I always like to see off the beaten track cinema, and Karamurat is some way off even what I would term the beaten track. A Turkish historical adventure, it deals with the conflict between Turkish and Byzantine forces, with Turkish warrior Karamurat as its hero. On a mission of vengeance after evil Byzantine behaviour, he ends up beating, slicing and at times stabbing his way through an impressive quantity of foes, bringing laughs and occasional excitement. The film runs out of steam a little before the end but for the most part keeps up the right level of amusement, oddity and occasional inspiration. The sets and costumes are fairly impressive and there are a good number of extras, though the budget is clearly low the film has a nice sense of scale. Action is frequent though never especially well choreographed and the film relies on its star, Cuneyt Arkin to hold things together. He has a suitably tough physical presence and a good glower, he can swing a sword around OK and convinces somewhat as an action hero, so keeps things going OK, even at times where the action is really lax. There isn't much in the way of gore or outrage sadly, save mild bloody moments from the odd arrow and some of the slicing. What's there is pretty amusing though, especially in the climax. The lack of any nudity is a downer as well, it's the sort of film that could have done with some to boost its trashy credentials. This said, with the emphasis on the Turks being Muslims and occasional display of ceremony perhaps that sort of thing was never going to be on the cards. The inherent interest of seeing a film where Muslims are a force for good (relative to the films world at any rate, they at least aren't as sneaky as the Byzantines) at least slightly makes up for the lack of sleaze I guess. Director Natuk Baytan keeps things going pretty well, I wouldn't call his work inspired but it certainly does the job. Fights are perfectly visible, editing is deployed mostly in the service of fantasy rather than as a tool to make the fights look more impressive, an OK if ineffectual effort is clearly visible in distracting from more notably inept moments, its fair work. There are obvious pulled punches, rubber swords and bits where stabs or slices aren't connecting with their targets, but its good fun in an amateur sort of way. I kinda like being able to see the joins (as it were) in films like this, it may not do well for suspension of disbelief but its just plain fun to me, the amateurish artifice full of good intention if not ability. To many, this will just be too cheesy and badly done, and its not quite mental enough to be a true bad cinema classic, but I still had a pretty rocking time with it, so 6/10 or so.
6 Reviews
Cheap fantasy epic from Turkey
Chip_douglas26 December 2003
This fantasy action film could only star Cuneyt Arkin. After all, he was `The Man Who Saved the Earth' (aka the Turkish Star Wars). Looking like an older James Dean and acting twice as intense, Cuneyt Arkin stars as Adam Costa, a loyal but disgraced soldier seeking to revenge the murder of his mother (and her whole village). It starts of seriously enough, but when people start jumping on rooftops 'Six Million Dollar Man' style the film loses all credibility. Along the way Adam saves a princess and falls in love, rejects a red haired witch, gets captured and blinded (a recurring theme in Arkins films), is forced to kill his best friend, miraculously regains his sight and defeats an entire army of Sinbad lookalikes by jumping on their heads! The plot is often incomprehensible, but luckily for us there is always another action scene around the corner. Unfortunately for us, as a fighter Cuneyt comes off a bit stiff.
This is the best kind of B movie. Everyone involved in the production must have had a whale of a time putting this together with the meagre production values available. The entire film seems to be shot on location, as we get to see every corner of the castle they were allowed to film in. The costumes appear to be rented from some cheap party shop (at one point Cuneyt even wears a Prince Charming costume). Who needs an original score, when you can borrow music from Hollywood productions, most notably John Barry's `The Lion in Winter'.
There are lots of experimental camera angels, cheap effects and a whole lot of eyes being poked out (after all, Adam has to take revenge for what they did to him). It gets rather bloody at times but it all looks so fake that you cannot help but be amused. Cuneyt gets hit by arrows more than any other man in this film, but keeps on fighting anyway. Also note that Turkish actors are masters of the exaggerated death scene. The way people perish in this film has not been seen since the silent era. Best of all, the public loved it and to this day Fadih Sultanin Fermani is a popular video rental.
