"Taras Bulba" -- the name was strange and piqued my young imagination when I first heard it, spoken in the deep baritone of Yul Brynner's voice. I was just a boy when I first saw this movie on television. I was captivated from the start! All I needed was a sword and a horse, OK, and some steppes, and a scalplock, and I could be Taras Bulba, too! This was a refreshing change from all the Westerns we had in the 60's when I was growing up, even though it was basically a cowboy and Indian movie set in the East.
Fast forward to 1995. Here I am, a grown man, and addicted to action and adventure movies. I see "Taras Bulba" in the video store. I have to buy it!
Imagine my surprise as I viewed the opening credits... Tony Curtis has top billing, Yul Brynner has second billing! "Wait a minute, I said to myself. Taras Bulba is about Yul Brynner, right?" Well, yes and no, I sagely decided. When I first saw the movie, I was attracted by the fighting and violence. What I neglected to notice was United Artists wanted to attract the opposite sex to this tale of adventure, therefore they added the love story to satisfy them. I had probably lost that part in a refrigerator break!
About the plot: Taras Bulba is a 16th century Cossack chief, living in the vast steppes of the Ukraine. He is a father of two sons, Andrey (Tony Curtis) and Ostap. The Cossacks are mercenaries for hire. They save the Poles from the Tartars, but are treacherously turned on by the Poles, who fire on the Cossack camp with cannon. After the Cossacks flee back to their beloved steppes, Taras vows that his sons will learn the things the Poles know so that they will never be surprised by their treachery again.
The rest of the story follows a predictable line: Boys go to school, boy meets girl, boys go home, boys go to war with their father to fight Poles, boy defects to Poles because girl is there, father catches son, father executes son. A very tragic tale!
Old professional Yul Brynner dominates the screen every moment he is on, stealing every scene despite Tony Curtis' star billing. Even with Tony Curtis miscast as the lead, the production is such high quality that it really does not detract. This film rates four honest stars as a rousing tale of adventure that every aficionado will appreciate. The ladies will like the love story aspect, so it is a film the whole family will enjoy. Everyone will like the rousing Franz Waxman score. See it!
Fans of "Taras Bulba" will also like "The Brothers Karamazov", starring dashing Yul Brynner as a son accused of murdering his father.
Two Cossack brothers in the 16th-century Ukraine find themselves battling each other when one wants to recover land from the treacherous Poles and the...More at Buy.com
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