Product Description

With a $30 million budget, and four months on location in Mongolia, this historical epic reveals the mystery behind the man who built one of the greatest empires in history, Genghis Khan. Assailed by doubts over the secret of his birth, Khan faces conflict and betrayal by his sworn friend, as well as mixed feelings of love and hatred for the son who bears the same burden. Beautifully shot, and featuring striking battle scenes in which 5,000 Mongolian Army soldiers appear, alongside over 27,000 extras, Genghis Khan the hero now emerges from the history that has concealed him for so long.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7125 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-06-02
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Japanese
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 134 minutes

Synopsis
Reviled and revered in equal measure, Genghis Khan's legacy as the man who built the greatest empire in history remains unchallenged; though how he went about it is a matter of contention among historians. Was he a great military leader who improved relations between the West, Middle East, and Asia, or was he a destructive and genocidal warlord who left death and destruction in his wake? Big-budget epic GENGHIS KHAN – TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH AND SEA attempts answer that very question by portraying the Mongolian ruler's life against a backdrop of conflict, betrayal, and unbridled ambition.

Customer Reviews

OK, could do better
I was left imagining what could have been after watching this movie. It had some good parts, alot of mediocre parts and one or two bad parts.

I think having read Conn Igguldens books recently i was expecting more drama, but a lot of it was skimmed over in favour of the focus on the relationship with Borte, Jamukha and the khan of the Kerait. You never really get to see the drama and struggle of Temujin and family after being left behind when the tribe moved on after his father's death, and therefore his killing of Bekter looks more like it was done on a whim, or much of his childhood and the struggle to establish his new tribe once his family had learned to survive alone in the wilderness.

It also fell well short of the full Genghis story by ending as the Mongols approched China, which is really where he established his reputation as a great leader and warlord.

Ultimately i'm hoping that Mongol (and its 2 sequels) will be better or that a big studio will take on Iggulden's books and recreate them.

A lot of spectacle, a lot of melodrama, a lot of horses. And Genghis Khan, we're told, is kind of a nice guy,
Genghis Khan was one of the great murdering conquerors in history, dining at the same table with Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolph Hitler. One assumes that their lust for land, power and the deaths of their enemies and victims, along with a practical indifference to the deaths of their own soldiers and people, sprang from how easily bored they could be.

In Genghis Khans' case, if this movie is to believed (not a good idea with most movies' presentations of "history"), the melodrama of Genghis Khan's soap-opera life with Hoelun, his mother; Bolte, his wife; Kulan, his great-looking female bodyguard and occasional bed partner; and his sons and brothers would be enough to drive anyone away from the yurt and onto a horse. This isn't helped when Kulan, while she's wearing a Mongolian soldier's armor and a tufted helmet, looks a little like Leonardo DiCaprio.

The movie tells the tale of the ascent of Temujin as unifier of the Mongols, conqueror of tribes and of vast lands, and leaves us, with Temujin now called Genghis Khan, as he charges toward the Great Wall of China, eager to take on the Jin dynasty.

There is no tension to the story, no gradual building of the drama to match the story of greater and greater conquest. Narration is used to bridge the years and tell us of one more difficulty Temujin will face, which we then see acted for us. The movie is not boring, not with all those thundering horses, backward arrow shooting on horseback and a look at life in a yurt, but the sameness with which the story is told eventually becomes predictable. At least, even with the family melodrama and, for Western eyes, the overacting of the main characters, the movie doesn't ladle up the creamed corn that was John Wayne as a drawling Temujin and Susan Hayward as a frowning, red-haired Bolte.

The movie settles into a rhythmic pattern early on: A battle, exciting and well managed, then melodrama, overwrought and tiresome. Then, another battle, another drama, another battle, over and over for 136 minutes. This Japanese movie was filmed in Mongolia and features primarily Japanese actors and what looks like most of the Mongolian army on leased horses. The battles get bigger and bigger as the movie progresses. It looked to me like there wasn't much Computer Generated Overkill used. With all the battles, I hope the producers had plenty of veterinarians on hand. A lot of horses took violent falls. There are some wonderful scenes of Mongolia's green, rolling, treeless hills and an interesting look at life in encampments.

Just before Genghis Khan sets off to take on the Jin, he and Kulan exchange a bit of conquering philosophy.

"I will go on as far as I can," says the man on horseback. "With every land I conquer, more borders between nations will vanish. People will travel freely and trade will flourish. Cultures and customs will be honored and all will live well."

"But make war and there will be bloodshed," Kulan says to him.

Replies Genghis Khan, "That is bloodshed that cannot be helped, to insure that no further blood need be spilled," Oh, brother. How many times has humanity heard that one?

To what End?
Oh dear. I have witnessed School Plays which were more enjoyable than this, "not to be missed epic" The whole adventure was bland, and the leading Japanese cast make the actors of these dreadful Australian Soaps look almost professional.

The main actors in this movie, without exception, failed miserably to display any emotion what so ever, no fear, anger, pain, love, despair, zilch. Appreciate the Japanese don't like to their show emotions, well, in this movie they are triumphant in that respect.

If only? Spielberg, and his team, or the Director, and his team from, Lord of the Rings.

Then we would have an epic.