This is a story of Hungarian history. The seven leaders of the conquerors wake up a morning after drinking...and they can't find the 600.000 Hungarians that they led just to the border of the future Hungary. So they go to find them and take a fun journey through our 1100-year-old history. Most of the jokes can be understood only by Hungarians or those familiar with Hungarian history and Hungarian movies. Fun to see, a totally crazy movie with Hungarian stars and lots of (sometimes unnecessary) songs. The audience is really willing to like it so mostly they are laughing during the most terrible jokes (as well as the imaginative and really good ones).
18 Reviews
The worst film ever seen.
athos-1126 February 2004
The idea of the film is pretty good. Placing historical characters into anachronistic situations offer many opportunities of great jokes. Also the director's previous film was quite good, and he had a great chance to create a great job. Had the money and many big names in the cast.
Supposed to be a comedy, but it's just a pathetic struggling. Stolen jokes from great films adopted terribly and horrible musical scenes. It was the first case in my life when I left the cinema at the half of the movie.
It does not even worth the time it took to see, not to mention the cost of the ticket.
Supposed to be a comedy, but it's just a pathetic struggling. Stolen jokes from great films adopted terribly and horrible musical scenes. It was the first case in my life when I left the cinema at the half of the movie.
It does not even worth the time it took to see, not to mention the cost of the ticket.
The Seven Chieftains of Hungarian lore lose their tribes and spend a Milleneum looking for them.
Legendmanagement20 December 2004
This is the biggest piece of crap ever filmed. I know Hungarian history and I didn't crack a smile. Not even grudgingly. The audience in the theater was either running scared or was stunned into silence at this enormity. There is no plot, only a loose set of extremely lame gags tied together by the wandering chieftains, whose main characteristics are mostly expressed by the bodily noises they produce. They go through history for no apparent reason, and meet similarly insipid, one-dimensional characters disguised as historic personalities, which we are expected to find hilarious, God only knows why. I don't know any reason why anyone would want to see this or, for that matter, make this truly tasteless, unimaginative, amorphous, poor imitation of a third rate parody.
wrong judgement
sacicvel20 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Hey everybody, it seems the reccived judgement of this film is really low. I do have Hungarian bygone, i have learnt Hungarian history, know the Hungarian culture, traditions, conception, humour, ideology, lifestyle, conduct, furthermore I do understand this film, i do understand the jokes as a Hungarian, and i can say this movie watching as a Hungarian, GOOD and AMUSING. and if you haven't learn Hungarian history and legends, don't say the jokes are bad, just because you cannot catch up or realize them. And let me not to talk about the trashy and unworthy American "movies". And do not criticise the end of the movie, sitting on the Lánchíd above the Duna and watching the lights of Budapest is a good and nostalgic feeling for hungarians (as they have history for more than 1113 years, struggles for independence under the soviet and the Turkish domination, martyrs (Arad), Jagellos, Habsburgs, migrations, Petőfi, Mikszáth, Jókai, Trianon, Nándorfehérvár, political changeover, etc, etc.) And you'd better mind you can't understand the lyric of the music under the end scenes. bye
Worst Hungarian movie ever? Horrible and painful
darkangel-51 February 2005
I went to see this movie accompanying a friend of mine. I had bad expectations because its trailer was all over on TV channels and I couldn't evade it, but the movie underachieved the horror I had previously expected...
It was supposed to be a humorous flick on Hungarian history. Well, I have to point out that 1) it's not humorous at all, and 2) it's not about Hungarian history at all. Well, it's a distorted picture of history, but even if one is interested in Hungarian history should avoid this crap.
The 'story' is about the seven leaders of the Hungarian tribes traveling throughout stages of Hungarian history. It's difficult to use the word 'story' regarding this movie, because it doesn't really have a plot, it's rather different scenes randomly thrown together. The seven main characters are so poorly and dumbly developed it hurts! While watching this movie I was wishing I weren't a Hungarian.
In spite of all this, the movie was commercially successful, but only because probably more money was spent on commercials and marketing than on the movie making process. Hey, Mr. Herendi, next time spend all your money on commercials and the marketing campaign, and I rather spend my money on watching an empty screen for ninety-some minutes. It will be more entertaining and better for everyone.
If you like movies, then avoid this crap. If you still have to watch, first just shut off or kill your brain cells to survive the horror that waits for you...
