Volkodav iz roda Serykh Psov
Tags: revenge, violence

Plot synopsis:
The setting of the film is a high fantasy Dark Ages Europe, in which desperate and bloodthirsty warlords fight brutal battles in their eternal quest for overlordship. Yet their swords, shields, lances, spears and arrows are all brittle, prone to wear and tear, and dull, protracting their campaigns against each other without end. Word spreads of a man in one of the Northern tribes: an adept blacksmith capable of crafting far hardier, stronger, sharper, and more durable weapons than any other known to exist, with aid of a mystical element. The warlords search for the enigmatic master of weapons to no avail.
A former druid chieftain named Zhadoba, jaded by years of warfare and believing the Radiant Gods have abandoned him, learns of the identity and whereabouts of the blacksmith and his coveted weapons, more valuable than any gold in such a time. With this knowledge, Zhadoba's heart is hardened to mercy and replaced with greed and bloodlust. Bringing even the feared warlord, the Man-Eater, under his spell, Zhadoba massacres an entire people, the Clan of the Grey Hounds, including their blacksmith, and takes his legendary weapons. The only survivor of the tribe, the blacksmith's fair-haired son, witnesses the slaughter and bites at Zhadoba's tattooed hand. Instead of killing the boy, Zhadoba orders the boy to be sent into the savage mines of the Crystal Mountains and to live a life of hard labor there, in conditions which will no doubt kill the boy anyway.
Against all odds, the boy cheats death through sheer determination and will, his strength becomes powerful through many years of hard labor, scarred by violence, and his prowess honed by a hunger for revenge. For many years his only companions were disheartened, tortured slaves and a strangely intelligent bat, Ragged Wing, who is destined to become his constant companion. After killing his overseers with weapons created using his father's secret techniques and escaping the mines, he becomes a wanderer known as Wolfhound: a great and fearless warrior, as well as a true master of weapons like his father before him.
After making the long journey to the Man-Eater’s castle, Wolfhound finally conquers his archenemy. He also frees two prisoners, the sage and healer Tilorn and slave-girl Niilit. Wolfhound accompanies them to their home city of Galirad, which has been thrown into turmoil. The power-crazed forces under Zhadoba are poised to attack the city with their superior weapons at any moment. With enough bloodshed, and the right ritual involving royal blood, Zhadoba believes he can resurrect the ancient Dark Goddess Morana from the Celestial Gates and draw power from her. The King of Galirad, to save the city from destruction, is giving his daughter away in marriage to Vinitar, a young warrior-prince who promises to protect Galirad - and who also happens to be the son of the late warlord, the Man-Eater. Princess Elen must travel to the land of her husband-to-be, and asks Wolfhound to be her guard in this dangerous journey. Wolfhound agrees to serve the princess and is caught up in a whirlwind of mysterious events, as the true purpose of the journey is gradually revealed, a secret which could plunge the world into an eternal living nightmare...

Review: A Mixed Bag. Russia's first proper foray into Tolkeinesque fantasy cinema, WOLFHOUND, based on the first novel of a tetralogy by Maria Semyonova about a last-of-his-tribe mighty warrior, is a mixed bag  on the one hand, it is formulaic, derivative and uneven in terms of acting and pacing; on the other, there is enough novelty in the film's distinctly Slavic demeanor, philosophical subtext and production design to make it play well internationally as a crossover curio.WOLFHOUND opens with the back-story of the main character, a mighty warrior from the Grey Hound tribe named Wolfhound (Bukharov).
Standing between him and his goal is Wolfhound, who, after saving Helen from an assassination attempt in Galirad, becomes her bodyguard.Contrary to many Russians' fatalistic attitudes towards life, the film presents a new and intriguing philosophical slant in terms of the free will versus determinism debate, which comes out in favor of free will.
As a free man, he pursues revenge, but throughout the film, his conscience, in the form of visions of a female spirit, comes to question whether the seemingly fated cycle of killing is worth continuing when he encounters Vinitar, the last of his enemies, in battle.If the plot sounds formulaic and derivative, it is.
In terms of editing, the film could have been better served with a classic, chronological progression of the main character's life rather than its more trendy, non-linear, flashback tack, which dampens its philosophical message.The performances are uneven, with the supporting cast generally better than the leads.
Since this is Russia's first LOTR-style fantasy and the genre is very alien to Russian cinema, some sequences feel downright awkward in terms of acting.
Also a bit gawky is the very noticeable use of facial close-ups, presumably in order for the film to subsequently play well on the small screen.One of the more memorable performances was that of the matronly Nina Usatova as the leader of the savage Kharyuk people, whose lands Helen's entourage has to cross to reach her betrothed.
Usatova steals every scene in that sequence, which is somewhat obviously played for comic relief.Nevertheless, the film acquits itself well by stretching its comparatively shoestring budget to the limit.
