GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

thefinalcredits 'I gave you life. It is on me to take it away.'In an era where historical epics were received well both in the theatres and critical circles, this one failed to resonate, and ended costing United Artists the considerable shortfall of some $4.5million. Described by it's star, Tony Curtis as a 'Ukrainian Romeo and Juliet', this feature marked a turning point in the fortunes of its director, J Lee Thompson, who had previously enjoyed an unbroken chain of box office and critical successes from 1958's 'Ice Cold in Alex' onwards. One wonders whether he had this specific project in mind, and, in particular, the memorable scene featuring a test of courage of a deadly crossing of a ravine on horseback, when he mused: 'I've learned by experience that it's fatal to accept a poor script because it contains one or two good scenes which you long to shoot'. Originally slated as a Robert Aldrich project, with Anthony Quinn set to embody the titular character, financial constraints led to it being bought by the independent production company headed by Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster. When this company dissolved in 1960, Hecht continued alone and his former partner relinquished the starring role which would pass to Curtis. As for Brynner, whose mother was said to have both Russian and Mongolian roots, he was at the height of his popularity and held out the highest of expectations for the production. Very loosely based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol, one major change in characterisation had Andrei transformed into the oldest brother to more easily enable the casting of 37 year-old Curtis in the lead role. In fact, Curtis was just five years younger than Yul Brynner who played his father, the eponymous Cossack rebel of the Ukrainian steppes. There can be no question that Brynner gives a barnstorming performance, while Curtis lacks both an appropriate physique and accent to be convincing in the slightest. Friction was constant on set as a result of Brynner's disatisfaction with not having received top billing. The offscreen antics of the cast also included the well- publicised love affair between Curtis, whose marriage to Janet Leigh was on the rocks, and his leading lady, Christine Kaufmann. On the evidence here, it is astonishing to believe that just twelve months earlier she was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Newcomer for her eye-catching role in 'A Town Without Pity' alongside Kirk Douglas. The overtly saccharine love- story she shares on screen with Curtis lacks enough depth to heighten the tragedy of the final father-son fight to the death. One wonders whether much of the film's weakness in terms of the plot was largely the result of the studio's comprehensive cuts imposed on the director.The studio had baulked at original screenplay writer, Howard Fast's wishes to bring much more historical accuracy to the story-line, especially concerning the Cossacks' anti-Semitic purges against Polish Jews. Consequently, the writing team of Karl Tunberg, Oscar nominated for 'Ben Hur', and previously blacklisted Waldo Salt, later to enjoy much greater critical success for the likes of 'Midnight Cowboy', produced a sub- standard bland vehicle for the heart-throb Curtis. By contrast, Thompson's direction is much more assured in capturing the spectacular battle scenes set in the expanses of the Argentinian landscape, substituting for the steppes. These scenes also benefit from the skilled hand of cinematographer, and three times Academy Award nominee, Joseph MacDonald, who a decade earlier had majestically shot his native Mexico for Kazan's biopic, 'Viva Zapata'. However, the picture's greatest feature has to remain the stirring score provided by Franz Waxman, which utilised Russian folk music, and was hailed by Bernard Hermann as one of the greatest scores ever written for the screen. How indelible an impression is made by the rousing accompaniment to the Cossacks' banding together on the 'Road to Dubno'.Yet, so disappointed at the final product was Brynner that he is said to have broken down and wept at his first private screening, and his belief in the artistic integrity of Hollywood irretrievably crushed.

Jeff (actionrating.com) See it – The ending ruined this one for me, which is a shame because it is a unique film. It's a sword and sandals movie about the Cossacks in the Baltic War, and stars Yul Brynner in the role that he was quite literally "born to play" (being Russian-born). There are sweeping battle scenes with hundreds of extras, and even a few swashbuckling sword fights. Unfortunately, Tony Curtis (as Brynner's son) hogs most of the scenes, and the battles are too brief. Every time a battle looks like it's about to get good, it will abruptly end. Honestly, the main reason I'd even see this movie is to watch the scene that undoubtedly was stolen by Monty Python's Holy Grail when the guy's pushing a cart yelling "Bring out your dead!" 3 action rating.

