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Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), Spanish ( Mono ), Portuguese ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: The internationally produced historical epic Genghis Khan sometimes wavers uncertainly between spectacle and self-parody. Though Omar Sharif essays the title role, top billing is bestowed upon Stephen Boyd as Genghis Khan's mentor-turned-enemy Jamuga. It's hard to generate audience sympathy for a Mongolian leader who laid waste to much of the civilized world, but Sharif manages to pull it off. While the battle scenes are impressive, the most memorable sequence involves an outsized fireworks display (which turns out to be a clever bit of military strategy). James Mason is amusing as an epigrammatic Chinese leader, Eli Wallach is appropriately hissable as the film's main villain, and the late Francoise Dorleac is decorative as the romantic bone of contention between Genghis Khan and Jamuga. Most of the film was lensed in Yugoslavia, a country that served as a generic location for many a historical pageant of the 1960s and 1970s. ...Genghis Khan (1965) ( Dschingis Khan ) ( Dzingis-Kan )
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Shot on the cheap in Yugoslavia with its Mongol hordes played by such hardy types as, er, Michael Hordern and George Savalas, Henry Levin's Genghis Khan is the kind of bizarre international co-production where its star Omar Sharif isn't just billed last, he's billed last after the title and after such luminaries as Kenneth Cope (top billing goes to Stephen Boyd's scenery-chewing villain). But maybe he had a smart agent who was trying to hide his involvement in one of the tattiest `epics' to come from a major studio in the 1960s. That the script charting nice guy Temujin's rise to becoming the Great Khan is so weak and skips over all the interesting and far too expensive bits once he hit his rampaging prime is almost the least of its problems compared to the indignities heaped upon the supporting cast. You can't help but pity poor James Mason in the most ridiculous performance of his life, sporting makeup, a fixed grin and a silly sing-song voice that wouldn't cut the mustard in a fading seaside town's panto as a Chinese dignitary. Robert Morley's Emperor of China at least has the sense not to try the accent, though with dialogue like "It's not only inaccurate, its inartistic" he seems to have the measure of the film. Others, like Telly Savalas, disappear from most of the mid-section of the film as if only hired for a few days to beef up the `all-star' cast. It's a pretty unimpressive looking film too at times, marred by some extremely nasty horsefalls in the action scenes, and unfortunately a lot of them, that make it hard to recommend even as a guilty pleasure.
This one has a varied history on DVD. The Spanish DVD is well worth avoiding, being a panned-and-scanned transfer that makes the film look even more unimpressive, while the film is only available in the US as a manufactured-on-demand DVD-R from Columbia's archive collection with no extras, though it is in the original 2.35:1 widescreen. However, if you want a proper DVD copy, it's available from Columbia in Germany (you can find it on Amazon.de as Dschingis Khan) in a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer with English and German soundtrack options but no extras - a shame, because there was a behind the scenes short film made at the time to promote the 1965 theatrical release.
This one has a varied history on DVD. The Spanish DVD is well worth avoiding, being a panned-and-scanned transfer that makes the film look even more unimpressive, while the film is only available in the US as a manufactured-on-demand DVD-R from Columbia's archive collection with no extras, though it is in the original 2.35:1 widescreen. However, if you want a proper DVD copy, it's available from Columbia in Germany (you can find it on Amazon.de as Dschingis Khan) in a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer with English and German soundtrack options but no extras - a shame, because there was a behind the scenes short film made at the time to promote the 1965 theatrical release.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Made in 1965 this film is one version of Genghis Khan's life and death. Although it is unaccurate it is still an absorbing story. Actually starring Stephan Boyd as Jamucha,leader of the Merkit tribe ( a solid performence ) Genghis' enemy, with Michael Horden, Kenneth Cope, and the gorgeouse (late ) Francoise Dorleac as Borte, the Khan's number 1 wife it boasts a solid cast with Omar Sharif as Genghis Khan. The general scenery is breathtaking,and the entrance into Peking of the Khan's followeres is a memorable scene. Its boys own stuff and great to watch. If i am picky , then perhaps a little more historic accuracy would have helped. Its not for girls this epic.Genghis Khan (1965) ( Dschingis Khan ) (Region 2 import)
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
In my opinion a quality film which I tried to obtain for some time, I would highly recommend viewing this 'adventure, film. can you not secure the release of the Adventures of Quentin Durward on DVD.
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