In the 18th century a number of nomadic tribes joined to found Kazakhstan. For centuries in this vast, beautiful but harsh land, bordered by China, Tibet and Russia, the tribes have fought invaders for their independence and also amongst themselves. Now a headstrong young warrior has designs on uniting the country's three warring tribes. The Kazakhs are divided by infighting, but Oraz searches for the messiah destined to unite and save his people. He finds Mansur, the baby boy of prophecy, and trains him to be a fighter. As Mansur becomes a man, he reveals himself to be a mighty warrior, as does his best friend, Erali. The men prepare to battle the Mongols, who are led by the strength of Sharish...

Nomad (The Warrior) was originally filmed for both the Kazakh language as well as an English dub. This explains why some of the actors have very badly dubbed scenes where the lip synch doesn't even come close to matching up. To be honest it would have been a much better release if both language editions had been made available (with optional subtitles).

The dialogue is a little poor in places too. The most notable being the exchange between Mansur and Gaykar in which he says: "You have the scent of the moon" to which she can only, understandably, reply: "Does the moon have a scent?"

But, if you ignore this slight complaint, then you'll thoroughly enjoy this movie. It's great to see a return of old film making techniques used here. The warriors are all extras, no CGI was used to duplicate half a dozen soldiers over and over again. The general look of the movie is beautifully realised too - with the surrounding countryside really being put to good use.

Carlo Silotto's score is also worth mentioning. The soundtrack beautifully compliments the scenery as well as the battle sequences. Silotto's music reminded me of a less messy John Barry.

There are no extras at all on this DVD, not even subtitles for the hard of hearing. But then the recommended retail price reflects this and to be honest I'd rather pay £13 for a DVD with no extras than pay out £20 for a disc with loads of pointless features I'd probably only watch the once.

At the end of the day this is a beautifully realised movie that is well worth adding to your collection.

9

Nick Smithson