A fabulous 4 out of 10
This is the best kind of B movie. Everyone involved in the production must have had a whale of a time putting this together with the meagre production values available. The entire film seems to be shot on location, as we get to see every corner of the castle they were allowed to film in. The costumes appear to be rented from some cheap party shop (at one point Cuneyt even wears a Prince Charming costume). Who needs an original score, when you can borrow music from Hollywood productions, most notably John Barry's `The Lion in Winter'.
There are lots of experimental camera angels, cheap effects and a whole lot of eyes being poked out (after all, Adam has to take revenge for what they did to him). It gets rather bloody at times but it all looks so fake that you cannot help but be amused. Cuneyt gets hit by arrows more than any other man in this film, but keeps on fighting anyway. Also note that Turkish actors are masters of the exaggerated death scene. The way people perish in this film has not been seen since the silent era. Best of all, the public loved it and to this day Fadih Sultanin Fermani is a popular video rental.
A fabulous 4 out of 10
Excellent. Another Cuneyt Arkin Classic
gurx_31622 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I love this movie and all of Arkin's history movies directed by Natuck Baitan. My Faverouites are the Battal Gazi's, Kara Murat's and Malkocoglu's. In this movie I really like the way Murat kills his enemies And the soundtrack i really like in the action scenes. I especially love the way Murat kills the murderer of his mother at the end he takes out the arrows in his body and swings it in his hand throws it back at the bad guy, killing him. The movie basically shows the strength of the Ottoman Empire back in the time where they conquered Constantinople and now its called Istanbul. The Ottomans ended the Byzantinum Empire's run in 1453 AD when Faith Sultan Suleyman entered Istanbul. The movie ads its own extras to create more drama of course but this makes more enjoyable to watch. The storyline is well written and counter's performance is once again same, jumping over people's heads and climbing castle's. If your a fan Arkin watch this movie, If you wanna see some history watch this movie and If you are Turkish then you must own this movie like me. I love this classic and overall give it a 10/10
Turkish historical action cinema at its finest
Leofwine_draca9 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Historical epics were very much in vogue in Turkey in the late '60s and during the '70s, and KARAMURAT, THE SULTAN'S WARRIOR is one of those films, packed with all the ingredients to make the film appeal to a Turkish audience - romance, plenty of swashbuckling and stunts, plus a heavy helping of sadism and violence thrown into the cooking pot too. In fact these type of films were so popular that a whole series existed of the KARAMURAT films, with the brave defender fighting such evil villains as Vlad the Impaler and others. Here, the threat is of the human variety, but that doesn't make the film any less enjoyable.
Any fan of Turkish cinema will know what to expect from the genre - rough edges, clumsy edits, and a general lack of budget and skill all round - but KARAMURAT, THE SULTAN'S WARRIOR is a particularly well-made film for the genre, good enough to stand up against the American and Italian movies on which it models itself so much, so kudos to director Natuk Baytan for creating a movie which holds together so well. The period setting seems authentic, and the film is as colourful as ever for Turkey, with bright costumes and plenty of crimson blood in the fight sequences. Thankfully, the version I saw was subtitled in English for a change, which meant that I could get a lot more out of it and enjoy the whole viewing experience rather than just watching the moving pictures and not understanding the plot. Said plot, while simple and action-focused, is fast paced and you know that when there's a dull moment, some incredible stunt or fight is sure to come just around the corner.
This is a film which really belongs to the star - and that star is Cuneyt Arkin, probably Turkish cinema's greatest leading man who was a kind of cross between Bruce Lee, Clint Eastwood, and Douglas Fairbanks and further distinguished himself by doing all of his own stunts. Here, here's an incredibly athletic hero, as he jumps in through windows, shinnies down ropes into the action, and jumps around on trampolines as he fights off a dozen soldiers. Kara Murat is a vengeance-spurred hero (his mother was one of the villagers killed by enemy soldiers) who offs about four dozen of the enemy during the film's course, but he remains approachable enough to engage in some romance with a princess. Arkin looks to be having a great time in the role, and his enthusiasm rubs off on the audience. Some of my favourite moments are the comedic scenes in which he playfully fights a bald enemy warrior in a duel and all sorts of slapstick moments follow.
