The Legend of Tomiris - Blu-ray Review

Movie
I’m a huge fan of sword and sandal epics, and it has been a LOOONG time since the golden age of those films. Films like Lawrence of Arabia and Spartacus may have dominated the silver screen decades ago, but the sword and sandal epic has gone the way of the Western (e.g. only low budget films that don’t do justice to their glory days). The Legend of Tomiris may not exactly go toe to toe with Mulan (another film about a female warrior leading her people to victory) the people of Kazakhstan are going even further back in time to about the mid 500’s B.C. to bring us a tale of ANOTHER legendary battle that was won by a woman. This time against the Persian King Cyrus the Great (who is best known for being the founder of the Persian Empire).

Set in the steppes of Northern Asia, The Legend of Tomiris tells the tale of female Bedouin by the name of Tomiris (Almira Tursyn) who is watches her father get slaughtered in front of her eyes, only to go on the run with the remnants of her people while her fathers murderer goes unavenged. Growing up into a powerful warrior with bitterness and revenge in her heart, Tomiris goes away from her clan for a little bit of alone time, only to come back and find that the rest of them have decimated. Furious and unstoppable, the female warrior hunts down the perpetrators and destroys them all, while sustaining a serious wound. Taken in by a band of female warriors, she is nursed back to health and given a new chance at life.

Through her sheer tenacity and powerful persona, Tomiris is able to rise to the ranks of tribal chieftain, even finding love along the way with a warrior named Argun (Adil Akhmetov). There’s some personal tragedies along the way to power though, and the warrior queen is left with a hole in her heart that only fuels her desire for revenge. This time towards Cyrus the Great of Persian, who is looking for more lands to conquer. Naturally this builds to the well known climax, where Tomiris and her men pull one of the biggest and most unexpected upsets in all of ancient history. Actually taking on Cyrus and his mass armies (I did chuckle that they brought in the infamous Immortals that was popularized in the movie 300) and killing the king with a surprise assault that penetrates his front lines.

The Battle of Tomiris is actually a decent movie. I’ve never seen a film from Kazakhstan before and was generally impressed. Usually foreign films from non “A list” (so to speak) countries come across as cheap and sloppy. Tomiris is actually quite polished, and uses some very period specific costumes in the portrayal of the Bedouins and Persians alike. However, the movie can be a bit of a slog at times. The first 30 minutes is quite engaging, but the period between that and the final battle is a bit slow and filled with a lot of “filler” material. Clocking in at over 2.5 hours, there is actually a supposed Director’s Cut that was screened in Kazakhstan that is even LONGER, making me wonder if the added time would be beneficial, or drag it down even further. Still, the film is engaging, with several great looking battles and a finale that is VERY satisfying. Alimra is great as the titular queen, and Ghassan Massoud does an amazing job as the “evil” King Cyrus (reality is, Cyrus may have been a conqueror, but he was reportedly a wise and benevolent ruler in comparison to say King Leonidas who would come much later).




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

As with many foreign films, I couldn’t find any information on what cameras were used, nor what the master resolution is, but the 2.39:1 framed Blu-ray looks very good in HD. The film is given a rather sandy, bleached look that sort of sucks the colors out of the picture. It’s very pale and dusty looking (by intention I would assume) but the colors that do come through (such as a red robe for Tomiris when she gives her wedding speech) shine through with great saturation. Black levels are generally strong, but the typical Well Go USA banding is still pretty prevalent. The film is well detailed for the most part, but it’s still a bit soft and not SUPER sharp. At the end of the day (my favorite closing phrase) the picture is still quite pleasing and should do well for all but the most critical of videophiles.











Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track in the native Turkish language is quite good as well. It has your typical “epic” sound track, complete with a sweeping score that engages all aspects of the sound stage, as well as thundering bass in the middle of battles, and roaring surrounds with the milling and screaming of soldiers. The film can get more than a bit front heavy during the down times, with nothing but vocals really acting as the main attraction for long periods of time. The big feature of the film is the intense bass that comes with the more action oriented bits. The sound of the demonic Griffin is probably the most intense, as it brings with it huge waves of deep bass that was actually shaking my walls with sheer ferocity.







Extras:

• Well Go USA Previews
• Theatrical Trailer





The Legend of Tomiris is a breathe of fresh air in some ways, as it offers a legendary female heroine that is off the beaten path of history. It also is unique in that it was filmed in the general area that Tomiris came from and offers a good mix of languages (the cover states that it’s not just Turkish, but also Russian and Kazakhstan’s native tongue as well depending on which scene). The center acts of the film really do suffer by being too slogged down with story buildup, but the end battle is quite a bit of fun and shows a more realistic look at battle than the more stylized version of Persian battles (I’m sure you know what film I’m talking about). Definitely worth checking out despite the fact that Well Go USA sadly didn’t have any extras on the disc outside of a few previews.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Almira Tursyn, Ghassan Massoud, Aizhan Lighg, Adil Akhemtov, Erkebulan Dairov
Directed by: Akan Satayev
Written by: Aliya Nazarbayeva, TImur Zhakslykov
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Turkish: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Turkish DD 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 155 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 29th, 2020