Le Gambit turc

"Turkish gambit" is the adaptation of the second novel by Boris Akunis in his enormously popular among the Russian speaking audiences series of twelve novels that describe the adventures of a young detective and later, State Councillor, Erast Fandorin. The genre of the novels can be described as historical mysteries set in the Imperial Russia. By the time "Turkish gambit" opens, still very young, Fandorin has gone thru tragic personal loss while investigating a very dangerous global conspiracy (the first novel "Azazel" and the movie of the same title).

"Turkish Gambit" takes place in 1877 during the Russian -Turkish War. After running out from the captivity, Fandorin hurries to the Russian troops to report very important information about the planning attack of enemy. Along the road he meets and becomes acquainted with Barbara, a young girl who travels in a man's clothes to see her fiancé. According to Fandorin's information there is a very dangerous Turkish spy Anvar among the Russian officers who heads a secret operation. Everyone is under Fandorin's suspicion...

Filled with many dynamic action scenes, "Turkish Gambit" is not as elegant and visually interesting as "Azazel" and it lacks the good acting from two young actors playing main characters. I should add that the book itself was not as good as excellent "Azazel" – that's probably why "Turkish Gambit", the movie is rather un-impressive and forgettable entry in the series.

5.5/10

Yes, it is true that most of the people think that this movie contains too many visual effects, but this is not completely true. It seems so, because most of the watcher actually do not expect that from a Russian movie. But let me clarify where did they get the effects from. Most of the strange and a little bit animation scenes are taken from the Panorama of the Pleven Epopee - this is a monument of the Pleven Siege, which is the overturn in the Russo-Turks War(1877-1878). And about the monument - in there are the battle scenes and everything is made from wax and seems pretty much real. Because about 10 000 soldiers and citizens of Pleven have died in a small valley - about 2 square km surface. So, I see this movie as a modern admission of what had been done before - and of course paying salute to the tremendous people, who have been fighting for ideas.

Folks, this is the epic to look out for at international movie festivals! I have had the opportunity to see this on big screen, in full sound- and was blown away! Though I couldn't understand everything, the action within the film was clear enough to make the general plot understood. Though it is not an American film- it has authentic period costume, fantastic cinematography, and in my opinion has met or surpassed special effects of such films as the Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, and the Matrix. Of course, it probably won't get the recognition it deserves in North America, as it isn't a home-grown... but it is well worth the trip to the theatre to see it if is ever in town... I'm going to see it for at least another 2 times if possible! The only disappointment was the pop-type music for the closing credits... everything else: SUPERB!

cool movie; it keeps you in eye contact and bounds to its subject. I do not know how accurate it is historically but the film was more objective than I accepted. I was a bit prejudiced about the film at the beginning but as the movie continued I realized that I am wrong. I felt some exaggeration also.It shows turks as perfect warriors technically and very mysterious killers The figurine turks used in the backgrounds had actually a comic Azerbaijan accent and spoke very unrelated words in fight scenes I think the director used them since they knew Russian

, so it would be more economic. there were many replicas copied from Hollywood film-making also such as focusing camera on objects very fast and too much mise-en scene.But usage of maps as a very dynamic part of film was very original and entertaining. The character Enver Bey who was a spy of Ottoman Pasha have been chosen as a person who looked like a Russian and spoke perfect Russian language but hiding him till the end of the film was not interesting and new enough for such a box office one in Russian Federation but I think it is worth for watching, good film

I am Russian and I just checked this movie out because i heard so much about it. I find this movie OK. It's not a masterpiece. But it's much better than the other Russian blockbuster Night Watch. However, both of these films have something bad in common and it's the immature obsession of excessive cheesy visual effects. When watching these high budget movies you start thinking the filmmakers forget that it's not the visual effects that make movie a good movie. Those parts in the movie, where they show the dark abyss all the time and then this LOTR style map pops up with a wheel falling down - it just doesn't look good, it looks totally tasteless. I mean the producers spent so much resources to make all those costumes and setups, but when you see something like this, it just ruins the whole point. Bad bad taste. Hopefully, in future Russian filmmakers will grow out this unhealthy obsession and start making great and stylish movies.