The supporting cast are all adequate in their roles, despite the characters being a clichéd bunch, and some are really quite good - especially the bald enemy who becomes an ally. The action sequences, whilst invariably slapdash in nature, are frequent and fun as a result of this. One of my favourite moments comes when Arkin is repeatedly punched backwards in his chair, and roles over WITH the chair, ending up sitting on it again - crazy stuff, and you won't figure out just how they managed to achieve that effect.
As mentioned, the film is noticeably packed with violence and gore, like when a row of prisoners, buried up to their necks in the sand, are shot with arrows or hacked with swords. Dozens of men are slashed and stabbed, a guy gets an axe through the head, and the chief bad guy has one of the most enjoyable over-the-top gory deaths I've yet to see - two arrows pierce his eyes, a third his throat. The film's grim stomach-churning highlight comes when Arkin is (temporarily) blinded in graphic detail after being captured, and forced to fight a friend who has also been blinded. This is dark stuff indeed, which sits oddly with the good-natured heroics surrounding it. KARAMURAT, THE SULTAN'S WARRIOR is a good example of Turkish action cinema at its finest, and as such can only be recommended by me.
Any fan of Turkish cinema will know what to expect from the genre - rough edges, clumsy edits, and a general lack of budget and skill all round - but KARAMURAT, THE SULTAN'S WARRIOR is a particularly well-made film for the genre, good enough to stand up against the American and Italian movies on which it models itself so much, so kudos to director Natuk Baytan for creating a movie which holds together so well. The period setting seems authentic, and the film is as colourful as ever for Turkey, with bright costumes and plenty of crimson blood in the fight sequences. Thankfully, the version I saw was subtitled in English for a change, which meant that I could get a lot more out of it and enjoy the whole viewing experience rather than just watching the moving pictures and not understanding the plot. Said plot, while simple and action-focused, is fast paced and you know that when there's a dull moment, some incredible stunt or fight is sure to come just around the corner.
This is a film which really belongs to the star - and that star is Cuneyt Arkin, probably Turkish cinema's greatest leading man who was a kind of cross between Bruce Lee, Clint Eastwood, and Douglas Fairbanks and further distinguished himself by doing all of his own stunts. Here, here's an incredibly athletic hero, as he jumps in through windows, shinnies down ropes into the action, and jumps around on trampolines as he fights off a dozen soldiers. Kara Murat is a vengeance-spurred hero (his mother was one of the villagers killed by enemy soldiers) who offs about four dozen of the enemy during the film's course, but he remains approachable enough to engage in some romance with a princess. Arkin looks to be having a great time in the role, and his enthusiasm rubs off on the audience. Some of my favourite moments are the comedic scenes in which he playfully fights a bald enemy warrior in a duel and all sorts of slapstick moments follow.
The supporting cast are all adequate in their roles, despite the characters being a clichéd bunch, and some are really quite good - especially the bald enemy who becomes an ally. The action sequences, whilst invariably slapdash in nature, are frequent and fun as a result of this. One of my favourite moments comes when Arkin is repeatedly punched backwards in his chair, and roles over WITH the chair, ending up sitting on it again - crazy stuff, and you won't figure out just how they managed to achieve that effect.
As mentioned, the film is noticeably packed with violence and gore, like when a row of prisoners, buried up to their necks in the sand, are shot with arrows or hacked with swords. Dozens of men are slashed and stabbed, a guy gets an axe through the head, and the chief bad guy has one of the most enjoyable over-the-top gory deaths I've yet to see - two arrows pierce his eyes, a third his throat. The film's grim stomach-churning highlight comes when Arkin is (temporarily) blinded in graphic detail after being captured, and forced to fight a friend who has also been blinded. This is dark stuff indeed, which sits oddly with the good-natured heroics surrounding it. KARAMURAT, THE SULTAN'S WARRIOR is a good example of Turkish action cinema at its finest, and as such can only be recommended by me.
Very low production values - typical of Turkish cinema
bob the moo30 November 2001
Sultan Khan of Turkey has fallen in love with Princess Iren of Byzantium. When he asks her father Niktol for her hand he refuses and tries to kill Khan. The Sultan's armies then attack and overtake Constantinople (now renamed Istanbul). Niktol kills Princess Iren and flees with his army to the island of Lesbos. From Lesbos, Niktol launches a series of ruthless attacks on Turkish villages resulting in the death of one of the Sultan's guard's mother. The guard, Murat, is sent by the Sultan on a mission to avenge his mother's death and bring back the head of the man who killed Iren. Murat goes undercover in Lesbos posing as Royal Guard Kostas, seeking the killers.
