jrob0914 Every not and then even in these times of made up stuff and the same actors playing many parts there comes a real story with real people. An absolutely beautiful movie that brought tears to my eyes from the first scene. This movie makes Falcon hunting look like a baby sport. Some of the greatest animals in the world the Eagles used to hunt in Mongolia. A tradition going back centuries that is for men only. And a young girl comes up and proves she is as good as the men. A progressive society in Mongolia that perhaps many other countries should mimic. The music by Sia I will never forget and the moral I will try to remember forever. Take heart, let your senses soar and enjoy this great movie.

popcorninhell Since The Eagle Huntress is a documentary, I will do it the courtesy of getting directly to the point. The movie is stunning. It's beautifully shot, incredibly rendered and a substantial storytelling treat. It's the rare documentary that takes its admittedly small subject matter, a girl and her pet eagle, and capitalizes on the rich opportunities therein. Furthermore, if you took out Daisy Ridley's narration, and the side interviews that hammer home the fact that you're watching a girl power film in the best possible sense, you'd swear this film was a narrative feature.The Eagle Huntress is the moniker of the young Aisholpan Nurgaiv; a 13-year-old girl who sheds tradition to take part in a sport exclusively for the males of her culture. For more than twelve generations, Aisholpan's ancestors used eagles to compete in falconry competitions, hunt for foxes and gain a form of status among the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian steppes. Tribal leaders and fellow Eagle Hunters of course, balk at the idea of Aisholpan's inclusion. But with the help of her supportive father (an accomplished Eagle Hunter in his own rite), Aisholpan tirelessly goes through the training to become the first female Eagle Huntress in history.Part of her journey includes taking part in the Golden Eagle Festival in Mongolia, where Aisholpan and her eaglet compete in a myriad of events to determine the best of the best. Whether on purpose or a happy accident, the camera fastidiously captures every event with careful and visceral consideration. The blithe and even hostile looks people give our hero as she trots her horse towards the sign-in booth, gives the audience so much to invest in. The cherry on top is Aisholpan's newly minted hair pompoms which hang on her braids like an announcement of the changing winds.Tucked in-between the festival and Aisholpan's first foray into winter time fox hunting are exquisite depictions of everyday nomadic life on the perilous steppe. Aisholpan and her young siblings play along the borders of their parents yert as the austere mountains threaten to envelope their livelihood. You get a sense both of the dangers of living in such inhospitable lands, and the allure of such a quaint and insulated existence among grass, rock and pebbled riverbeds. Though the majesty and the quiet dignity, there looms an omnipresent reality; these tribal groups have been living like this since before Napoleon, Charles II and the founding of the United States and will continue to do so far into the future.If there is one drawback to a documentary this beautiful inside and out, it comes out of the blurring of reality and staged reality. Director Otto Bell has made it clear in interviews that parts of the film are edited out of chronological order in order to belabor its feminist message. Furthermore, if you're hyper-aware of the camera and its placement it's impossible not to conclude several shots were not candid shots. While I understand why these things were included, and while I agree that they don't necessarily break the tenuous rules of documentary film making, they hardly seem necessary given the subject.And my what a multifaceted subject Aisholpan proves to be. Her steadfast love for her family, her spirit in the face of adversity and her uncompromising zeal for the sport she loves so very much, is enough to rank among the best coming-of-age stories. She's impossible not to root for - and I guarantee by the end, you'll love her for it.

poindexter_mellon I was disappointed. The plot was super thin and there was barely any character development. I'm sure she was a great kid and all, but I didn't feel I knew her in the slightest when the movie suddenly ended. Didn't really care all that much about her struggles. And yeah, was the whole thing staged or what? Like a recreation? A fabrication? I'm just not sure.Seriously, I wanted to see an uplifting movie where a determined little girl torches some guys in a competition and teaches them that Girls Kick Ass So Get Outta The Way!!! But the competition was sort of lame. Then they go chase a scrawny fox. Then it's over.The scenery was majestic. Mongolia is a sweet place with a bright future. This movie doesn't do it justice. But it looks like I'm the only one who feels this way, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Or else the other reviewers are involved in some type of Freemason conspiracy. You be the judge.

Jep_Gambardella Are we supposed to believe that a foreign documentary crew just started to follow this girl and her family around before there was anything at all remarkable about her, and that by luck they stumbled upon the one girl who would become an eagle huntress? Or that her father, upon realising that his daughter was going to break new ground in the hunting-with-eagles culture, got in touch with a foreign filmmaker to propose that as a subject for a documentary film? The explanation that makes the most sense for the existence of this film is that the documentarist learned about the girl AFTER she had already become a huntress and then decided to make a film about her, recreating for the screen her past experiences. So everything that we see is probably fake. If it is fake, how do I know that I can believe any of it? Did she (an inexperienced 13-year old with a young eagle) really get first place in that tournament against older and far more experienced men and birds? Was that a real eagle nest that she found with her father? Did she really go down to the nest to capture her eaglet? There is footage that can only come from a GoPro camera attached to her head, but in the long shots we don't see such a camera. Again, it must have been staged, so how do I believe it?