Nomad: The Warrior

An epic in every sense of the word
When the only other Kazakhi film on people's minds this year is a Jackass-style pseduo-documentary comedy about a bumbling Kazakhi reporter named Borat, it's probably hard to get people interested in a Kazakhi war epic. Much less one with subtitles. Especially when the cover makes it look like a 300 knockoff or a Gladiator wannabe. But Nomad: The Warrior stands on its own as a sprawling desert landscaped, bloody battlefield epic piece of cinema.

Mostly set in Kazakhstan in 1710, Nomad follows the story of a young man who is born to fulfill the prophecy of uniting the three warring sects of his country to rid themselves of their violent enemies once and for all. Spanning over 30 years, the film never flinches as it uncovers intense hardcore battle sequences staged with Braveheart-esque grandiosity. Heads will roll and warriors will run screaming and flaming off camera, all under the watchful eyes of directors Sergei Bodrov and Ivan Passer. The washed out desert landscapes...

Beautiful, simple
A beautiful film with a straight forward and sufficient plot. There was even something endearingly sweet and charming about it despite all the fighting.

Thanks for a hero who is strong and is just a nice guy with inner strength and warrior skills and does not have to rub our face in it with bluster and swagger! These visual cliches could have worked too, but it has been done countless times by John Wayne, Bruce Willis, etc. Becker was a refreshing alternative that worked for me given the script. His people had been waiting for a prophesied warrior-leader -- and he was up to his destiny without having to be theatrically charismatic. In fact he was raised learning to conceal his identity and destiny and that helped make his modesty and quiet strength work for me. Of course the deviation from warrior-hero stereotypes and uncomplicated script also offered fresh meat for the critics who apparently expected it to be in competition with other epics and used them as standards...

Nomad: The Warrior
I really liked this movie. One because I am history buff and an epic fighter movie fan as well. This is entertainment with a good source of pride and nationlism for their country "feel" Is it perfect? No, but it does have enough sword play and horse scenes to entice any action appreciation watcher. The pass on a horse through a column of arrows is impressive and nerve racking. Some say this is low budget, I think not, and while it is not a Scott Ridley film, it is worth a see and I bought the DVD because I don't go off what a cover looks like, I go for content. I lucked out on this one. Ask yourself this? Did you want to research the topic more? Where the swordfights impressive? Could you do them? If this movie truly stunk, I would say so, it is far from that, and I really like it. Enough said.

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