Nomad(The Warrior)
Nomad(The Warrior) **1/2
Directed by Sergei Bodrov and Ivan Passer
Written by Rustam Ibragimbekov
Starring:
Jay Hernandez as Erali
Kuno Becker as Mansur
Jason Scott Lee as Oraz
Ayanat Yesmagambetova as Gaukhar
Mark Decascos as Sharish
100 Minutes(Rated R for violence)
-----------------------------------------
"Nomad" is a good old fashioned epic, in the shadows of films like "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia." Recently I was watching "Braveheart" and I said that they didn't make movies of this type anymore. Good ol' fashioned epic adventure stories, love stories, with massive battle scenes. The closest that I could think of is "300" and that wasn't old fashioned or even very interesting. There is no way that "Nomad" was as ambitious as "300," but it does have moments of supreme entertainment, and the action/battle scenes and cinematography are practically breathtaking, This tries to be an epic of the 60's, and for the most part it succeeds. However, there is something missing from "Nomad" that doesn't make it perfect, or even worth seeing in the end.
"Nomad" tells the story of Mansur. Many years ago, in Kazakhstan, a traveling man had a prophecy that told him that there was a child who would help the Kazakh's come to freedom and become independent. He goes on a journey and discovers that the child is the Sultan's son. He makes a deal with the Sultan after saving the boys life from the ongoing Jungars, and takes the boy to train him to become a great warrior. Years pass, and Mansur still doesn't know that he is the son of the Sultan, but he is trained to hold an image of a free Kazakhstan in his mind to help him fulfill the prophecy. He trains alongside his best friend Erali, and is in love with the beautiful Gaukhar, but wants to step aside when he learns that Erali is also in love with her. Eventually Gaukhar becomes kidnapped by the Jungar swordsman Sharish, and Mansur will not let this off lightly as he journeys to the Jungar camp to try and save the woman that he loves.
"Nomad" had a long and rocky road being made. It was partially directed by Ivan Passer, but budget problems put the completion of the film in the air. Eventually the Weinsteins put up another forty million dollars to director Sergei Bodrov who finished it, as long as there were more battle scenes and more development of the central love story. "Nomad" or "The Warrior" as it is subtitled, is the finished product. In a way its timing is perfect. A story about Kazakhstan independence and pride right after "Borat' caused all that controversy a few months ago with the country. It's almost as if they wanted this film to tell the true story of Kazakhstan after that hilarious television reporter made the Kazakhstan mark on America. This also led to a strange decision having Jay Hernandez and Kuno Becker as the two leads. They are both of Mexican descent and probably had no idea about the story of Kazakhstan before reading the script. "Nomad" isn't very difficult to separate from those recent epics like "Braveheart" and "Gladiator" except for the hour less running time and the lack of any big stars. I think that if it was marketed correctly "Nomad" could have been released commercial, but the Weinstein brothers once again failed to make any kind of mark. This is the third time in the last few months that I have noticed their incompetence. First was "Breaking and Entering" which they moved and moved to the point where when it was released nobody knew anything about it. And than they really wanted Sienna Miller to get an Oscar nod for "Factory Girl," so instead of giving it a big Oscar campaign throughout Oscar season(for example releasing it in October, which was after Whitaker's "The Last King of Scotland," and Mirren's "The Queen" were released) they released it in a single LA theatre on December 29th. It's a wonder that nobody knew about her performance. And now with "Nomad" they dubbed it down, and released it without really any trailers or commercials. Before seeing the film I had not seen a single frame of "Nomad" before buying the ticket, and the Weinsteins were lucky I'm a film fan or they would have never gotten my ten dollars.
In the end, the thing that "Nomad" lacks if any spirit. Even though the battle scenes look great, and it has moments of strong entertainment, it is extremely by the books and it doesn't offer anything new to the genre. I've seen this movie before, and quite a number of times. Even with only an hour and forty five minutes it still seems padded and overlong. The cinematography is pretty much breathtaking, and some of the final shots do leave a good impression in your mind even if the screenplay does not. I enjoyed "Nomad" for the most part, but there have been better made films of the issue. Just watch "Braveheart" and pretend that Mel Gibson is from Kazakhstan, and it's basically the same thing.
