Flawed, but commendable on some levels

Rating: Null/10 (26 August 2012)

I was incredibly eager to see the film, but finding an official release date for the DVD or a place where I could buy it in Egypt seemed impossible. Alas, I managed to get a copy.
Let's preface this by saying I love Turkish culture. A picture of Abdul Hamid II hangs on my wall. I even enjoy the 70s and 80s exploitation flicks, and definitely 70s Anatolian rock. Fetih is a bittersweet affair for me. On one hand it represents the country's ascent over the past decade; on the other it unfortunately falls victim to imitating a western style medieval epic -- a played out genre that ordinarily bores me to no end.
The introduction of an obligatory love triangle between a good and evil suitor signaled that some disappointment was in store early on. The five-second closing shot was like dumping a bottle of ketchup onto an overcooked steak: it took an already mediocre meal and made it even less appetizing.
I don't really care for CGI in general, but each time the director used it there was no mistaking it. That might be forgivable in a fantasy film, but not a historical one.
Some of you may claim that historical inaccuracies for the sake of entertainment are just the nature of the medium; the problem is this that these men were so pivotal in history that spreading a distorted image (even if done graciously) is disrespectful. When twenty-year old viewers become seventy, this film's portrayals will be stuck in many of their minds -- accurate or not.
This will not be the last Turkish blockbuster. It needs critiqued honestly to push Turkish cinema forward, though. I wanted to give this a 10/10, but in the end it's so dumbed down that it's merely a slightly above average movie. There's some great Turkish films out there: Jan Jan and Propaganda are two I've watched recently -- two pics that are uniquely Turkish; Fetih feels more like a generic American war epic but with Turkish characters.
If Adam Sandler films are 0/10, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest a 10/10, Fetih is a 6/10. Its importance lies more in what it signifies in relation to Turkey's modern resurgence as a great nation and the Islamic renaissance occurring in places like Egypt, not so much its content.