Set in the 16th century Ukraine two Cossack brothers find themselves battling each other when one wants to recover land from the treacherous Poles and the other falls in love with a Polish girl. Breathtaking scenes. Academy Award Nominations: Best (original) Score.System Requirements:Running Time; 122 mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 883904103073 Manufacturer No: M110307
"I will kiss the devil before my son wears a Polish collar!" declares Cossack warrior Taras Bulba, thus laying down the fundamental conflict of this epic film, based on the classic book by Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol. After the Polish army and the Cossacks defeat the Turks, the Poles betray their fierce collaborators in order to claim the Cossacks' ancestral home, the Steppes. Scattered, the Cossacks bide their time, and Bulba (Yul Brynner) sends his son Andrei (Tony Curtis) to a Polish college to learn the secrets of their culture. Though Andrei faces cruelty and prejudice, he falls in love with a Polish noblewoman, Natalia (Christine Kaufmann, a lovely German actress in one of her few English-language roles). Andrei, torn by love and loyalty to his people, risks everything in a desperate attempt to win Christine, even if it pits him against his own father. Taras Bulba is far from a great film--there are some laughable special effects, the battle scenes are confused and sluggish, and Curtis never quite loses his Bronx accent. Despite that, Curtis' star power comes through, and Yul Brynner tears up the screen with his amazing physical presence and emotional intensity; the man was truly a unique and compelling actor, who found only a few roles that suited him--this was one. By the end, Gogol's muscular plot catches you in its grip. The hypnotically gripping final scenes overcome all the cheesiness that came before. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Better than I remmember it:
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. 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. And, of course,... more info
Garbage:
The movie is good, but this DVD was taken from a well used VSH tape. The video quality is poor. The audio is worse. I am glad that I didn't buy it and rented it instead. Wait for the restoration. That is if the film is available to restore.
Good Old-fashioned Schmaltzy Fun:
A great old movie, lot's of historical inaccuracies, but fun none the less. A source for many great comments to use joking with friends.
The Ride to Dubno:
The best part of the film comes early on, in the sequence (and supporting score) "The Ride to Dubno." The building music and imagery of the Cossacks riding in from all directions to join the central figure of Taras Bulba serves to transform the screen from an intimate and rather forlorn depiction of a father and his sons leaving their homestead to the sight and sound of an unstoppable horde of savage light cavalry sweeping across the steppes. The price of the DVD is justified by that sequence alone.
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