It was supposed to be a humorous flick on Hungarian history. Well, I have to point out that 1) it's not humorous at all, and 2) it's not about Hungarian history at all. Well, it's a distorted picture of history, but even if one is interested in Hungarian history should avoid this crap.
The 'story' is about the seven leaders of the Hungarian tribes traveling throughout stages of Hungarian history. It's difficult to use the word 'story' regarding this movie, because it doesn't really have a plot, it's rather different scenes randomly thrown together. The seven main characters are so poorly and dumbly developed it hurts! While watching this movie I was wishing I weren't a Hungarian.
In spite of all this, the movie was commercially successful, but only because probably more money was spent on commercials and marketing than on the movie making process. Hey, Mr. Herendi, next time spend all your money on commercials and the marketing campaign, and I rather spend my money on watching an empty screen for ninety-some minutes. It will be more entertaining and better for everyone.
If you like movies, then avoid this crap. If you still have to watch, first just shut off or kill your brain cells to survive the horror that waits for you...
Lovely movie for the Hungarian heart.
punklili27 June 2009
I think this movie is a "half-masterpiece". It's true that it doesn't change the world (nor do the characters in it), but it surely awakens the Hungarian identity in us!
It has a quite refined humor that is typical to Hungarian movies. But this is even a special one! Because you can understand it only if you are aware of the Hungarian history. (Not recommended for foreigners, sorry...) And the movie also gives hints about smaller cases like: famous Hungarian inventions, quotations from great Hungarian poems, big events (like the result of the football match: 6-3), etc. All in a humorous way!
But the most impressive thing is the truth of all that the movie shows: the big changes in Hungarian history while it also always remains the same; the typical personalities of Hungarians (the mentality of them); and the fact that anything happens here, however bad thing would that be, Hungarians will always be the same, they will always be happy, friendly and a little crazy but in our nice way! And we never lose site of hope!
Entertaining, instructive, far from dull, fills the heart with warmth. It is the Hungarians', it is for the Hungarians. It always turns out that we can laugh at ourselves! :)
It has a quite refined humor that is typical to Hungarian movies. But this is even a special one! Because you can understand it only if you are aware of the Hungarian history. (Not recommended for foreigners, sorry...) And the movie also gives hints about smaller cases like: famous Hungarian inventions, quotations from great Hungarian poems, big events (like the result of the football match: 6-3), etc. All in a humorous way!
But the most impressive thing is the truth of all that the movie shows: the big changes in Hungarian history while it also always remains the same; the typical personalities of Hungarians (the mentality of them); and the fact that anything happens here, however bad thing would that be, Hungarians will always be the same, they will always be happy, friendly and a little crazy but in our nice way! And we never lose site of hope!
Entertaining, instructive, far from dull, fills the heart with warmth. It is the Hungarians', it is for the Hungarians. It always turns out that we can laugh at ourselves! :)
Not bad at all
szigma2 March 2004
I went to see this one with little expectations. The director's previous movie was quite innovative, but lacked everything to make it good. It was slow, clumsy with needless and bad lines and of course (Hungarian movie!), not too good acting. After seeing a trailer and reading about this movie, I thought that it too would suffer from the same problems.
But I was quite pleased. The movie indeed is too long and slow, with some of the dialogues pointless and badly written, but at least the storyline is enjoyable, and there are some realy good jokes (for Hungarians, don't expect to understand anything in this movie, if you're not Hungarian). Some of the characters are realy good (It seems that to have big actors for small roles can really help). It appears that the director got the hang of it during the making of the movie, because it starts out very awkward but gets better about the third way through.
Although full of bits that are annoying because they could have been done better, this movie was worth the prise of the ticket. Nothing like Monty Python and the Holy Grail (although clearly influenced by it), but good for an otherwise pointless night.
But I was quite pleased. The movie indeed is too long and slow, with some of the dialogues pointless and badly written, but at least the storyline is enjoyable, and there are some realy good jokes (for Hungarians, don't expect to understand anything in this movie, if you're not Hungarian). Some of the characters are realy good (It seems that to have big actors for small roles can really help). It appears that the director got the hang of it during the making of the movie, because it starts out very awkward but gets better about the third way through.
Although full of bits that are annoying because they could have been done better, this movie was worth the prise of the ticket. Nothing like Monty Python and the Holy Grail (although clearly influenced by it), but good for an otherwise pointless night.
