Rise of the Scythian

Russian historical adventure! How true to history it is I have no idea, but I found it a very pleasant surprise set in the 6th century BC where the Scythians were proud warriors of Iranian origin. Ine of them is the protagonist, Lutobor, who embarks on a dangerous journey to save his family while joining forces with his enemy, who worships the god Ares and has been trained as a killing machine. The biggest plus are definitely the action scenes, where the shaky camera is very innovative and changes angles very nicely without editing, so the choreography of the fights stands out perfectly, especially the maniacal anti-hero Kuna, whose stunts with knives left me breathless. It's pretty dirty, barbaric, rough and bloody with a mystical touch of the ancient gods, and that's very close to my heart. The English dubbing is not very good and the actors overact at times because of it, but it is still a decent and entertaining film that fulfills its purpose. 75% (05.10.2018)

I don’t often happen to come across a fantasy film which doesn’t eventually turn out to be total crap, or in which the creators handle the visual aspect well. Here it worked out, and the Russians have proved that, with a bit of effort, they can even teach the Hollywood filmmakers something, since their screenplays are often quite lame. The plot was packed with action, the pagans were zealously shedding blood as if they were getting paid by the Holy Inquisition, and although the story was totally predictable, I enjoyed it a lot. (05.03.2019)