Home
search
more | tips
IMDb > Taras Bulba (1962)

Taras Bulba (1962) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 6 | slideshow)

Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   1,152 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 2% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
J. Lee Thompson
Writers:
Nikolai Gogol (novel)
Waldo Salt (writer)
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Taras Bulba on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
19 December 1962 (USA) more
Tagline:
A Love Story of Flesh And Fire!
Plot:
A "Romeo and Juliet" story that takes place in the late 16c. Ukraine. Taras has settled into comfortable... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Salman Khan's Literary Epic
 (From Bollyspice. 5 July 2009, 12:00 AM, PDT)

Salman's literary affair - News
 (From GlamSham. 3 July 2009, 11:59 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Entertaining (but not in the "pampas") more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Tony Curtis ... Andrei Bulba

Yul Brynner ... Taras Bulba
Sam Wanamaker ... Filipenko
Brad Dexter ... Shilo
Guy Rolfe ... Prince Grigory
Perry Lopez ... Ostap Bulba
George Macready ... Governor
Ilka Windish ... Sofia Bulba
Vladimir Sokoloff ... Old Stepan
Vladimir Irman ... Grisha Kubenko
Daniel Ocko ... Ivan Mykola
Abraham Sofaer ... Abbot
Mickey Finn ... Korzh
Richard Rust ... Capt. Alex
Ron Weyand ... Tymoshevsky
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
122 min | 124 min (TCM print)
Country:
Yugoslavia | USA
Language:
English | Latin
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track | Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Company:
Avala Film more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Another rare movie where star Yul Brynner (in a few 'time lapsing' brief scenes) has a full head of hair. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The cossacks' "scalp-lock" is not on the back but the front! Only the old cossack is the one that has it correctly. Also Yul Brynner's scalp-lock is very unnatural. It looks like a pony tail and it has too much hair for being only the remaining hair from shaving the rest of the head. more
Quotes:
Taras: My son, why? Why?
Andrei Bulba: I did what I had to do.
Taras: From the day I plunged you in the river to give you life, I loved you as I loved the steppes. You were my pride! I gave you life. It is on me to take it away from you.
more
Movie Connections:
Version of Tarass Boulba (1936) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful:-
Entertaining (but not in the "pampas"), 13 October 2006
6/10
Author: ragosaal from Argentina

I've seen the reviews here and a couple of comments set "Taras Bulba"'s location in the Argentine pampas. As a native Argentine I must say that's not correct; the pampas run all through the middle part of our Country but this film was shot in the Province of Salta way up in the northern part of Argentina (some 1400 miles from Buenos Aires); the pampas are a huge flat ground very fertile, but Salta is uneven with not too high hills ("cerros") very different from the pampas. Another reviewer says Tony Curtis declared once that when he and co-star Kristine Kaufmann got mixed up during the filming he was already divorced of Janet Leigh; I don't know about that but I can assure you that Leigh came to Salta with him (a friend of mine has a photo with her on the "cerros").

As to the picture, I really enjoyed it -also because I lived in Salta a couple of years and the landscape is very familiar to me- but I think a real classical epic could have come out of Nicolai Gogol's famous novel with a more elaborated script (as a reviewer correctly stated here).

J. Lee Thompson's product seems sort of "cheap" and lacks spectacle (except for some real good battle scenes) although I admit if has some very good moments. A somehow impressive one is when the big doors of the sieged city open slowly and André (Curtis) appears in a frontal close shot wearing a Polish armor and helmet for he will make a run for food too feed the starving citizens inside in a clear treason to his country and father for the love of a woman. Also the final dark atmosphere Thompson achieves when Taras (Yul Brynner) confronts his favourite son after a treason he can't possibly understand and even less when André just explains "I did what I had to do".

Brynner's performance though a little overacted is good enough and he fills the role of Taras easily. Tony Curtis makes a great effort and gets some good moments as André though he clearly lacks the appropriate "physic du rol". The rest of the cast gives a good support, among them Sam Wanamaker, Brad Dexter, Guy Rolfe and George MacReady. German actress Kristine Kauffman shows her beauty.

All in all "Taras Bulba" comes out as an entertaining and amusing film in its genre and a decent intent on Gogol's book, but no much more than that.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Taras Bulba (1962)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
time setting for this film JCS-3
Can anyone tell me what was making that noise at the end qljsystems
Real Animal Killing samnitebc
Will this ever be released on DVD? iankeogh
Taras Bulba's Christmas Music vinsond21
Does he hold the rock in this film ? jw-blacklock
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe The Flame and the Arrow Arn - Tempelriddaren Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Ben-Hur
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Action section IMDb Yugoslavia section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.