genghis kahn children of huang shi

Though its poster promises monumental entertainment the likes of Ben Hur and similar Hollywood historical epics, 1965's Genghis Khan is a really nothing of the sort. Sure, there are a pair of battle sequences involving hundreds of armored extras, swordplay, stuntmen and stunt horses, set against an impressive widescreen landscape. But they're almost presented as afterthoughts in this story of Temujin, a Mongol boy raised as a prisoner of war who rises to power by uniting the warring tribes of central Asia, eventually earning the title Genghis Khan: ultimate ruler.

Director Henry Levin's take on things is much more character (or in some cases, caricature) driven, starting with Tauzin’s escape from captivity and recruitment of new soldiers to establish his empire from the ground up. Traveling to China, he finds a world of wisdom at his fingertips, but chafes at his position as second in command. Ambition drives him further west, swallowing up new recruits and conquering everything in the path of his personal manifest destiny.

But this brutal ruler, who at one point ruthlessly lorded over the largest kingdom in the world, is played with a decidedly gentle touch by Omar Sharif, whose dark, wavy hair and bedroom eyes turn the film into a sweeping romance rather than a military campaign. Yet he's the only actor with even a hint of ethnic legitimacy. The rest of the troops, which includes Telly Savalas, Eli Wallach and James Mason, is a whitewashing of truly epic proportions.

The casting itself may be laughable (particularly Mason's Fu Manchu mustache), but it must be said they're never less than entertaining. In fact, Khan's love interest, Princess Bortei, is played exceptionally well by Francoise Dorleac (elder sister of Catherine Deneuve) who died just two years later. And the cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth (2001, Superman) does a great job of beefing up the story, which, if truth be told, is smaller in scale than its subject matter deserves.

Twilight Time's 3000-copy limited edition Blu-ray adds another impressive 2:35:1 transfer to their library. Colors, detail and audio all get the highest marks. Extras include an isolated music & effects track, trailer and liner notes.

2008's The Children of Huang Shi offers up a more slick and polished tale of historical heroism with an international cast that actually matches up to their real-life counterparts. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as George Hogg, a neophyte journalist trapped behind enemy lines during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937. Tricked into taking over the operation of an orphanage full of lice-ridden, underfed boys, Hogg finds himself actually enjoying the role of headmaster. So much so that when the war gets too close, he leads his charges on a 700-mile journey along the treacherous Silk Road to safety.

Based on a true story (several of Hogg's students provide commentary over the closing credits), director Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies) pulls out all the dramatic stops to give his story a bump: explosions, executions, Japanese fighter plane attacks and more explosions. His action scenes, however, for all their combustible accuracy, are curiously ineffective. It's only when the film settles down to dissect the relationship between Hogg and his initially unwilling students - aided and abetted by a tough-as-nails nurse (Radha Mitchell), sympathetic businesswoman (Michelle Yeoh) and world-wise revolutionary (Chow Yun Fat) - that it gets to the heart of the story.

The film rushes through history like James Bond reading a Wikipedia page, combining the best and worst elements of an international co-production. It's always a pleasure to look at (cinematographer Xiaoding Zhao's imagery even makes brutality look beautiful) and the cast is at the top of their game. But it seems like Hogg's greatest accomplishment- earning the trust of a pack of shell-shocked kids - gets a bit lost in translation.

Twilight Time's 3000-copy limited edition Blu-ray looks just as good as a new release should. Extras include an isolated music track, featurette, trailer and liner notes.