Tartar Invasion

Original title: Ursus e la ragazza tartara

1961
1h 25m

IMDb RATING

4.6/10

YOUR RATING

Action Adventure Drama

The Polish prince Stephen sets out on a mission with the mighty Ursus, but the two are captured by the Tartars. During his imprisonment, Stefano falls in love with Ilia, a Tatar girl daughte... Read allThe Polish prince Stephen sets out on a mission with the mighty Ursus, but the two are captured by the Tartars. During his imprisonment, Stefano falls in love with Ilia, a Tatar girl daughter of the chief.The Polish prince Stephen sets out on a mission with the mighty Ursus, but the two are captured by the Tartars. During his imprisonment, Stefano falls in love with Ilia, a Tatar girl daughter of the chief.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.6/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Submitted to the British Board of Film Censors on 2 July 1964 when it was passed with a "U" certificate under the title The Savage Hordes. Curiously, distributors Eagle Films bought the film as Ursus and the Tartar Princess, but didn't bother changing the main title to show the new title. The ITV network eventually acquired the film and its television premiere (reverting back to Ursus and the Tartar Princess) was on 25 November 1991 on Yorkshire Television who screened it as the fifth in their "Roman Follies" series, a light-hearted season of the worst of the Italian epics.

Quotes
Khan of the Tartars: If my son should die, I shall order a terrible vengeance on my enemies.

Connections
Referenced in Night Wanderings (1964)

User reviews6

Review

Featured review

6/10

Italian Peplum Movie with Yoko TANI, Joe ROBINSON and Roland LESAFFRE

A sandal film is out of line: religious kitsch by Remigio Del Grosso

The peplum genre was at its peak in the early 1960s. This is how this unusual Ursus film came about, which is actually not an Ursus film. But one after anonther! The original name of the film, which is also known as "The Hordes of Khan" in German-speaking countries, is roughly translated: Ursus and the Tartar Girl. An Ursus (Joe Robinson) also appears, but he actually only plays a supporting role.

It's about the conflict between Poland and the Tartar tribes, probably set around the beginning of the 18th century. During one of the Tartar raids, Ursus' son is kidnapped. Together with Prince Stefan (Ettore Manni) and his people (including Marcel Carné's favorite actor Roland Lesaffre), Ursus takes action against the Muslim Tartars. Stefan falls in love with the Tartar princess (Lesaffre's wife Yoko Tani), who then converts to the Catholic faith. In the end there is a decisive battle between Christians and Muslims...

Heavy religious kitsch is the order of the day here, which rightly isn't for everyone. Director Remigio Del Grosso apparently only added the character of Ursus to keep his film in the wake of the successful Peplum films. Otherwise, it's an overly religious adventure film that seems very propagandistic these days.

Ursus actor Joe Robinson never had a great career, but he did make notable appearances in "Rache der Wikinger" by Mario Bava and in "Diamond Fever" (in a fight with Sean 007 Connery).

Certainly only for ultra fans of sandal filmmaking!