviousness, such as as The Silver Chalice, Attila, Revak the rebel, Rosmunda and Alboino, The horsemen, Barrabas, among others. He is well accompanied by a good support cast, such as : Antonella Lualdi, Franco Silva, Roldano Lupi, Montaigne, Pierre Cressoy, Gabriella Pallotta, Gabriele Antonini, George Wang and Gianni Garco : Sartana.

It contains colorful cinematography by Aldo Giordani and epic in score, shot on location in habitual Yugoslavia outdoors . And rousing and moving musical score by Mario Nascimbene. This costumer motion picture was regularly directed by Andre De Toth (Carson City, House of wax, Springfield rifle, Passport to Suez, Man in the saddle, Riding shotgun, Pitfall, Tanganika, Hidden fear), Leopoldo Savona (Two little orphans, Apocalypse Joe, Killer kid, Byleth, Fra Diavolo, Texas the Red) and Riccardo Freda (Il vampiri, Teodora, Horrible Dr Hitchcock, Beatriz Cenci, Benbenutto Cellini, Spartaco, Maciste in court of the great Khan), this latter uncredited. Rating 5.5/10. Passable and acceptable but mediocre.

As many other American directors, Andre De Toth finished his career in Europe; this movie seems to be a response to Richard Thorpe's THE TARTARS, produced the same year, and starring Victor Mature and Orson Welles. Rudolph Maté, Hugo Fregonese, Vincent Sherman, Edgar G Ulmer, and many other film makers finished their filmographies in Italy or Spain. This one is a pretty good one, offering splendid settings, good pace, good scenes, a gorgeous Anita Ekberg as a villainess whom you won't forget. I saw it for the first time when I was just thirteen and have never forgotten it. I like this Andre De Toth's movie.

The story of this movie takes place in the middle ages at a time when Genghis Khan's Mongolian army was threatening Europe. It centers around the adventures of a Polish knight who wants to save the town Kraków from being taken by the cruel enemy.

The creators of the movie put much effort into the scenery and even more effort into the costumes. But they did not put any effort at all into the script or into acting. The plot is as simple-minded as if it had been invented by some twelve year old boys, playing cops and robbers. The dialog consists of stupid, hollow phrases. This alone would already make the movie a bad movie.

However its weaknesses go beyond that. The background music is not only unbearable symphonic rubbish. It is also inappropriately matched to the atmosphere of the individual scenes. Even the optical aspects that seem to have been the film maker's only focus are flawed. I do not have sufficient historical knowledge to judge about the historical correctness of costumes, weapons and other equipment. But I am quite sure that ordinary Polish women in the middle ages did not possess a hairstyle, makeup, and manicure like models in the early 1960's, especially if they were hiding from the Mongolian army in the marshland.

This having been said, it is almost unnecessary to mention that even the main story line is far from telling a true story about Genghis Khan's time.

There is no reason to watch this film, as long as you do not want to see how much can go wrong simultaneously with a single movie.

For those of you who got a kick out of Mr. Palance's Attila the Hun in SIGN OF THE PAGAN this film gives you a better, new improved version of his unique brand of barbarity. This man's GOT to have a war or he'll just be miserable. He'll lie, cheat, steal, connive- do just anything in order to HAVE THAT WAR. This is type A personality taken to it's most outer extreme. You can really feel the almost unbearable frustration he seems to experience when his old dad Genghis Khan tells him that they're going to try for a peaceful solution with the Poles. Well, anyhow, it all ends badly for Jack (and dad). Anita Ekberg as a truly ice cold partner/lover of Jack's is fascinating to watch as well in a sort a somnambulistic way; she's pure deceit. And I was also rather entranced by the head Polish knight's seeming death wish in his relentless, driven fixed idea of obtaining peace with the Mongols. Discouraged at almost every turn, the son of a gun just would not give up and finally came out on top in the end (and got the girl, too). A good lesson in superhuman determination.

It makes me laugh . Genghis Khan don't die by the hand of his daughter in law in Poland he died from burbonic plague in China. The Mongol Empire beat the crap out of polish and hungarian and they reach Wien.in 1241 , 14 years after Geghis Khan died. When his son. Ogotai dies the invasion has stopped, , Poland never be an obstacle in front of.anybody. Stepen of Crakow it's an invented personage , he never existed. Mongols never suffer a defeat like americans never had a win or a neuron .As a fiction movie it's an easy to watch movie with gorgeous Anita Ekberg.and Antonella Lualdi , but has nothing to do with reality like western media nowdays.