The Legend of Tomiris Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The Legend of Tomiris Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 6, 2020

Mulan may be attracting a bit of attention as this review is being published, but for those wanting to delve just a little bit further back into the dim mists of time, there’s another famous female warrior being featured as the focal character in a film. Tomiris may not have quite the name recognition that Mulan has, especially since there was the pre-existing Disney animated feature about the female Chinese commander even before the more recent live action version, but for anyone who is acquainted with Mulan’s story, this story of a female warrior leading her people to an unexpected victory will feel at least a little familiar. That said, this is a film that may depend upon an understanding of history and context that some Westerners in particular may not be all that up to speed with, and as such The Legend of Tomiris, while often visually quite interesting and filled with some vigorous performances, may end up feeling too distant to ever really connect on an emotional level.

In a conceit that kind of reminded me of a similar framing device utilized in The Egyptian, The Legend of Tomiris begins with, and often returns to, a scribe who is documenting the history of the character. That gambit at least allows for a bit of introductory contextualizing, where the viewer is alerted both to the general time frame (several hundred years before the AD era) and place (the steppes of northern Asia). Unlike Mulan, Tomiris (played by Almira Tursyn as an adult) is born to “greatness”, or at least quasi-nobility, as the daughter of tribal chieftain Spargap (Murat Bisenbin). Spargap, I guess like most tribal chieftains, had actually wanted a boy, but perhaps unexpectedly he greets the arrival of his daughter dutifully, perhaps because his wife dies giving birth to her. He raises Tomiris with a hefty education in the supposedly “manly” arts of self defense and archery. Unfortunately, there’s evidently a lot of internecine scheming between tribes on the steppe, and a horde of attackers wipes out almost all of Spargap’s cohort, including Spargap himself, though a young Tomiris and a few others manage to escape, where they create a life for themselves as nomads in the forest.

The film elides what I guess were Tomiris' "teen years", jumping forward to her as a young adult where, after having separated herself from her remaining tribe members for a little "alone time", she returns to find them all slaughtered. She becomes an almost feral creature, marauding through the forest until she finds the group responsible for the massacre, which of course leads to another massacre, albeit this time with Tomiris the victor, though one with a rather serious wound to her side. Evidently the steppe was full of women warriors back in the day, because she's rescued by a bunch of females who bring her back to their encampment where she's nursed back to health.

Suffice it to say that Tomiris is ultimately able to assume her rightful position as a tribal chief, and finds a little romance along the way, too. A couple of personal tragedies intrude, making Tomiris even more intent on revenge. The film builds toward its expected climax with what has become the enduring legacy of Tomiris, the defeat of Cyrus the Great in one of the most celebrated “upset” victories in the history of warfare. The film aims for the epic sweep that has often graced biographical films of iconic individuals, and it certainly offers a compelling portrait of nomadic tribal life. The Legend of Tomiris was evidently a huge hit in Kazakhstan, where, historically, many of the actual events took place, but that may be the “rub” with this film: it seems designed to whip up a certain nationalistic fervor, or at least an “identity” based enthusiasm that will probably unavoidably resonate the most strongly with those who were raised and/or live in that region and are more intimately familiar with the history involved.

The film clocks in at well over two and a half hours (there’s evidently an even longer “director’s cut” that was screened in Kazakhstan), and it can be a bit of a slog at times, even with some decently staged battle sequences. Probably the single most distinctive thing about this outing is its rather odd, almost dreamlike at times, cinematography, which features an almost completely blanched palette that almost ends up making things look pale and hazy, as if the steppes were virtually a post-Apocalyptic wasteland.

The Legend of Tomiris Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Legend of Tomiris is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. I haven't been able to find any real technical data on the shoot, but this was seemingly digitally captured and I'm assuming finished at a 2K DI. Detail levels are typically very good to excellent throughout the presentation, but as can probably be readily made out by looking at the screenshots accompanying this review, the look of the film has been intentionally desaturated so that relatively neutral tones like browns, grays and beiges tend to predominate quite a bit of the time. There's an overall hazy quality to the cinematography, as mentioned above in the main body of the review, that tends to give a somewhat soft overall ambience to the imagery. The film's costume design is rather unique, and fine detail offers good, precise renderings of elements like fabrics and even some of the jewelry that both genders are adorned with. The many outdoor shots often feature nice depth of field. The CGI ranges from rather good (Tomiris has repeated visions of a kind of demonic griffin, as seen in screenshot 2) to a little less convincing (some of the battle scenes).

The Legend of Tomiris Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While our specs only allow for one main language, the back cover of this release actually states that it offers Turkish, Kazakh and Russian, though I'm not enough of a linguist to authoritatively state which language is being spoken when. One way or the other, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on this disc is quite forceful and offers some good, consistent surround activity. There's some rather forceful LFE that accompanies Tomiris' visions of the demonic griffin, and many of the battle scenes are rife with the sounds of galloping horses and blades clashing (and more than occasionally entering flesh). Scenes involving large groups of people, as in several sequences documenting tribal life, offer good background placement of crowd noises and the like. The glut of outdoor material also offers regular opportunities for well placed ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue (whatever language it may be in) is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Legend of Tomiris Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 1:35+1)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, after the trailer for this film plays, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

The Legend of Tomiris Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Legend of Tomiris is often visually quite striking, and Tursyn is a fierce presence in the title role. The film also benefits from, but is also perhaps hobbled by (at least for some viewers), its unique setting and the history it details, in that my hunch is many Westerners are going to be next to ignorant about tribal life on the steppes during this ancient period in general and Tomiris in particular. As such I'm not sure the film ever does a good enough job to make these characters seem real enough, as opposed to being pageant players in various tableaux, to ever connect emotionally. Technical merits, especially audio, are solid for those considering a purchase.