Directed by Sergei Bodrov and Ivan Passer
Written by Rustam Ibragimbekov
Starring:
Jay Hernandez as Erali
Kuno Becker as Mansur
Jason Scott Lee as Oraz
Ayanat Yesmagambetova as Gaukhar
Mark Decascos as Sharish
100 Minutes(Rated R for violence)
-----------------------------------------
"Nomad" is a good old fashioned epic, in the shadows of films like "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia." Recently I was watching "Braveheart" and I said that they didn't make movies of this type anymore. Good ol' fashioned epic adventure stories, love stories, with massive battle scenes. The closest that I could think of is "300" and that wasn't old fashioned or even very interesting. There is no way that "Nomad" was as ambitious as "300," but it does have moments of supreme entertainment, and the action/battle scenes and cinematography are practically breathtaking, This tries to be an epic of the 60's, and for the most part it succeeds. However, there is something missing from "Nomad" that doesn't make it perfect, or even worth seeing in the end.
"Nomad" tells the story of Mansur. Many years ago, in Kazakhstan, a traveling man had a prophecy that told him that there was a child who would help the Kazakh's come to freedom and become independent. He goes on a journey and discovers that the child is the Sultan's son. He makes a deal with the Sultan after saving the boys life from the ongoing Jungars, and takes the boy to train him to become a great warrior. Years pass, and Mansur still doesn't know that he is the son of the Sultan, but he is trained to hold an image of a free Kazakhstan in his mind to help him fulfill the prophecy. He trains alongside his best friend Erali, and is in love with the beautiful Gaukhar, but wants to step aside when he learns that Erali is also in love with her. Eventually Gaukhar becomes kidnapped by the Jungar swordsman Sharish, and Mansur will not let this off lightly as he journeys to the Jungar camp to try and save the woman that he loves.
"Nomad" had a long and rocky road being made. It was partially directed by Ivan Passer, but budget problems put the completion of the film in the air. Eventually the Weinsteins put up another forty million dollars to director Sergei Bodrov who finished it, as long as there were more battle scenes and more development of the central love story. "Nomad" or "The Warrior" as it is subtitled, is the finished product. In a way its timing is perfect. A story about Kazakhstan independence and pride right after "Borat' caused all that controversy a few months ago with the country. It's almost as if they wanted this film to tell the true story of Kazakhstan after that hilarious television reporter made the Kazakhstan mark on America. This also led to a strange decision having Jay Hernandez and Kuno Becker as the two leads. They are both of Mexican descent and probably had no idea about the story of Kazakhstan before reading the script. "Nomad" isn't very difficult to separate from those recent epics like "Braveheart" and "Gladiator" except for the hour less running time and the lack of any big stars. I think that if it was marketed correctly "Nomad" could have been released commercial, but the Weinstein brothers once again failed to make any kind of mark. This is the third time in the last few months that I have noticed their incompetence. First was "Breaking and Entering" which they moved and moved to the point where when it was released nobody knew anything about it. And than they really wanted Sienna Miller to get an Oscar nod for "Factory Girl," so instead of giving it a big Oscar campaign throughout Oscar season(for example releasing it in October, which was after Whitaker's "The Last King of Scotland," and Mirren's "The Queen" were released) they released it in a single LA theatre on December 29th. It's a wonder that nobody knew about her performance. And now with "Nomad" they dubbed it down, and released it without really any trailers or commercials. Before seeing the film I had not seen a single frame of "Nomad" before buying the ticket, and the Weinsteins were lucky I'm a film fan or they would have never gotten my ten dollars.
In the end, the thing that "Nomad" lacks if any spirit. Even though the battle scenes look great, and it has moments of strong entertainment, it is extremely by the books and it doesn't offer anything new to the genre. I've seen this movie before, and quite a number of times. Even with only an hour and forty five minutes it still seems padded and overlong. The cinematography is pretty much breathtaking, and some of the final shots do leave a good impression in your mind even if the screenplay does not. I enjoyed "Nomad" for the most part, but there have been better made films of the issue. Just watch "Braveheart" and pretend that Mel Gibson is from Kazakhstan, and it's basically the same thing.
posted by Eric at
12:31 PM
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