The Turkish Gambit (2005)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

As Good As It Gets

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I gave 2 points out of ten, and those 2 points for visual effects, technique and colorful costumes. The rest? Crap. I don't know how to describe it...maybe like 1960s' James Bond movies, childish. What they call "historic events" is just a plot, a scene for the movie, nothing to do with real historic events as the movie does not have such a purpose....The maps are just a decoration, which really look good, but again unreal. That is OK, but why do they try so hard in the advertisements and so on to show it as a "historic movie" And if the movie is really an action movie, why do they depict Turks not only as villains, but also ugly and stupid? In many scenes Turks stumble and fall! They cannot run, they cannot hold a gun properly and fire! If we were in 1930s maybe we would laugh....But now, it felt disgusting. Heyy, look around guys, finance is just a prerequisite for making films, it shouldn't be the film itself. (((

I have to disagree with some of the comments on this movie, judging the movie by some different criteria.Firstly, the plot line idea of this motion picture is not as irrational as it may appear to some of us. this film was based on a novel that served a purpose to provide its readers a war-romance-conspiracy adventure. It is not very much different from the American "Patriot" story where a greater salad has been composed, with pretty trite issues thrown around. Beside that, to support the illusive reality of the Turkish war presented in this film - we are not very familiar with the general atmosphere during the 19th century wars, but there are things that simply called: War routine. Of course there is blood and gore and death on the front lines of the battles. Surely there is a lot of strategy going on behind the scenes. But even during these climax moments, and mostly in-between those there was always a place for some dramatic drawbacks, singing in the club and even relationships between young Russian soldiers and coffee drinking in Plevna. Wars are not always fought in face to face battles. And a very large part in deciding who wins the fight is the strategy and the information you gather about your enemy. Which was what the story concentrated on. The spies. Moreover, I did not like the acting. Sometimes it was exaggerated and underplayed in some places. The best acting in this movie on my scale was that of the "Gusar" officer - so typically presenting the character. The leading roles could have been performed better.And lastly: the sound. What is it with the Russian cinema that I can never get a normal sound feature? They put the theme on top of the dialogues, the battle effects lack intensity, the speech is incomprehensible. When Turkish is spoken, the Russian translation starts after a little delay, which makes it really difficult to hear. They don't mute the environment when it is needed, and the explosion sounds still have the usual echo-shrieking effect. Alas! indeed.Overall, once the viewer can get himself to connect to the plot, to enter the minds of both the Turkish and the Russian combatants and to merge with the general 19th war atmosphere - it is possible to simply sit back and enjoy this movie as another spy-adventure. Was tempted to give it an 8, but settled on 7.

Folks, this is the epic to look out for at international movie festivals! I have had the opportunity to see this on big screen, in full sound- and was blown away! Though I couldn't understand everything, the action within the film was clear enough to make the general plot understood. Though it is not an American film- it has authentic period costume, fantastic cinematography, and in my opinion has met or surpassed special effects of such films as the Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, and the Matrix. Of course, it probably won't get the recognition it deserves in North America, as it isn't a home-grown... but it is well worth the trip to the theatre to see it if is ever in town... I'm going to see it for at least another 2 times if possible! The only disappointment was the pop-type music for the closing credits... everything else: SUPERB!

cool movie; it keeps you in eye contact and bounds to its subject. I do not know how accurate it is historically but the film was more objective than I accepted. I was a bit prejudiced about the film at the beginning but as the movie continued I realized that I am wrong. I felt some exaggeration also.It shows turks as perfect warriors technically and very mysterious killers The figurine turks used in the backgrounds had actually a comic Azerbaijan accent and spoke very unrelated words in fight scenes I think the director used them since they knew Russian, so it would be more economic. there were many replicas copied from Hollywood film-making also such as focusing camera on objects very fast and too much mise-en scene.But usage of maps as a very dynamic part of film was very original and entertaining. The character Enver Bey who was a spy of Ottoman Pasha have been chosen as a person who looked like a Russian and spoke perfect Russian language but hiding him till the end of the film was not interesting and new enough for such a box office one in Russian Federation but I think it is worth for watching, good film