David Diamond Released in 1962 a week after Lawrence Of Arabia, Taras Bulba, was not a thinking man's epic like Lawrence or any of the other epics of the time, such as Ben-Hur, Spartacus, El Cid, King Of Kings – it was more of a grand adventure yarn and critics and audiences of the time were just not that interested, despite the film having two big stars in Yul Brynner and Tony Curtis, and a director, J. Lee Thompson, who'd just come off a huge smash hit with The Guns Of Navarone. What Taras Bulba did have was an absolutely brilliant score by the great Franz Waxman.For me the Best Sequence in the film is the Ride to Dubno where the various Cossack legions meet up with each other in long extended gallop march sequence.This film is largely overlooked now despite some broadcasts on TCM where I had the privilege of seeing it for the first time. It appears to be a throwback to that epic film-making style in the 1950s and 1960s but appears to be a bit truncated in its length to retell the Gogol story. The subplot love story between Andrei (Tony Curtis) and Christine Kaufmann is uninspired to say the least. The one interesting fact to note is that Tony Curtis married Christine Kaufmann after meeting her on this film.

Robert J. Maxwell It's hard to resist this headlong story of Zaparoshki cossack Taras Bulba, Yul Brynner, and his son Andry, Tony Curtis, set in the 1600s. Essentially, the plot is that Taras Bulba hates the Poles and is always ready to revolt and fight them, but Curtis falls in love with a Polish princess while studying in Kiev. In the end, Curtis saves his girl, Christine Kaufmann, but only at the expense of his life. To keep Kaufmann from being burned at the stake, Curtis helps the Poles and is executed by Taras Bulba, his own father.This is the kind of movie that's usually called "epic." They must have used a thousand extras in scenes of hordes of horsemen sweeping across the Russian steppes. All of them wear colorful costumes. Nobody ever rides a horse except at full gallop. The musical score by Franz Waxman soars above all the on screen noise. The three opening notes of the main theme, first up and then down, follow precisely those of the most familiar Japanese folk song in existence, easily YouTubed. And, man, is there a lot of noise. Cossacks lived in semi-independent communities that were organized along military lines, with regiments and so forth, and they fought hard and played equally hard. Their usual role when allied with other armies was reconnaissance and ambushes.The Jivaro tribe of the Amazon basin, major headshrinkers, were also fond of ambushes in warfare. I don't know why I'm inserting this datum. I guess since I had to learn it, I don't see why anyone else should have the privilege of not knowing it. Try to think of it this way. There are maybe three or four people on earth that know that the ambush was the Jivaro's favorite tactic in combat -- and you are now one of them. I shake your hand.Where was I? Yes, a stupendous, colossal movie in every respect but it is dated. If they were to make a modern movie of Gogol's story (and they have, just this year), I don't think Tony Curtis or anyone like him would be chosen to play Andry. Nor would the actor have Curtis's slicked-back and gelled hair do. And every scene wouldn't be shot under the blazing suns of California, Argentina, and Yugoslavia -- especially not Yugoslavia. There would be occasional clouds, rain, and mud. Everything wouldn't be so sterile, so free of lice and pimples. In short, a remake wouldn't look so much like it had been produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The movie belongs to the Old Hollywood, the classical Hollywood of studios and contract players, that was fast disappearing. This may be among the system's last ticks.I don't know who they might get to play Taras Bulba. Yul Brynner seems to the character born. He was a Russian himself and in this kind of arrogant role, his default setting was the King of Siam. He always stands with his legs spread, his fists on his hips, and he bellows every word.And I can't be sure about Christine Kaufmann as Princess Natalia either. She's a pretty young woman with a winsome manner. Tony Curtis married her. She's not much of an actress as far as it's possible to tell -- she has so few lines -- but her evident shyness before the camera may add the proper touch to her character. It's conceivable that a young cossack might fall for her tiny voice and gracile figure after all the muscular and hairy cossack women he's gotten used to. It's also conceivable that the romance will bore your cuirass off.These cossacks lead one hell of a life, by the way. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing to excess. They don't talk; they shout. They only have two interactional modes into which they can toggle. They either argue or play grab ass. Each cossack man drinks enough vodka to topple a rhinoceros, and THEN he walks across a plank balanced over a pit of enraged bears. A man stakes everything on his personal honor. A cross word must lead to death during a particularly tense and grueling ritual, at the end of which the loser takes his horse with him, a dirty trick on an innocent animal. The penalty for opposing the will of the majority is death. The penalty of accusing someone of cowardice is death. The penalty for falling in love with the wrong Polish princess is death. The penalty for everything is death. In one version of Gogol's story, Taras Bulba is nailed to a tree and set on fire. But -- this being Hollywood and not the banks of the Dniper -- in this movie Brynner survives, sadder perhaps about slaughtering his own son, happier perhaps because the cossack way of life is preserved, but no wiser.