Wolfhound, el guerrero

please don't compare it to Lord of the Rings. i see many of the commentators here do it, but its totally wrong. LOTR put the limit too high for any fantasy movie, its the gold standard now in the industry, and hardly any movie can reach its heights, i hope this doesn't mean that people will stop making this kind of movies. but they shouldn't create crap either. I didn't like Volkodav very much and i was irritated many times while i watched it. The dialog is so simplistic, the story is...i would say the writers made it along the way while shooting the movie - what ever something happens each of the main characters just calls for the help of some god that we never know the story of their relationship with. Naturally the gods always help our heroes. I haven't read the book and maybe if i had many of the gaps would've been filled, but LOTR did fine filling any gaps for the people who haven't read the books...Ooops - I compared Volkodav with LOTR...:)

the movie is not badly made, has some nice effects and thats basically it...

Not surprisingly, the new wave of Russian directors & films kick some asses, for sure. For the ones who haven't seen "Admiral", "Mongol" or "The 9th Company", "Wolfhound" might be quite a nice surprise. This movie is very well made, full of high tension fighting scenes and quite a nice plot (slightly touched by clichés like LOTR or Conan, of course). No, it's not Peter Jackson, no Hollywood sky-high budgeted movie: it'a a nice movie from Russia. I think we'll hear about Mr. Ledbedev (the director) quite soon. Anyway, this is only the first book from the four ones on the subject,right? What it's more interesting is that, even the leading lady-actress starred in "The Bourne Supremacy", the rest of the cast is quite new to us. And they don't disappoint, if you just don't make the big mistake to compare them to the Hollywood stars, living in a different system with different rules. Before 1989, living in Romania, I was intoxicated with Russian movies (the war ones, quite good, the classics - exceptional, but some of them were really crap), maybe more than other people behind the Iron Curtain. Now, it's good to see there is a new fresh breath in the Russian movie-making.

For start let me say that I am aware that this was adaptation of Mariya Semyonova's book which btw I haven't read, but I have read a lot of other fantasy/adventure books including many of Conan's adventures and I must say that this movie reminds me most of him (with some name changes and some addition of strength to main character).

Volkodav visually looks very appealing and CGI was done well and not on expense of storyline (like most of Hollywood flicks this days). Although story was somewhat predictable and not very original it was nevertheless enjoyable experience.

It was also refreshing seeing some of Slavic Mythology adapted to widescreen (and to be honest it would be nice to see some of ancient folk tales adapted into movies - it could be even commercially very profitable accompanied with adequate marketing)

yes, its old fashioned and riddled with clichés yet I found it much more satisfactory then last Conan (2011) movie.

My Rating 7,5/10

I saw this in the 2008 Fantasia Festival and have just found it on DVD (yah!) I wouldn't call this high art by any stretch of the imagination but I really enjoyed myself. There was a lot of effort put into the making of this movie, and it shows. Among other things, the world seems lived in, which is a nice touch, even if many of the establishing CG visuals were over-amped à la Peter Jackson.

Unfortunately, the editing seemed a bit slipshod as there seems to be a scene or two missing. Just before the scene near the swamp a warrior-maiden(?) is suddenly part of the caravan with no explanation. I suspect that the scene introducing her was cut for time or some such reason.

However, this movie is ultimately about the titular hero being a bad-ass warrior rather than clever plotting, or careful film work. High art, it ain't but if you want a hacking good time, kick your boots off and enjoy this.

Also, the landscape is fantastic. Part of me wants to go visit the area it was filmed in.

It's true, I started with low expectations. I also rated this higher because I don't see many Russian movies. But let's face it, it was better than Eragon, Narnia and Terabithia put together. With a lower budget, it is comparable to Lord of the Rings.

Of course, the plot is not terribly original, but it's not a cheap copy of something else, either. Even from the start you know this is a heroic fantasy and the film fully delivers both in action and special effects and background story. It also suffers from the Russian book worm: a lot of characters, sometimes you don't know who is who, since they all look dirty and long haired. The men too :) The sound is not really professional, the music seems added on the film with no real consideration of what is going on.

However, it was really enjoyable. If you take Conan, you add a bit of Lord of the Rings and a little of the Sergiu Nicolaescu movies, you get an American-Romanian Wolfhound :) The ending is a bit pathetic, but the lead character is truly well played. The other actors are mediocre at best. And no, the bat does not turn into an eagle, it's just bad CGI.