User reviews

Bloody hell, the visuals are stunning!! This Russian action adventure drama is beautifully filmed, with incredible visuals and photography, and an awesome score to accompany it.

I enjoyed the characters and the survival element of the film. Ilya Malakov did a fantastic job as Kolovrat, a young man who believes he is 13 again every time he wakes up - due to a head injury when he was just 13. All the characters were likable, and the actors were really good. I felt their pain, agony, joy, defeat and determination. This was wonderful!

I enjoyed this film about an amnesic soldier hell bent on revenge. It gets a 7 star rating from me mostly because the english translation was broken and it hindered my ability to understand all that was taking place. Even with that barrier, I still understood most of what was going on and I liked what I was seeing. One thing that really helped out was how beautiful some of the camera and CGI work was. I'm glad I checked it out.

I absolutley enjoyed the movie, the style, the actors, costumes, camera work, etc.. It is miles better than the russian movie Vikings.

The recipe is familiar. the purpose is obvious. and the references to 300 Spartans are, in few points, a good detail ( except the poor Batu Khan transformed in clone of Xerxes ). the slices of video games are, maybe, useful. love, revenge, a vulnerable hero and something who only the historical Russian films give. a sort of heroism who defines more the passion than the art. the historical accuracy is not the virtue, the portrait of mongols is just a sketch with many cliches but it is a beautiful homage to a legendary hero. and that is the key. sure, not ignoring the propaganda aspect and , in my case, the profound subjectivity - Kolovratov was one of the heroes of my childhood..

First of all I could say that film is the mix 300 spartians and Russian movie The Horde. It is absolutely fantasy about East Europe of 13 century on historical base of legendary Russian warrior Kolowrat who had followed by enemy and battled against mongolians army one-by-one when his city was destroy. Advantages: Great music (System of Down), good and amazing clothing looks nice and unordinary...something middle between Chinese,japanise ang mongolian traditionary clothing, and a little bit of humour

Disadvantages: strange and illogic scenario, strange battle scenes, actors look as modern people and speaks in modern language

For me it was more interesting to watch if to compare 300 spartianses but it is not a great job..

The movie maybe isn't perfect in some historical facts, but still much better than this piece of s**t called Viking. It has some similarities to "300" and "The Patriot" but is still something original to watch.

Well, i'm a Russian, and i'm from Moscow, Russia. I was born in USSR, 36 years ago. If you want to watch/listen to Russian "Bylina", then it's your choice. We, the Russians, remember his (Kolovrat's) Choice, his Heroic Deed (podvig). BUT. But this movie does't have anything to do with historical events (as we do know 'em). It's some sample of "hollywood" "action", brought to the Russian reality. My post is not about his deed, his self-sacrifice, but about historical reality. He did, what he did. Many of us would do the same nowadays. We just don't stand any lies, any interference in our lives. We don't like when anyone downplays our enemies. We don't like, when anyone displays our Heroes as comics characters (some stupid idiots like spiderman, whatsoever you may think). The problem of this movie is that it has too much pathos and it's doesn't have anything with, well, "historical reality". If you want to watch some (at least) good historical movies, then watch old "I na kamnyakh rastut derevya", or "Pathfinder"(1987!!! not that recent crap!).

Well made, with good action, story isn't difficult to follow, nicely photographed, acting is a bit raggedy but not distractingly so. It's a bit over the top, but that's to be expected from this kind of film and it doesn't really detract from it.

What DOES detract from it, though, is the absolutely horrific dubbing. The "actors" sound like they just woke up, are having a cup of coffee and reading off a teleprompter. There's not even an attempt at any kind of convincing acting; it sounds like they're ordering a Jumbo Jack from the plastic clown at Jack in the Box. It's hard to take the lead actor seriously when he sounds like Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". The awful dubbing ruined what was otherwise a not-bad movie for me. They would have been better off just leaving in the Russian language and putting up subtitles.

What a mess.

It is nice to hear stories about Russia and what they had to do. This movie was well made good acting and you can tell they spent some money on it. I highly recommend it. It is a great story and it is base on true facts which is Leary's good to know

Russian version of 300, with a small dose of Russian propaganda. Overall, not so bad.

Incredibly silly plot, cringey '1990s slang' Russian dialogue and terrible acting.

Seems like they tried to make a Russian '300 Spartans' movie but with fewer warriors to show how much more heroic they are! What ensues is an incredibly unrealistic plot which has the Mongolian seemingly frightened from a dozen Ryazan soldiers who attempt a last stand. The ending is also a cringey copy of the 300 ending scene

A dozen Ryazan warriors take on the whole Mongol army! Which subsequently turns around to pursue just them!? Then a cartload of children appear out of nowhere that forces the Russians to make a stupid stand. Director really tried to make it epic and heroic but a trained monkey could have written a better story.

Hi, i watched a lot of movies, but this is the first time i write a review. Im from Serbia, and that is not the reason i put 10/10 for this movie (bcs all Holiwod fans put bad marks on most of Russian movies), in the same day i watched Star Wars and after that this movie. That only increased the enjoyment of this movie, after wathcing that terrible movie. It has love, it has war, it has bravery, it has comedy, it has everything a lot of movies today doesnt, it does has some similarities with 300 spartans. But still, this movie rly deserves 10/10. or at least 9/10, watch Stalingrad, Russian movie too, all around Europe it got a lot of awards and first places only on imdb it has bad marks... Idk why this site hates Russian movies so much probably bcs Russians dont vote on this site, they have there own. Nvm still you should still look this movie, its a gem.

