Wolfhound of the Grey Dog Clan (2006)

recommended

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Coming from someone who has no prior knowledge of the book and who loves Russian fantasy, Wolfhound was a film with good things as well as a lot of problems. The way that Wolfhound looks is its best asset, the scenery is just breathtaking, the costumes really suit the fantasy atmosphere and most of the photography- excepting some slow-motion that doesn't add anything- and CGI are similarly great(loved the bat). Second place is the music score, which is hauntingly beautiful and adds so much to every scene. The atmosphere is brilliantly evocative as well, and there is some good acting in the supporting cast, Nina Usatova knows how to steal a scene and it is thrilling to watch. The leads are not as convincing, there is a fair bit of awkwardness and the wild-eyed innocence does go overboard. Most of the action scenes are chaotic, especially the climax. The direction is inconsistent, sometimes it's fluid and assured, at other times it gets chaotic and convoluted like in the action scenes. The script is rather stilted and doesn't give the actors much to work with or give us time to properly get to know the characters(basically left as fantasy clichés), while the story is formulaic(much has been said about the Conan the Barbarian-like beginning and understandably), very daft at times and not always very engaging. There's a lot of atmosphere here but not enough magic and the structure can feel choppy and rushed, you don't have to have read the book to figure out that there were things left out and re-written, it actually shows. In conclusion, a fantasy film that induced mixed results from this viewer, some good things on display(the production values and music) but there's too much bad too(story, script and action scenes). 5/10 Bethany Cox

I spent my childhood in a country behind the "iron curtain", in the Soviet sphere of influence. As such, as a kid I've seen more Russian movies than most people in the west. And then, after the fall of USSR, I haven't seen any Russian movie at all. I was very intrigued upon hearing of this movie - I wanted to see how modern Russian cinematography looks like.I can say that the movie is a treat. It may not be the best fantasy movie ever, but it's definitely in the top of my list.The story is not really all that original, but it's different enough from the typical Hollywood to feel fresh. As others have noted, the movie deals with some philosophic aspects regarding fate and free will as well as Slavic mythology.The production value is just fabulous. I found the town of Galirad incredibly realistic and then I've read that it was actually built on 5 sq.Km (2 sq. miles). It looks real, it feels real. The costumes are also nicely done.The special effects are just incredible, especially considering that we're not talking about Hollywood budgets. The main character has a bat sidekick, which happens to be the most realistic CGI animal I've seen. I'm still not convinced it's 100%, I think they "cheated" by using a real bat in some of the shots.Acting is good, even though it's not stellar; the characters are somewhat underdeveloped.Overall, I think it's a must-see movie - if only to see something different than you're used to. (as an aside, just after I've seen the movie, I checked the TV; "Troy" was on. It looked so fake, so cliché, so much obsessed with the big stars it had on-screen that the story had to take the backseat, that I couldn't watch it.) With this film, the Russians have shown that they still can do great movies. I can't wait to see more of them!

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...

like in summary i'll say once again...read the book stupid f**ks!!!!! This is the one of the best fantasy books from M.Semionova,and at least a true diamond of Russian literature from this field.I know that for the average people is sometimes hard to read the book and then to watch the movie...but hear this,there is a big difference from someone who only knows for movie version and a true admirer of this stuff.I think most of people were expecting to much,at least.Pay more attention on acting and the atmosphere thru the movie...Hollywood is,for a long time now,without a good script,and i will always more appreciate an European movie...this is the best advice i can give it to you all..