Ilya Muromets

Ilya Muromets (1956)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Aleksandr Ptushko

Starring: Boris Andreyev, Shukur Burkanov, Andrei Abrikosov, Natalya Medvedeva, Ninel Myshkova

From: Mosfilm

Note that I am reviewing the original Soviet movie Ilya Muromets rather than the lousy Americanized edit known as The Sword and the Dragon, as once shown on MST3K. Earlier in the fall I purchased the Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome; it’s on their partner label Deaf Crocodile (yes, their website explains the odd name), which has mainly released random foreign movies. As the plot description and some stills greatly intrigued me, I went with something that probably wouldn’t be easy to track down at all via streaming.

This effort from Mosfilm is quite epic; the title character is an old Russian folk hero purportedly based on a real life figure whose exact identity is uncertain. As presented, he is a big bearded dude w/ rosy cheeks who was paralyzed but after a blessing from pilgrims, he is suddenly powerful enough to toss boulders and rip out tree stumps. He defends Russia against those damn Tartars who made it personal. Lest you are uneasy about the whole Russia thing, the area that Ilya defends is… Kyiv. I’d say that the Ukrainians need a superhero but many of their citizens are pretty brave people so I’ll never slight them.

Of course, it features many familiar themes (including the hero’s journey, turncoats, and strange monsters. The highlight there was a three-headed dragon who isn’t King Ghidorah) yet the overall story was new to me and I was always enthralled by this fantasy tale. There are several fights of vast scope, many stunning vistas, dastardly bad guys, general spectacle & a badass hero who is a noble figure that not only loves his family, but also his country. Of course for a Communist movie there’s much proselytizing over certain ideals and despite current events I can view such things as being quaint. At least this was a nice movie which not only entertained, it provided an archetypal hero that anybody can get behind no matter their knowledge of or opinion of Russia.