It uses heat provided from the campfires and the three healing sequences (one of them repairing the bat's wing) elicit a sense of wonder.Outside of Russia, the film should benefit from the post-Lord-of-the-Rings renewed interest in the fantasy genre and the general curiosity about Russians' take on the genre..
'Wolfhound' sounded like it would be an entertaining joke - some low budget tragedy of a movie with a bunch of men running around with swords.However, while it wasn't the most amazing film I'd ever seen, there was very little to make fun of as I was shocked to find I actually enjoyed watching it.
(Yes, the fight scenes are hokey at times, but the way it's done you kind of start to transcend the action on screen and imagine more than there is.
Wolfhound's bat is an obvious gem, but there's enough other things to wonder about the various characters (the details that are glossed over sometimes) to keep you wondering despite the somewhat plain meta-story.Lush, interesting scenery also pops up from time to time, giving it hints of Lord of the Rings, and yet it's somehow nice not having over-exaggerated scenes.The clincher, though, is that there was something altogether too real about the movie.
Following his destiny Valkodav makes new friends in the face of a charming bat, a blind magician, a saved victim and a bedazzling princess.What I particularly like about this movie is its realistic atmosphere.
When the ultimate battle takes place Valkodav is at his upsurge to change the course of history.If you liked Conan and The Lord of the Rings, Wolfhound would certainly surge some emotions you though you had forgotten.
Russian made fantasy film concerning Wolfhound who seeks to get revenge on the people who killed his family and his tribe and threw him into slavery.
He ends up meeting a princess and...well thats the story.I don't know if this is a great film, I really don't care, Frankly the film grabbed on an emotional level and took me back to the place I go when I read good swords and sorcery novels.
This film has the high adventure of old Hollywood fantasy films but mixes it with a sense of reality and gravitas that is missing in pretty much every sword and sorcery fantasy movie.
This is a world where magic works and for most of the film its kept to a minimum so that the magic we see is special (indeed the film is reasonably free of CGI which only really shows up for the final show down between the various factions, and while the CGI at the end isn't LOTR perfect, it gets the job done).The story, based in some form on a novel or novels, is nicely dense.
The music is often married to some very beautiful sequences to stunning effect, I'm particularly thinking of the song of the prisoner who changed his fate and the sequence when the princess heads off to meet her bridegroom the latter is a beautiful sequence that is cross cut with the bad guys getting ready to attack.I love the film.
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.
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.
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.
Even from the start you know this is a heroic fantasy and the film fully delivers both in action and special effects and background story.
It also suffers from the Russian book worm: a lot of characters, sometimes you don't know who is who, since they all look dirty and long haired.
If you take Conan, you add a bit of Lord of the Rings and a little of the Sergiu Nicolaescu movies, you get an American-Romanian Wolfhound :) The ending is a bit pathetic, but the lead character is truly well played.
This movie is very well made, full of high tension fighting scenes and quite a nice plot (slightly touched by clichés like LOTR or Conan, of course).
Before 1989, living in Romania, I was intoxicated with Russian movies (the war ones, quite good, the classics - exceptional, but some of them were really crap), maybe more than other people behind the Iron Curtain.
Now, it's good to see there is a new fresh breath in the Russian movie-making..
I've just seen this glorious epic at a Kiev cinema and am amazed at how Russian cinema can release such a superb fantasy film.
This is an adaptation of the first Volkodav fantasy novel by Maria Semyonova that draws on a wide range of Slavic mythology.Alexander Bukharov is well cast as the hero, the "wolfhound" fighting the evil "wolf", with a strong supporting cast that relies on impact more than the hairstyles, tooth-whitener and revealing loincloths of Hollywood.
The obvious comparison is to Lord of the Rings, but the movie manages to keep originality in many plot strands, effects and characterization's.
By having the main effects based on primal forces of nature, rather than a new-generation iteration of Predator or Alien, it avoids the typical clichés that most fantasy films suffer from.
For start let me say that I am aware that this was adaptation of Mariya Semyonova's book which btw I haven't read, but I have read a lot of other fantasy/adventure books including many of Conan's adventures and I must say that this movie reminds me most of him (with some name changes and some addition of strength to main character).Volkodav visually looks very appealing and CGI was done well and not on expense of storyline (like most of Hollywood flicks this days).
but not better than anything else of what I have seen from fantasy movies...except maybe some of TV series crap.
looked like they decided "oh gosh, those saber-things in Star Wars looks good, we need a bigger and better one!".
The bat does look good...Another failing, but this is usual one for most fantasy movies, there is a single example of partially functional armour in the movie - main heroine wears a mail shirt at one point.
Rest wear some crazy mix of stupid looking non-functional stuff that would restrict movement and make it much harder to fight - no surprise that main hero ignores that crap and fights unarmoured, even if in book he preferred to wear a mail when possible.All in all, it is clear that with enough money they can get effects on the level of world standard, but otherwise this movie is a waste of time..
The main (and originally deep) idea of "Wolfhound looking for another life purpose after having done the only thing he've been dreaming about for 20 years" was transformed in an ordinary love story with some extra mystical evil.
