AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Alasdair Orr Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Kirpianuscus a religious film. that is the point who, I suppose, explains it in a wise manner. not as manifesto against Mongols, not as a story about Russia. only as story of sacrifice and faith. sure, it is only a point of view. sure, it is a too subjective film and that is not a real surprise. because the cruelty, the week leaders, the powerful women, the story of Alexey and the moral victory are pieces of a portrait who defines way for assume the past. looking historical accuracy it is bizarre work. because the atmosphere, the tale, the mission of an hierarch are only important things. and, sure, the victory of Orthodox Church against an ambiguous evil. a film who could be useful for understand Russia out of definitions.

kosmasp The movie is a tough sell. Whom will it appeal: History buffs, religious people or Eastern movie fans? Maybe none of them, maybe all of them. It seems to try to appease a lot of people and might find itself not working for the majority of them. It's an historical epic picture alright, but does it engage the viewer? That's for you to decide.The action scenes are alright, the pathos/religion aspects of it are bearable too. The performances are really good and the sets/locations are just amazing. Which also brings us to the cinematography. The movie really looks good. But due to the scope of it, it might run a bit too long for some. The pacing seems alright, but might feel to slow to some. It's a tough one to watch at times, but interesting nonetheless

ThomasJeff For the record, I'm not Muslim or Tatar or anything like that. But this movie was disgraceful. The whole movie seems like a youtube video made by amateurs who want to portray some sort of evil group of humans--who act anything BUT human. Just killing random people, torturing people, etc. etc.There isn't a fight scene in the whole movie. So don't expect a war movie, from something called "The Horde".Just shows a fake story about how awful life is like under the Golden Horde.Even the Russian-expert hired to tell the director/writers about Golden Horde history, condemned the movie and said this is just a sickening evil portrayal of the Golden Horde and has nothing to do with reality.It's as if the Russian director thought about how he could make Christians look good and how he could make Tatars look like inhumane animals. This was his goal and this is what he portrayed in his film.It was incredibly boring and a waste of my time.

michaello714 I stumbled upon it today on Netflix while eating lunch. I watched it for about a half-hour, but found it to be a waste of time and quit after 30 minutes. It's evident that there's some great acting and direction at work in this production, but it totally failed in the storytelling department. I think it's a good thing for the screenwriters to be from the "show", not "tell" school of film making, but more exposition would have helped. It seemed like Game of Thrones without enough back story. Maybe something got lost in translation since it is dubbed. I found the depiction of the Mongols to be totally misleading. As a history buff, I understand that the Mongols ruled the largest and most diverse empire in the history of the world for more than 200 years. However, I don't think that feat was done by what this film depicts as the most boorishly brutal group of "hillbilly" Mongols this side of Urals. It's as though the director had studied some isolated tribes in Mongolia and grafted his impressions onto his depiction of the Mongol ruling class. For all their ruthlessness, the Mongols of the Golden Horde were more worldly and diplomatic than the bunch depicted in this film. Some historians consider the Mongol Empire the first multinational corporation. If the movie Mongols had ruled Russia, I doubt that they would have been able to hold onto power for a decade instead of a few centuries. If the Russians had allowed themselves to be conquered by this sorry group, it does n't really make the Russians look too good either.