Let me start off by saying that I am a HUGE MST3K fan. Let me also say that I never saw their treatment of this film because I'm a Canadian and consequently don't get SCI-FI, and I haven't been able to do much tape trading for some of these episodes yet. I expect that it would be hilarious. Let me also say that I am studying Russian area studies in university, and actually watched the original Russian version.
Firstly, I thought its plot wove together many diverse aspects of Russian folk tales into one new tale. No such tale, of course, was ever compiled by Afanas'ev. However, the use of magic, ultimate triumph of good versus evil, etc. is all textbook Russian folk tales.
I was thrilled to see Baba Yaga and her house - not that her house wasn't really a guy in a suffocating house custom prancing around. It was - bad effects aside - exactly as I had pictured it. Roasting Baba Yaga after asking her how to be shoved properly into the oven was from another tale, I forget which one right now.
Anyhow, I thought that this film would have been excellent for Russian children even with the terrible special effects. There is pride in seeing your native culture display itself, and I thought that Morozko did an excellent job of representing Russian folklore tradition. (And no, MST3K fans, "Final Sacrifice" did not display my Canadian culture.)
Overall, for an individual who is informed about Russian culture, this would be laughable, but enjoyable. For someone who is not...yekh.
Firstly, I thought its plot wove together many diverse aspects of Russian folk tales into one new tale. No such tale, of course, was ever compiled by Afanas'ev. However, the use of magic, ultimate triumph of good versus evil, etc. is all textbook Russian folk tales.
I was thrilled to see Baba Yaga and her house - not that her house wasn't really a guy in a suffocating house custom prancing around. It was - bad effects aside - exactly as I had pictured it. Roasting Baba Yaga after asking her how to be shoved properly into the oven was from another tale, I forget which one right now.
Anyhow, I thought that this film would have been excellent for Russian children even with the terrible special effects. There is pride in seeing your native culture display itself, and I thought that Morozko did an excellent job of representing Russian folklore tradition. (And no, MST3K fans, "Final Sacrifice" did not display my Canadian culture.)
Overall, for an individual who is informed about Russian culture, this would be laughable, but enjoyable. For someone who is not...yekh.