This film comes from a time when Turkish cinema was booming (at least within Turkey). The lead actor, Cuneyt Arkin, was a huge star within the country. Many of the Turkish films were very cheap ripoffs of American films - for example "The man who saved the world" used scenes from Star Wars, while Rambo was 'remade' in Turkey. This film is not quite as bad as that (although it does music some of the score from Patton: Lust for Glory), however the fact that it was very cheaply made shines through in every single area.
The plot however is actually pretty good and holds the interest well however the other values take away from it. First of all the acting is terrible! I said Arkin was a star I never said he was any good. It's full of heroic stands and evil stares to convey character, the camera doesn't help by zooming in on people's faces etc. The whole directing and editing is terrible - it's very badly cut and jumps uncomfortably between scenes, within scenes with music and action very poorly blended (eg the score just stops regularly). This carries on into the fight scenes, where swords and arrows suddenly appear in people's bodies and they fall down screaming. The fight scenes are also a bit ridiculous, many feature Arkin clearly bouncing around on a trampoline just out of shot, others see him taking on armies single handed. The fights are terrible by even 1970's standards - armies run at our heroes one at a time to allow him to dispatch them with a single blow, one at a time. Only one fight is good, it blends comedy in much the same way that Jackie Chan does in his fights. However the majority of sword fights feature rubber swords and terrible fake blood.
Overall this is of interest as the Turkish film industry no longer exists as it did then. In fact many of the films have been destroyed and the silver extracted from the negatives. As a film it has a good story but is so cheap that it's hard to see past the wooden performances and effects.
This film comes from a time when Turkish cinema was booming (at least within Turkey). The lead actor, Cuneyt Arkin, was a huge star within the country. Many of the Turkish films were very cheap ripoffs of American films - for example "The man who saved the world" used scenes from Star Wars, while Rambo was 'remade' in Turkey. This film is not quite as bad as that (although it does music some of the score from Patton: Lust for Glory), however the fact that it was very cheaply made shines through in every single area.
The plot however is actually pretty good and holds the interest well however the other values take away from it. First of all the acting is terrible! I said Arkin was a star I never said he was any good. It's full of heroic stands and evil stares to convey character, the camera doesn't help by zooming in on people's faces etc. The whole directing and editing is terrible - it's very badly cut and jumps uncomfortably between scenes, within scenes with music and action very poorly blended (eg the score just stops regularly). This carries on into the fight scenes, where swords and arrows suddenly appear in people's bodies and they fall down screaming. The fight scenes are also a bit ridiculous, many feature Arkin clearly bouncing around on a trampoline just out of shot, others see him taking on armies single handed. The fights are terrible by even 1970's standards - armies run at our heroes one at a time to allow him to dispatch them with a single blow, one at a time. Only one fight is good, it blends comedy in much the same way that Jackie Chan does in his fights. However the majority of sword fights feature rubber swords and terrible fake blood.
Overall this is of interest as the Turkish film industry no longer exists as it did then. In fact many of the films have been destroyed and the silver extracted from the negatives. As a film it has a good story but is so cheap that it's hard to see past the wooden performances and effects.
Lalala
Bora Tokel10 May 2002
admit it..You can never watch any sword scene funnier anywhere,even if the actors try to do their worst. A one man army conquors a whole empire alone by jumping around,even more hilarious when it is not meant to be hilarious.The scenes jump to one another as if they were in a hurry to finish the movie.Gotta love the colorful costumes also ;)
I would also suggest to watch the turkish movie "The Unforgettable Director of Romantic Movies" starring Sener Sen also,which is a dramatic-comedy,where a director cuts a lot scenes from his movies cos he's short on the film.Reflects a lot.
I would also suggest to watch the turkish movie "The Unforgettable Director of Romantic Movies" starring Sener Sen also,which is a dramatic-comedy,where a director cuts a lot scenes from his movies cos he's short on the film.Reflects a lot.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