See a talent fail
tranger8 July 2006
I'm sorry to say, but Hungarian cinema (especially comedies) nowadays is really bad. Always the same old "stars" play in the "blockbusters" telling really bad jokes, but still, have really high reputation here. Hungarian film-making had glorious times about 50 years earlier, but it is just struggling now. But, there were a few exceptions, highly enjoyable films, like Kontroll, Üvegtigris, and Gábor Herendi's previous film, Valami Amerika.
I thought that he's standing in front of a promising career. Because of this very amusing picture, I had very high expectations about Magyar Vándor. But after seeing 10 minutes of the film, I started to feel disappointed. And it just got worse and worse. But the story is promising, most of us would have made an enjoyable film from this material. But not the "elite" of Hungarian film-making. Terrible jokes, each one of them is told about ten times, and the whole movie treats the viewer like a complete idiot. And this is what I really don't like. That film was a total waste of money. They should have donated the amount instead.
I thought that he's standing in front of a promising career. Because of this very amusing picture, I had very high expectations about Magyar Vándor. But after seeing 10 minutes of the film, I started to feel disappointed. And it just got worse and worse. But the story is promising, most of us would have made an enjoyable film from this material. But not the "elite" of Hungarian film-making. Terrible jokes, each one of them is told about ten times, and the whole movie treats the viewer like a complete idiot. And this is what I really don't like. That film was a total waste of money. They should have donated the amount instead.
Superb, but only for Hungarians!
rozsa-28 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Let me start by saying that whoever decided to release this film for international consumption is a greedy moron. Viewed in its native language and without subtitles to confuse the issues, the movie is absolutely hilarious. But, in order to enjoy it, you have to 1) understand Hungarian sense of humor; 2) have a THOROUGH understanding of Hungary's history, which, under the best of circumstances is muddled and most often quite hotly disputed; 3) be aware of cultural and historical sensitivities; and 4) be old enough to understand the more modern references. For instance, the 6:3 score of the "football" (soccer) game is probably the most famous score in soccer history: in 1953 Hungary beat England at Wimbledon, a feat that has never been accomplished previously by any team in the history of soccer. The score was 6:3. The joke in the movie is that the game was much more lopsided, but the English "cheated" in down from 11:2. At some point in the film, an old sage ask the 7 "chief" what they are doing, they say we are looking for the Magyar "ah,"he says, "that's what you do - the deeds of the Magyar - Gesta Hungarorum." Which, of course, is a reference to the single most serious source of Hungarian history known. There is an entry in Wikipedia that describes this (nobody knows who wrote it – since it's authored by Anonymus Bele Regis Notarius – "Bella's Anonymous Notary)
References are also made to the 150-year Turkish occupation of Hungary and the forced Austro-Hungarian Empire, all painful eras in Hungary's history, but funny as hell as treated in the movie. The endless number of "inventions" by the guy with the bush-hacking sword is an oblique and derisive barb at the Russians (who occupied Hungary for 45 years) who state unequivocally that everything in the World has been invented by a Russian.
There is a constant hilarious poke at pseudo-patriotism, too. The dummy of the group frequently comes up with the first verse of poems or hymns that are sacrosanct to and are well-known by every child and adult in Hungary, but he never can come up with the second verse.
The National Song (starts with Talpra Magyar)... was written by Sándor Petőfi, it is said to have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Petőfi read the poem aloud on March 15 in Vörösmarty Square in Budapest to a gathering crowd, which by the end was chanting the refrain as they began to march around the city, seizing the presses, liberating political prisoners, and declaring the end of Austrian rule. Hungarians celebrate the anniversary of the revolution on March 15. Red-white-green ribbons are worn to commemorate the fallen revolutionaries and the ideal of the revolution.
Translation of the stanza goes as follows: On your feet, Magyar, the homeland calls! The time is here, now or never! Shall we be slaves or free? This is the question, choose your answer! - By[1] the God of the Hungarians We vow, We vow, that we will be slaves No longer!
The movie is a virtual tour d'force of twisting history so that a nation that has never been in charge with its own destiny can laugh at itself. The ability to laugh at oneself has tremendous survival value.
For a Hungarian this is a 9 or 10 star film. For anyone else it's a ZERO. It just loses everything "in translation." Even its occasional salacious scenes are a hoot when viewed from the proper perspective.