The plot is fairly generic and the characters are essentially undeveloped. It's a movie where you know what to expect heading into it. My only issue was the voice overs. Half of the time a womans voice was for men, and would carry over to surrounding men in passing comments. It made much of the dialogue very confusing to track. This was on Prime, so possibly some versions are subtitled with the original audio (which would be preferable).

I would love to watch a great film based in an Old East Slavic text such as The Tale of the Destruction of Riazan, about the legend of bogatyr Evpaty Kolovrat and the siege of the city of Ryazan, in Rus', by the Mongols in 1237. Also, I did like the costumes and the references to Slavic culture in this Russian production. Unfortunately, there are no more qualities. The film is cheesy and kitsch since the beginning, with so many bad aestetic choices: musical score, special effects, viceogame-like camera moves, 360° overstylized fight scenes with slow motion alternating with accelerating speed... There is also a strong Orientalist flavour, and it is impossible not to make a parallel with the graphic novel-based flick 300, both for the subject and for the portrayal of the huge exotic (either effeminate or wicked-eyed) expansionist enemy empire from the East.

Quite an enjoyable film. Interesting depiction of the Mongol Horde. Great sword play and even a giant Russian bear gets in on the action! Watch in the original russian language though. The English dub is atrocious. Subtitles are much better for this film.

I understand the "300" comparisons, especially with the "green screen" back drops, impossibly outnumbered heroes, etc. But this is a fun and entertaining Russian yarn, at a time when historical action movies and series' are becoming tired and just too darn Hollywood. That "action shooting with a shaking camera" style, is a little painful after a while and seems to be a trait with Russian action movies recently.

This film was great... until the end. The end was kind of pompous and goofy. But until the end, the film was great. The noble, brave Russian, standing courageous and proud, against the Golden Horde of Mongolia... and all that. Nice cinematography, okay action, and some surprisingly moving drama. Seen on Tubi, the free streaming site; which has an endless supply of ultimately odd films. There are foreign films, such as this one. There are star-studded, big studio productions; which are older, or were somehow box-office disappointments. There are indies; some of which don't deserve to be called movies at all. And now, Tubi has live TV. All for free.

This movie is really bad. It feels a lot like a Russian propaganda movie from the Communist era. Not much of a story, other than the brave Russians fought the bad mongols. You even have a Russian bear defending the poor Russians.

I don't know why Russian films get such a bad rap. I have just a few and I admit I generally stick to fantasy/adventure. Perhaps Hollywood has trained us to expect certain plot devices and tropes. Boring!!! Have you noticed how nothing truly original has come out of Tinsletown in ages? It's reboot this and reboot that....ohhh a Re-Imagining. And worst of all...the Director's Cut. (I'm looking at you Lucas. Spielberg.) This film is wonderful. Its beautifully shot, costumed and very well acted. It has heart and you get easily invested in the characters.

Three more to check out: I AM Dragon Night Watch Wolfhound (this one made me giggle a bit. It's a tad campy, but I never tire of it.)

Nothing special but a decent yet historically inaccurate film. The true story is about 1700 and not 17.

It really makes you think what our European ancestors had to endure, how much they had to fight, and bleed, and die, in order to defend their land and peoples against the hordes from the steppe, so we can still exist today.

Bravo Russia for this one!

Except the beginning of it looked almost entirely CGI. However, I'm not a gamer, so it could have been just how it was filmed.

I rate 3-5 average, then add starts for good plot, beautiful scenery, acting, costuming, etc. The plot was plausible, just. The scenery was exquisite and the countryside was genuine, definitely. The city scenes were beautiful, but I think CGI.

The costuming was superb - particularly the Russian women, with gold, beads & lush textiles. Of course, the mongols costumes were great, but there is only so much you can do there.

There were moments of humour, romance, battle, huge armies, cleverness. Etc.

It was a good watch.

We didn't know it had English dubbing, though! It might have been less work.

Well, I downloaded the English subtitles as I was looking forward to this movie. But alas the subtitles are a complete joke. You should just turn them off and listen to the Russian dialogue for all the sense they make! I gave up after 10 minutes, which is a shame as this could have been worth watching, and a welcome change to all the shit Hollywood serves up.

With a massive monstrous bear that will destroy anyone but Russians, this isn't cinema to boast of but it's better than you would expect. I actually watched it twice in my life. It is the catalyst for me looking into the bogatyr tales and the legend of the Destruction of Riazan.

13 years ago, a young Evpatiy Kolovrat took a hit during an attack on his village that haunts him daily. When he awakens every morning, it is without his memory, and he is furious, ready to crush everything in sight, until he can be calmed to recollect his thoughts. Batu Khan, ruler of the Great Horde, makes his way towards the Russian city Ryazan, so Prince Yuri sends the strongwilled Fyodor to broker peace, but also sends Kolovrat to stall them for more days. Unfortunately, the Khan's men have other plans for Ryazan while the warriors are away. With heavy losses, the Ryazan warriors make one last stand between the Khan and the fleeing survivors of Ryazan.