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Ilya Muromets (1956) aka Ilja Muromez
Rating: 4.8/10 (271 votes)
Runtime: 87 min
Language: Russian (see below for subtitles)
Country: Soviet Union
Color: Color
Director: Aleksandr Ptushko
Cast:
Boris Andreyev ... Ilja Muromez
Shukur Burkhanov ... Kalin
Andrei Abrikosov ... Prince Vladimir
Natalya Medvedeva ... Princess Apraksia
Yelena Myshkova ... Vasilisa
Sergei Martinson ... Mike (the traitor)
Georgi Dyomin ... Durbar Muromets
Aleksandr Shvorin ... Sokolnichek
Nikolai Glazkov ... Plenchishye
Mikhail Pugovkin ... Razumets
Sergei Stolyarov ... Popovich
V. Tyagushev ... Kasyan
a.o.
Description: Released in the Soviet Union in 1956, "Ilya Muromets" is based on a well-known Russian folktale about a paralyzed hero, Ilya Muromets, who regains his strength to do battle against the invading Tugar tribe of vicious Tartars. He encounters a hurricane-breath demon (Nightingale), treacherous boyars, and, in the grand finale, the terrible three-headed dragon, Gorynich, which may have inspired Ishiro Honda and Tomoyuki Tanaka when they later introduced King Ghidorah in their Godzilla films.
"Ilya Muromets" is an amazing film, my favorite of all Ptushko's work. He must have had the entire Red Army in use as extras during its production because its publicity information claims "A Cast of 106,000! 11,000 Horses!" The scenes of the massive Tugar army on the move are astounding. It is noteworthy too as being the first USSR film made in "SovietScope", actually Dyaliscope, the French version of Cinemascope, and it was the first Soviet film to have a stereo soundtrack.
Some of the best scenes in the movie come from the villains, the Tugars, especially their chief, Tsar Talin. Played by Uzbekistan's veteran stage and film actor Shukur Burkhanov, the ruthless Talin grins and leers as he gleefully declares, "I'm going to attack ... KIEV!" Burkhanov started acting in the 1920's but had to leave his family to be able to become an actor. The strict Islamic law practiced in his home region forbid one person from imitating another. Trained at the Moscow Art Theater and in the Stanislavsky School of Acting, his delightful performance as the evil Tartar in "Ilya Muromets" is in total contrast to the stodgy, serious Russian hero, Ilya, played by Boris Andreyev.
Epic films such as "Ilya Muromets" can now only be made via computer graphics. And I suspect it would have been impossible to finance such a movie in the West even during the 1950s. Only the cost-blind Soviet system could have produced such a spectacle.
Viktor Kuprin, kosmosflot.blogspot.com
Roger Corman re-edited this film in the early 60s for US release, changing many names: Nightingale the Robber being changed to Wind Demon, Svyatogor being changed to Invincor, Gorynych the Serpent being changed to Zuma the Dragon, Dobrynya becoming Durbar, and the Khan becoming Khalin. This version featured narration by Mike Wallace and the voice of the Khan was dubbed by well-known voice actor Paul Frees. Corman's version of the film was featured as an episode on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" as "The Sword and the Dragon." Curiously the staff of MST3K somehow mistook the film's nation of origin to be Finland, and filled the episode with jokes about the Finnish.
Wikipedia
Just sit back and assume you are going to see something so strange that you'll either flee to reruns of "Beastmaster," or fall in love with an enchanting film unlike anything you've ever seen. Its an old Soviet production from the mid fifties, filled with overacting in the best traditions of social realist acting, and that indeed is part of the charm. But it is so much more, a child like wonder land of wind demons, magic swords, squirrels beating on mushrooms like bongo drums, and some of the best darn villians ever created.
I first saw this in a theater when I was a kid and fell in love with the tale, so much so that it actually impacted my life in a major way. I wound up in a library, a ten year old wanting to read about Russian history, folktales, and above all else, the Mongols, who are the bad guys in the film. Well, I now spend my summers in Mongolia working on archaeological digs, have wandered around Russia doing the same, and though I teach American history on the college level, this film triggered a life long love of the exotic world of old Rus and the "Tugar," i.e. Mongol Hordes. . . along with the science fiction novels I write in which a Mongol like Horde are the major antagonists. For that alone I'm grateful to the weird genius of Ptushko, the director of this and several other equally strange movies.
When I ran a college film series as a student I ordered this one up for what I guess you could call a "stoner's night," the old routine of strange cartoons, "Reefer Madness," and such. Everyone went nuts over "The Sword and the Dragon," and said it was the best of the night! Some of my favorite moments, the tower of human bodies, the great dancing girl routine, the 1000 lb envoy, the dancing squirrel, the wind demon, and the beautiful entry scene in the the court of Prince Vander. . . a moment as beautiful as any put on film and one of a couple of songs that are in Russian. So, go ahead and call it goofy. . . it might haunt your nightmares, you might just freak, call me a nut and turn it off in ten minutes. . . or you might get haunted by the film and watch it again and again. Bravo Ilya Muromets!
IMDB comment
Released in a dubbed, shortened version in the U.S. as "The Sword and the Dragon," the complete "Ilya Muromets" is one of Ptushko’s finest achievements, a colorful, sweeping epic of 13th century Russia, where barrel-chested hero Ilya (Boris Andreyev) takes on marauding Mongols, furry wind demons, three-headed dragons and a corrupt aristocracy to save his beloved homeland. The first CinemaScope and Stereo film produced in Russia, "Ilya Muromets" combines brilliant, "Jason and the Argonauts"-style visual effects with a gorgeous, pastoral vision of the Russian countryside – screeching black ravens, lone riders silhouetted against burning skies.
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