Taras Bulba

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• El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection)
• The Fall Of The Roman Empire (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection)
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• Fox Western Classics (Rawhide / The Gunfighter / Garden of Evil)
• The Agony and the Ecstasy
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• Khartoum
• The Vikings

Rousing moving, but they seem to have copied it from a VCR that was watched 50 times too many. Yul Brenner is a marvel in this movie, even with poor quality color and definition.

The film does not provide a historical background or even attempt to explain the socio-political realities of 17th century Ukraine, but uses the opportunity to heave opprobium on the Poles, who are treated with some understanding and respect in the novel by Gogol. I have read Nikolai Gogol's "Taras Bulba" and found the film with Tony Curtis and Yul Brynner to be a tasteless, cheap parody. The film includes situations that may add effect to the film, but are not part of the book - such as Bulba hacking off the Polish colonel's hand at the beginning of the film, the attempt of Andrei's classmates to castrate him, the idiotic "duel" between Andrei and another Cossack, which involves jumping a gorge, and the equally silly "picnic" scene with the young Polish lady and Andrei making pitiful attempts at folk dancing (the very premise of that scene is ridiculous to begin with). These scenes only cheapen the film; there are a few good scenes for Brynner, Kauffman and Curtis, but they are not enough to save it. Perhaps the Russians could do better, when they get around to it.

If you can endure the "CHEESE"-factor, Taras Bulba is really very enjoyable. Saw "Taras Bulba" a couple of times upon its initial release, and remember a).a tv documentary about the making of the film and b).a photo-story book, which was loaded with black and white frame blow-ups and captions. All in all, it's a lot of fun to watch. (But it pains me to watch the relentless horse-trippings-this film MUST have set a record). And, of course, there are the battles scenes, which are astounding in their sheer size and scope, and all accomplished years before computerized gimmickry. Scores of floppy, rubbery, disjointed soldiers and horses hurtle off a cliff into a ravine, bouncing every which way as they slam against the rocks; I recall the audience howling with glee when I first saw the film in the theater.

worth the price of the film alone. Brynner at his best, the all-too rare, superb villainy of Guy Rolfe, wonderful old Vladimir Sokoloff's last role, Paul Frees's robust voice-dubbing, (unfortunaely, George MacReady is totally wasted in a brief role), a beautiful Polish Christmas Carol sung by a superb studio men's chorus, etc etc. In ways Taras Bulba resembles "The Pride and the Passion" of 1957; both were based on literary works, both were filmed on location in foreign countries, both featured scenes of amazing spectacle along with casts of. (I am assuming that the walled city of Dubno was built for the film somewhere in the Argentinian pampas); the violent and frenetic battle scene where the Poles retreat into the city is. Utterly cliche-ridden and unshamedly so, the action is carried by the dynamic presence of Yul Brynner and Franz Waxman's brilliant score, which make even the obligatory.

exotic-dancers-around-the-camp-fire scenes tolerable. Oh well.ya can't beat the fun in the old Steppes of Russia. big-named stars, some of whom may have been slightly miscast (ie: Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra), and both films were IMMEASURABLY enhanced by their terrific musical scores. Too bad about the army of dummies used in the film's big climatic battle.

The video quality is poor. That is if the film is available to restore. The movie is good, but this DVD was taken from a well used VSH tape. The audio is worse. I am glad that I didn't buy it and rented it instead. Wait for the restoration.