References are also made to the 150-year Turkish occupation of Hungary and the forced Austro-Hungarian Empire, all painful eras in Hungary's history, but funny as hell as treated in the movie. The endless number of "inventions" by the guy with the bush-hacking sword is an oblique and derisive barb at the Russians (who occupied Hungary for 45 years) who state unequivocally that everything in the World has been invented by a Russian.
There is a constant hilarious poke at pseudo-patriotism, too. The dummy of the group frequently comes up with the first verse of poems or hymns that are sacrosanct to and are well-known by every child and adult in Hungary, but he never can come up with the second verse.
The National Song (starts with Talpra Magyar)... was written by Sándor Petőfi, it is said to have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Petőfi read the poem aloud on March 15 in Vörösmarty Square in Budapest to a gathering crowd, which by the end was chanting the refrain as they began to march around the city, seizing the presses, liberating political prisoners, and declaring the end of Austrian rule. Hungarians celebrate the anniversary of the revolution on March 15. Red-white-green ribbons are worn to commemorate the fallen revolutionaries and the ideal of the revolution.
Translation of the stanza goes as follows: On your feet, Magyar, the homeland calls! The time is here, now or never! Shall we be slaves or free? This is the question, choose your answer! - By[1] the God of the Hungarians We vow, We vow, that we will be slaves No longer!
The movie is a virtual tour d'force of twisting history so that a nation that has never been in charge with its own destiny can laugh at itself. The ability to laugh at oneself has tremendous survival value.
For a Hungarian this is a 9 or 10 star film. For anyone else it's a ZERO. It just loses everything "in translation." Even its occasional salacious scenes are a hoot when viewed from the proper perspective.
It is just so bad... painful.
ZivMetzger28 April 2020
One bad thing with movies as a commercial product as opposed to for example a piece of clothing bought in a shop that you can not get your money back once you pay for your ticket and the show starts. You simply can not unwatch a movie and tell the cashier you do not like it, so want the money back. There is also no possibility to claim your wasted time. Now, thse were the thoughts that came to my mind when I walked out after about half an hour.
This film is just a clear example of bad writing, film making and production. I wonder how producers saw any potential in the script in the first place. Well, I have wasted enough of my time on the film, this is only to warn people against watching it. Stay away!
The Hungarian "Holy Grail"!
Y-Sly12 April 2004
Some of the critics says that this movie is the Hungarian version of the 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail', well... they've of course no right! This movie is one of the worst Hungarian movies I have ever seen, it's even worst than Valami Amerika (Something America). I really hate it, no good ideas, no good jokes and the directing is terrible. I cannot believe that the movie makers really wanted to sell this film for us. Forget this movie please, everybody! There are a lot of better comedys in Hungary, like Üvegtigris (Glass Tiger)... If you watch this movie, you'll spend a lots of time for nothing... like I said before.. please forget this awful movie! 0/10
One of the worst films ever
szabgab28 August 2008
Unfortunately there is no zero rating, what I would gladly give to this film. It's not a "so bad, it's good" film. It's just simply bad. Don't be tempted to see it, even if you have an hour and a half of your life to be wasted. Believe me, compared to this rubbish the Bridges of Madison is an indie European cult film. The "Magyar Vandor" is pretentious, copying ideas from Holy Grail (and by copying I mean simply lifting out jokes and whole passages from it and putting them in Magyar Vandor shamelessly), Faust (or it's Hungarian version, the Ember Tragediaja) and many more. There are "jokes", you would understand only if you are Hungarian. But if you happen to be one, you won't enjoy them, as the filmmakers thought their future audience to be a bunch of retarded five year old. (a good example for this is the scene with king Matyas, an emblematic figure of the Hungarian history. If you wouldn't recognise the character after five minutes of shallow jokes the actor puts on his crown and the camera pans to show his long nosed profile - aka king Matyas' most recognisable picture). The film operates with the worst clichés you can find in a film - repetitive jokes, whose are not funny even the first time, very shallow dialogues, typical costume film eras - dark middle age, renaissance, Fitzgeraldoid jazz generation, Nazi occupation (with the mistake made by the filmmakers, as Hungary happened to be a Fascist country in the Second World War) and so on. As there is no plot, there is no real ending to the film either, just some shallow nationalism, saccharin sweet emotions, fireworks, 20th of August, The Hungarian Parliament surrounded by some terrible CGI, the list goes on. If you are interested in jokes chewed over few times by the crew to be understood by the "masses", one liners from the Hungarian film and TV "elite" and no laughter at all, then by all means watch this terrible sit-com. Otherwise steer clear from it. It says on the can, it's a historical comedy. It's not, it's a tragedy of the new Hungarian cinema. It's on pair with some other recent crap, especially Taxidermia. 0/10
Don't waste your time with this
tulipppan1 January 2023
Perhaps the worst Hungarian film ever. Wants to be funny, and perhaps it is, for 3-4 year old kids. The basic idea is good, but I was very sad to see the result. Stupid characters and painful jokes. I appreciate humour, but it was terrible infantile and forced. I really don't understand how some people in the cinema could laugh at the jokes (okay, only a few, but still).
