Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Tarkan and the Silver Saddle (1970)

Kartal Tibet returns as Tarkan in the second in the series of films about a lone warrior and his wolf. Actually this is the first "story" telling the story of the events leading up to Tarkan's birth, his being raised by wolves after his family was killed by raiders and his ultimate revenge against those who did him and his people wrong.

I have to say that I watched this with out English subtitles so a complete understanding of the plot was not possible. Even allowing for that this is the weakest of all of the Tarkan films I've seen (I've seen four of the five). There is a great deal of talk, and unless you speak Turkish, much of the plot is going to be lost on you. Worse, the normal fantastical and action elements are lacking in this film. Sure there is a sorceress who puts most of the story in motion, and there is a giant and some very good fights, but the majority of the good stuff takes place in the final twenty minutes. Until then its a long slow slog.

If you've seen the other films in the series and liked them I'd give it a try, but if you're new to Tarkan I'd start with The Vikings or Golden Medallion (third and fourth films in the series), since they won't put you off to continuing with the series.

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