The only good thing about the movie is the Bat -- the Wolfhound's pet.
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).
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 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.
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).
But the big difference with US pictures is that the narration here clearly has elements of Russian Folk Traditions, something that really adds to the usual fantasy/action films.
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.
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....
Right up there with the best Hollywood sword and sorcerer genre films, but this was even better as the characters weren't silly Americans.
Best Russian movie I've ever seen.
The story was a little hard to follow at times, and overall I found them pretty boring.When I picked up Wolfhound I was really expecting more of the same.However, it turns out Wolfhound is a pretty good movie.
I don't really have anything to complain about with this movie.I would have to say I liker it better than Eragon and In the Name of the King.The DVD case says "Conan the Barbarian meets Lord of the Rings".
Sure, I think it's a little better than the first Conan movie, but it really doesn't come close to The Lord of the Rings (what does?).
The very cliché colourless blue-green photography that has become almost universal since "Lord of the Rings" and makes me wonder if fans of those films (and the CGI artists responsible for them) have ever experienced real sunlight; 2.
This is a Russian fantasy film that can look back to a great tradition of movies like "Sadko" (1954); 2.
This movie has nothing left to see, it is the single greatest production I've seen in the past years in this genre.I have no idea how this movie managed to get to Germany because we don't have many east European productions synchronized but I'm happy that I've got the opportunity to see this.The acting is great, the story full plotted.
This movie isn't boring and also complete, it is five times better than Lord of the rings.
It's a classic but at the same time tries to avoid clichés.Sometimes there are some bad cuts, but it doesn't disturb the enjoyment of watching this movie.ALso, for the Germans, the synchronization is exceptional good..
If you are looking for something to compare it to, the cover of the movie comes pretty close.
This has to be a very poor attempt of fantasy, if this is the best the Russians can do then we don't have to worry about the movie industry in the West.
I suspect that the scene introducing her was cut for time or some such reason.However, this movie is ultimately about the titular hero being a bad-ass warrior rather than clever plotting, or careful film work.
The quote on the DVD cover for Russian fantasy/adventure flick Wolfhound describes this as 'Conan the Barbarian meets Lord of the Rings', and that is definitely what the film aspires to be, boasting a story that is remarkably similar to the Schwarzenneggar movie, and with director Nikolay Lebedev clearly attempting to emulate the epic grandeur of Peter Jackson's Tolkien trilogy in his more elaborate set-pieces.However, despite some fun moments and excellent production values—plenty of rubles having clearly been spent on state-of-the-art CGI and brilliant set design—Wolfhound cannot match either film in terms of sheer entertainment value.
It falls way short of Conan, its barbarian lacking Arnie's physical presence, and its narrative lacking the scope of the epic Middle-Earth movies, with Lebedev's chaotic direction and editing sapping potentially impressive scenes of excitement (the 'rousing' finalé is a noisy, confusing whirlwind of in-your-face effects).If you're an avid fan of the sword and fantasy genre, then I recommend checking the film out—it's got enough fun stuff in it to make it worth a go (Wolfhound's trained bat is particularly good); it is certainly no worse than a lot of the CGI-laden tosh that comes out of Hollywood.
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...
Because the story is quite good, for a fantasy movie.
Or let's say a fantasy-action movie if you will.
I think I still rated it too good, but only because I still give the Russians credit for trying to break into a film market that is run by financially bigger "players".
Every time an action scene occurs on screen (in the script), you can feel how the movie changes ...
Oh yes, one more thing...the special effects was so impressive, I felt like I was in movie lala land!
Now you know, thats quality film making and writing there *wink* If you enjoy this genre in films, sword fighting, fantasy, and happy endings...don't miss this little gem!.
Whoever the director ,don't deserves to be mentioned , I read the book and it is perfect ,but movie from start shows that the story was revised,and now is average ..
this movie is a shame for one of the best epic fantasy book that I ever read !Only what i like in this movie is casting of actors .
I am shame to say that I wish one of Hollywood studios buy the rights to the film and make better remake ,or HBO make series like they make book Game of throne in such perfect adaptation !!!!.
in Russia there are a lot of talented people to do something on the Hollywood level, and in this movie they should do a better effort.Fights...
I like all kinds of fights without fire arms, there are a lot of movies with good fights out there.
here you'll find a lot of changing very fast bad pictures.There is magic in the book, but NOT so absurd magic like in the movie.
horrible.I recommend to read the book and to understand that the movie should be on the LOTR level..
The last years we could see that Russian cinema produced some really great movies - Night Watch is a great example of that.
Well Im agree with the guy who said that the movie has a good part inside and that is the BAT :-) I cannot say that the actors are talented or not - the main heroine is pretty and sexy.
Wolfhound looks like Brad Pitt from time to time and other faces are typically Russian and not suitable for that kind of movie.
I saw some good CGI effects , some nice cadres - the one with falling arrows.I find the battle scenes well done - the movements are not typical for the other action movies - they are real and good.