After having seen this film, I was so disappointed, that I didn't want to see any other Hungarian films for years. Luckily, after a few years excellent films were made (Kontroll e.g.) There are many talented actors in Hungary, they deserve much better roles than these-
After having seen this film, I was so disappointed, that I didn't want to see any other Hungarian films for years. Luckily, after a few years excellent films were made (Kontroll e.g.) There are many talented actors in Hungary, they deserve much better roles than these-
Easy humour with the Hungarian Seven Chiefs
EDSzakal3 May 2006
This film is one of the post-communist era. The seven Hungarian tribe chiefs are about to start the conquest of the new homeland - just realizing that they not only have a hangover from last night's farewell party, but the tribes - the Hungarians - have already left. Looking for them becomes a quest in the hectic times of history... I loved the film, the music, the clips, the plots, the sophisticated self humour, the freshness, the originality, the easiness. Based on what all Hungarians learn in history lessons, imprinted in them, this is a new approach, a show, spiced with tiny bits that maybe you get for second watching only. First time that Hungarian filmmakers show that we don't always have to take ourselves so seriously. For Hungarians living abroad, this film is a drop of water in the desert, sunshine in the dark, cozy fireplace on the north pole, yes, somewhat nostalgic. For foreigners, probably impossible to explain everything, but the best way to get something about this nation. I warmly recommend to everyone.
Very funny
holics-gabor18 March 2005
I understand the bad comments from those who totally lack any sense of humor and historical - cultural basics of Hunagry. Others surely must have enjoyed this movie. The harem scene was too erotic, this is why my vote is only 9. I really liked special appearances that were relating to different well known Hungarian TV series' and movies of old. (Like "Tenkes kapitánya" and "Egri csillagok", even with the original actors: Ferenc Zenthe and György Bárdi) The songs were good to! All of the seven viziers' character were well performed. Sándor Gáspár, as hotel manager was my favorite minor character in this movie. The Chinese silk and gunpowder agent was hilarious.
Subtitle
theblackwolf20044 February 2007
It was hell trying to get this movie but I finally got it...the problem is that it has no English subtitles:( I really need those subtitles otherwise I don't understand a word. can anybody please help me I really want to see this movie but I can't find English subtitles anywhere for it. The movie seems very interesting from what I've seen but alas...I don't understand much Hungarian and without English subtitles it's pointless...I'm from Romania and I'm sure any Hungarian on this forum knows it's hell trying to get anything made in Hungary down here. If anyone could help me with those English subtitles I would be very grateful.
Cultural Humour
starofflames5 December 2012
This is an example of sometimes how unreliable online rating can be. Magyar Vándor (Hungarian Walker) is a fine movie of refined humour and is an homage to Hungarian history. Most of the jokes are only understandable for Hungarians or those who really know the language and culture of this nation. Magyar Vándor is gentle, funny and peaceful. The movie honours the great achievements of the Hungarian people and respects other cultures. Even the title is humorous, it refers to the gymnastic discipline invented by Zoltán Magyar, but it also refers to the story of the movie. I highly recommend it to educated Hungarians or those who live in a country with Hungarian minorities.
not a simply story
kardosferenc14 March 2006
But, this is my opinion. To tell a truth, this film strongly based on Hungarian history, and without deep studies in this, it can't be understandable. Thats why the story start at the beginning of the Hungarian era, have screen-shots with most important historical events and persons, and finished at nowadays Budapest. an average people even not known where Hungary lies, not who was e. g. King Mathias, and who plays him in the film. So if you didn't known anything about Hungarian history I recommended you, that don't watch this film. You will be boring, and then you will say, that this is a wrong film. It will be similar, that you would see the Monthy Python's Life Of Brien without known anything from, Jesus, Bible, Christmas, or Easter. Try to imagine.
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