Re: Taras Bulba and Kings of the Sun
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Originally Posted by R-T-C Tim
Both films are recommend to fans of the 1960s epics, or Yul Brynner but neither are the genre's best titles. Taras Bulba (1962) and Kings of the Sun (1963) reviewed. |
I enjoy your reviews, but I don't understand the basis on which you judge
Kings of the Sun and
Taras Bulba for not being the genre's best titles. Your criticism reminds of that leveled against Franklyn J. Schaeffner's
The War Lord (1965). People criticize it for not being a bigger epic and not having more action. It's an historical drama with sufficient scale and sufficient action for an historical drama, but the point is, it's not an epic, and isn't intended to be an epic.
Kings of the Sun and
Taras Bulba are historical dramas per se, not epics, although a certain epic scale is part of what an historical drama offers. Perhaps we expect a much bigger scale, a faster pace and constant non-stop action today than we did in the early 1960s when these historical dramas were made. The operative word here is "drama" which I apply as a virtue. Frankly, I can't see how these historical dramas can be faulted. Although not documentaries, they make intelligent use of history with a line-item attention to period detail in costume, prop and make-up. The pictorial value is as good as more expensive epics, just on a smaller scale. The scale may not be as big as
Ben Hur or
Spartacus or
Lawrence of Arabia, but it's plenty big enough for the purpose, and the writing of both films is more than fine.
Kings of the Sun and
Taras Bulba are excellent historical dramas because they offer layered characters, solid adventure plotting, good action when its called for, pictorial value, and affecting performances.
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