[Blu-ray | DVD | Video on Demand]

[Short review of this, might do more detailed one later.]

Mongol tells the tale of the rise of Genghis Khan. I thought this movie was excellent and made me want to watch the following installments (Mongol is the first of a planned trilogy chronicling the life of Genghis Khan).

The performances were all excellent. I thought a lot was portrayed with very little dialogue. The cinematography was gorgeous, even if the picture quality was mixed throughout. I had some problems with some of the time jumps. The movie did a decent job of establishing how the future Genghis got followers on a basic level, but jumps from him having 2-3 followers to a few years/months later having a whole army. I think no matter how fair a leader is, it takes a bit more to convince that many to follow him. I just wish it had shown more of that process.

Additionally, this movie, while telling the tale of Genghis’s childhood and rise to adulthood and khan, it definitely felt like the first part of a series. I think the movie stands on its own as a movie, but given the time cuts mentioned above, it just felt like it was lacking something. Knowing it’s part of a series explains that. I definitely want to see the next two movies.