Aoki Ôkami: chi hate umi tsukiru made (2007) Reviews

• Disappointed

  Batzorig2007-06-17

  First of all the movie is historically very inaccurate. The director "kills" Zuchi some 20 years earlier than he was supposed to die, "makes" Jamukha to kill Tooril, who was actually killed by Naimans, and so on. I know to put the story of Genghis Khan into a single movie is very difficult. The movie seems to be mostly talking about whether Temujin is Esukhei's son and whether Zuchi is Temujin's son. This topic might be interesting for many, but Temujin is a very strong historical figure and it is hard to believe that he was depressed too much over this dispute. HEWell, my point is this movie is not for learning history at all. Somehow for mongolianss the behaviors of main characters seem quite comical. People couldn't help but burst to laughter when Temujin makes quick movements to hold his woman.

• inappropriate, not worth to watch

  pasany2009-09-23

  Before I saw the Japanese letters I thought it's a Hollywood movie, its characteristic is so Hollywoodish: perceptibly big budget, nice effects, and baaad script. The movie has pretty nice battle scenes and costumes, but probably that's all positive in it. While watching it I kept feeling it's not how steppe people behave, and sometimes I felt it's not like any people behave. Many scenes were overacted and/or corny. Gengishes character was quite different than the real life Gengish probably was. And the movies atmosphere was killed by the totally inappropriate music. That bugged me the most, they constantly used those customary corny symphonic tones we usually hear in the love scenes in Hollywood films! The finishing stroke was the end title music, which was some pop song! For a movie like this they should have used some Central Asian music! Only that would fit. I try to cite some real wtf moments (SPOILERS HERE!): (I think the whole childhood part could be cited, it's the worst part of the movie. I'm not sure if the young actors were bad or the script or both, but that part got really screwed!) (All the above-mentioned scenes are from the childhood part!!!) Well, there are much more, but these came to my mind now. And I think it's enough to see why is this movie a failure.

• A lot of spectacle, a lot of melodrama, a lot of horses. And Genghis Khan, we're told, is kind of a nice guy

  Terrell-42008-09-01

  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?

• Japanese Actors can not play the real characters of Mongolian

  ucjerry2007-09-04

  I have viewed the TV series acted by the local Mongolian people, which really show us the ambition and character of a big man, Tiemuzhen. Actually, Tiemuzhen conquered the whole Aisa-Europe mainland. But why does the director stop in the middle. In the end of the movie, Tiemuzhen shoots out an arrow towards Chinese great wall. This is awful. Incomplete. Japanese spend a fortune on this movie and will circulate the movie to more than 60 countries, including 40+ European countries. About more than 100 million people will have chance to take a look at this so-called great movie. Those who know little about Mongolia will have a misunderstanding of Mongolia and this great historical figure. It's a bad movie. I don't recommend this title.

• A big budget epic that has the simple look of a TV miniseries

  harry_tk_yung2007-04-28

  The summary line is not meant to be judgmental, just a statement of an impression. "Blue wolf", referring to the legendary origin of the blood line of great Mongolian leaders, is a biographical account of Genghis Khan, filmed by Japan. It is quite in interesting that three movies set in Mongolia or about Mongolian that I watched within a month are shot in three different languages: this one in Japanese, "Tuya de hun shi" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949564/usercomments-2) in Chinese and "Hyazgar" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0969276/usercomments-2) in Mongolian (as well as Korean). When I say "biographical account", it refers not only to the content, but also the presentation. The story is told in a very simple manner, as voice over from Temujin's (the name Genghis Khan is known by during the first 99% of the movie) mother (WAKAMURA Mayumi), starting from before his birth, and she appears right through the movie to the end when he becomes the Khan of the entire Mongolian empire. The makeup team has done a good job in transforming her from a beautiful young bride, through the various stages of the story, into a still graceful looking old lady. The story is told from an interesting angle: how Temujin's life is shaped by three women closest to him – his mother, as mentioned, his wife (KIKUKAWA Rei) and Kulan, his Amazon-warrior-cum-bodyguard-cum-lover (rising young Korean idol Ara). Woven into the main theme of Temujin's story is the lamentation of the general fate of Mongolian women during that time of endless fights among nomadic tribes, turning them into loots for the victors. They were, according to the story, not invariably ravaged and enslaved. Some were well-treated and taken as wives, as Temujin's mother and, later on, his own wife. But that results in doubts of whether he was the true offspring from his father's line, and the same doubt later arose with his own son. It was through their heroic action, as the story goes, that prove that they carried the true blood of the "Blue wolf". While the three women all had their roles in Temujin's life, the two most affecting intimate story lines are those with his son whom he doubted, and with his boyhood buddy who later became his strongest rival for power. There are some beautiful shots of the splendor of Mongolia. The battle scenes demonstrate thoughtful planning and execution, from some 50 soldiers at Temujin's humble origin to the colossal army at the height of his power (aided by CGI). SORIMACHI Takashi, known to his TV fans best as a rebellious youth and an unorthodox young school teacher, carries well the role of Genghis Khan from early manhood to the height of his power.