Czech New Wave leader Ivan Passer picks up the torch originally ignited by Russian director Sergei Bodrov to bring Central Asia's first-ever event film to the light of the silver screen. Penned by Russian screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov, Nomad tells the tale of 18th-century Kazak military strategist Ablai Khan -- a forward-thinking visionary whose efforts to unify his country eventually helped to define Kazakhstan's borders. Warned by a mystical Kazak warrior named Oraz (Jason Scott Lee) that a
child who will unite the warring local tribes and free his people is about to be born, invading Jungar leader Galdan Ceren (Doskhan Zholzhaxynov) -- whose soldiers are currently occupying Kazakhstan -- instructs his assassins to target Mansur (Kuno Becker), the son of a local sultan. After being saved from a grim fate by none other than Oraz, Mansur is raised to become a fearless warrior whose vision of a unified Kazak state drives him to fulfill the ancient prophecy. Tirelessly training alongside his best friend Erali (Jay Hernandez), Mansur leaps into action when love interest Gaukhar (Ayanat Yesmagambetova) is abducted by malevolent Jungar swordsman Sharish (Mark Decascos). Originally set to be helmed exclusively by Passer, Nomad was finished by director Bodrov after a production hiatus threw the fate of the film into question and the European production partner Wild Bunch stepped in to help assure that the film was eventually completed. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Kazakhstan supposedly spent $40 million in making this martial-arts epic. That bought a laughably corny Hollywood B-movie, gorgeous scenery, Hollywood B-actors and extras who plainly weren't members of the Screen Extras Guild.
Though it has a familiar inevitability, the journey is generally compelling, thanks to fierce battles, a gorgeous landscape and heartfelt performances.
It embraces every cliché in the epic-movie playbook, relies too heavily on stale dialogue delivered in somber tones and offers little to its actors besides the opportunity to fashion some great-looking Eurasian costumes.
Despite the central Asian locale, the film is largely rooted in the conventions of the American westerns and good old Hollywood Biblical epics like The Ten Commandments, as well as many of their attendant clichés.
In the American-release version of the picture, the emphasis on spectacle and the paring away of all but the most essential exposition ends up having the opposite of its intended effect.
A throwback to yeteryear's epics, Kazakhstan's official entry for the Foreign-Language Oscar is an old-fashioned actioner using real locales and extras rather than CGI effects; lack of unified vision may derive from too many directors behind the camera
The story of a young warrior uniting the Kazakh tribes of the vast tundra plains against Mongolian invaders. Although it combines a few international B-movie stars to tell this tale, the film actually looks really good and far from cheap. The cinematography and landscapes are very beautiful, the soundtrack nicely
pompous and fitting. Sadly, that's already the best you can say about this oddly boring film. Too many stereotypes and bad dialogues make it hard for the audience to get involved. The riding and sword fight action scenes are decent at best but have been done better and more exciting in many movies. Although things do get better towards the end it somehow leaves a stale taste in your mouth, considering how much better this could have been with a little more love for a decent story and lines.
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