Mongol (Blu-ray) (2007)

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General		Extras
Category	Biopic	Featurette-Making Of Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2007
Running Time	125:27
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Sergei Bodrov
Studio Distributor	Entertainment One	Starring	Aliya Tegen Ao Tadanobu Asano Ying Bai Khulan Chuluun Sun Hong Lei Bayertsetseg Erdenebat Deng Ba Te Er You Er Sai Xing Ga Ba Yin Qi Qi Ge Ba De Rong Gui Sun Ben Hon
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	Tuomas Kantelinen Altan Urag

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Genghis Khan, birth name Temudgin, is the eldest son of the Khan of a small Mongol clan. At age nine, Temudgin selects the girl who will be his first wife, Borte, but when his father is poisoned on the trip back home, Targutai (Amadu Mamadakov), another member of the clan, usurps Temudgin’s position, steals his family’s herds and sends Temudgin, his mother and siblings into exile. The film, in an episodic way, then charts Temudgin’s (Tadanobu Asano) various captures and escapes, his marriage to Borte (Khulan Chuluun), his rescue of her from the Merkits and his relationship with his childhood blood brother Jamukha (Sun Hong Lei), until he finally defeats his enemies in battle and unites the Mongol clans to become the Great Khan.

     I recently reviewed on this site here By the Will of Genghis Khan, a film which covers the same period in the life of Temudgin. Both films suffer from a fragmentary story-line through having to cover approximately three decades of Temudgin’s life in two hours; characters come and go with little explanation and both films, it should be said, assume a background knowledge of the history of Genghis Khan. But whereas By the Will of Genghis Khan concentrated more on the political aspects of the story, Mongol is a personal story about the man and the myths. Mongol is also by far the more coherent film; for example it explains the reasons for the enmity between Temudgin and the Merkits. The film also, at its core, is an intimate story that concentrates on the characters of Temudgin, Borte and Jamukha. As Temudgin, Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu is superb. He is charismatic, dignified, calculating, determined and not above using friends to achieve his ends. Yet his constant love for Borte and devotion to her children means that we see Temudgin first as a man, not as a conqueror. As the strong willed and loyal Borte, non-actress Khulan Chuluun has a luminescent beauty that makes the story believable. Indeed, Borte is the catalyst for much of the plotline. Sun Hong Lei as Jamukha is the odd man out; clean shaven and sporting a mohawk amid the long hair and beards of the rest of the cast, with nervous tics, he could be in a different film entirely.

     Mongol has an epic quality. From tiny riders on the distant grass lands, to autumn colours, deserts, snow covered hills or ice lakes, the various landscapes of central Asia are stunningly portrayed, courtesy of cinematographer Sergei Trofimov. The opening reveal of the town of Tangut (a set constructed out of natural materials as the extras reveal) sets the scene for realism that never drops throughout the film’s running time and the action scenes are energetic and bloody. Some have suggested that the film sticks relatively closely to know facts, but that does not mean it is reliable history. Great conquerors frequently reinvent their early years (Alexander the Great being a prime example), and indeed the film runs better as myth than history. As history there are too many gaps, too many dots not joined; one moment Temudgin is riding alone into the grass lands, the next he has a massive army. But as myth it works fine; his miraculous escapes from captivity, his deliverance from a fall through the ice, his communion with the thunder god Tengri. Myths are supposed to be epic, and here the film is totally successful.

    Mongol is old fashioned epic filmmaking which, except in the climactic battle, mainly rejects CGI effects to concentrate on character, spectacle and the landscapes of Central Asia. It may not be history, but as myth it works beautifully.

Video

     The good news is that, unlike the Region 4 DVD release of Mongol (reviewed on this site by DanielB here) which was cropped down to 1.78:1, this Australian Blu-ray release contains the film in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

     The Blu-ray looks wonderful. Close ups are incredibly clear and detailed, while the wide shots of the steppe in all the seasons are picturesque; the snow, the grasslands and mountains, the yurts, tiny riders in a vast landscape of waving grasslands. Colours are natural, skin tones accurate, blacks rock solid and shadow detail wonderful. Contrast and brightness are consistent and natural. Other than a fraction of edge enhancement, I noticed no film or film to video artefacts.

     The burnt in English subtitles are in a clear white text. In places where the film is light coloured, such as snow, the subtitles are presented with a black background for ease of reading. They are in American English and I did not notice any obvious spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Mongolian DTS-HD MA 5.1 or Mongolian Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded. The audio stream could not be changed on the fly with the audio button of the remote, although it could be changed using the pop-up disc menu.

     The 5.1 is a wonderfully enveloping track. Dialogue is clear (if you understand Mongolian or Mandarin that is). Effects and music constantly resound from all surround speakers; voices, storm effects and thunder, pounding hooves fill the soundstage, including a fair number of panning effects. The sub-woofer is also constantly in use for hooves, weather and music but sounded over-active in some scenes, slightly spoiling the audio balance. The 2.0 was recorded at a lower level but, from the small portion I sampled, it did a good job.

     The original score by Tuomas Kantelinen, with additional music by Altan Urag, was suitably epic and drove the action along but was also effective in the quieter scenes.

     Lip synchronization, for a film with Japanese, Mongolians, Chinese and Russians in the cast, was surprisingly good, with only an occasional, very minor, lapse.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

The Making of Mongol (25:52)

     Includes behind the scenes footage plus interviews with Sergei Bodrov (director), Asano Tadanobu and Khulan Chuluun (cast) and crew Xiang Hai Ming (weapons master), Sergei Trofimov (director of photography), Yelena Zhukova (production designer), Nikita Argunov (visual effects supervisor), Yelena Ivanova (camera operator) and Zhao Hai Meng (head of background horse riders!). Items covered include the historical background, casting, locations, sets and the difficulty of working with so many nationalities such as translation issues and on set conflicts. Film footage is not overused, making this an interesting and entertaining featurette.

Theatrical Trailer (2:11)

     The Region B UK Blu-ray release is identical to the Australian version except for two additional trailers for other films. Otherwise even the menus are identical and in fact when I inserted my Region B UK version of the film it commenced to play from the exact place the Region B Australian release was at when I ejected it. The Region A US Blu-ray is reported to have no extras, but comes with a digital copy of the film, if that is of interest. I’d take the featurette myself. Stick with the local product.

     Mongol, Russian director Sergei Bodrov’s take on the early life of Genghis Khan, is old fashioned epic filmmaking with a cast of thousands, wonderful sets and landscapes, a rousing score and interesting characters. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great and has one genuine extra. Recommended for those interested in historical epics or the life of Genghis Khan.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall