FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

jdancing_queen2004 I first saw "Skazka Stranstviy" in my early teens. Loved it but waited almost ten years to see it again. The film is brilliant, and invokes a lot of emotions and thoughts. Until I was adult it was too dark and too deep to comprehend and deal with. I definitely wouldn't recommend showing it to children. But for adults it's a must see. Every time I've seen it I've ended up crying through most of the film. Especially touching are the part where Orlando dies, and the end when Mai draws the diagram in the ruins. While dark and disturbing, the film provokes thoughts and emotions that modern films fail to touch. Like one reviewer mentioned it's a true classic fairytale. Not a Utopian fairytale we're used to in United states, but a true dark fantasy. The score is wonderful and adds on to the overall mood of the film. While the whole film is dark and gloomy, the end is very beautiful and hopeful.At the time I first saw it, I just became a sister. So for me, at the time the plot and the story were particularly real and threatening. I wouldn't let my baby brother out of my sight after seeing the film. I could understand what Martha was feeling when she lost her brother, and the end of the film provoked thoughts on what I would feel if my brother grew up to be an individual I wouldn't be proud of. Even with all the fantasy involved, the film is really easy to connect to.

Galina I have not seen this wonderful movie for almost twenty years but my dear friend sent me last night the links to some scenes that feature the soaring score by incomparable Alfred Schnitke and watching them for over and over took me back in time to the world that has gone but always stays with me - the world of memory. I was surprised how well I remember "Skazka Stranstviy". I even remember how I watched it for the first time in the Moscow Theater, and how unusual, dark, scary, philosophical yet uplifting it was. Its look reminds the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Hieronymus Bosch at their gloomiest and grimmest. Its spirit is not always optimistic or suited for young children but Tale of the Voyages is dramatic, intense, even tragic but always poetic, moving, and spiritual - not unlike Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the voyages, "The Snow Queen". "Skazka Stranstviy" is the story of a young brave girl Martha and her search for the lost little brother Mai who possessed a gift (or a curse) of finding the buried treasures and who was kidnapped by the villains many years ago. On her long search, Martha becomes friends with a poet, visionary, and genius inventor Orlando, and together they would visit many dangerous places and encounter disasters and miracles including plague, betrayal, fears, loyalty, courage, flying, and death... It's been said a lot about Alfred Schnitke's truly breathtaking score which makes you want to fly so high that not even the "highest-flying birds of memory" and regrets could reach you. I read from the other reviews that that this skazka is not a regular fairy tale - it depends on what we call a fairy tale. If you think of them, fairy tales, the unabridged versions of them are often scary, graphic, disturbing, violent, bloody, gory, and fascinating. Brothers Grimm's, Hans Christian Anderson's, Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, myths and legends of ancient Greece - there are elements of pure horror and tragedy in these fairly tales. "Skazka Stranstviy" reminds more of these classics rather than their Disney's adaptations, and that makes it unforgettable watching (and sound) experience that the viewers remember many years after they saw it and want to compare their impressions as adults with those from their childhood. Andrei Mironov (Orlando) proved once again what huge talent he possessed and how much he could've done had he not died untimely at the age of 46 in 1987.

sherri_bailey9 One reviewer said that you won't want to watch this film twice, because it is so dark. And she was right. Ironically, over the summers of '83-84, this movie was shown CONSTANTLY at my camp, which was located in New York for all Soviet kids. I guess because we had so few Soviet films in our library. And yes, the scene with the "chuma" -- plague -- I had to watch, through my fingers -- more than once. This movie was so horrifyingly scary for a child, so dark and unbelievable that I would have rather watched "Hellraiser" at that age. No joke. Yes, the special effects are silly, but they're beside the point. From the scene in which Marta's brother is kidnapped (absolutely chilling) to the journey through the dark plague-ridden land (really, beyond words) and many other scenes, the film never ever lets you off the hook. There are some light moments, but darkness is never far behind. The plot, however, makes sense, psychedelic as it is. It is like a fantasy realism. I haven't seen it in its entirety since I was a kid, and I wonder if I should just leave it that way...

Tatiana Manouk A good movie but certainly not suitable for children. Some episodes can give nightmares even to a grown-up. More of that, though "The Story of the Voyages" is sort of a magic tale, it has some complicated psychological themes in it that only an adult can comprehend. It's a weird movie to say the least, filled with strange images that seem to have come from a hallucination of some kind. But it's still very, very good. The acting in this movie is superb. Andrey Mironov playing Orlando is one of the best Soviet actors, that's all one needs to say. And Tatiana Aksiyuta is very touching and believable as Martha, the girl in search for her little brother. The atmosphere is dark, haunting and heartbreaking, filled with hope that shines through despair.I can think only of one movie that "The Story of the Voyages" resembles me: "The Labyrinth" with David Bowie. They are alike in some ways, I think. Probably because of the dark and bizarre atmosphere and psychological implication. But "The Story of the Voyages" is much, much more grim and dark. This movie is unique, so it's worth watching at least for that. Though you probably wouldn't want to re-watch it for a long time after.