Nice effects though.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

An BAFTA nominated documentary tells the crowd-pleasing story of a 13-year-old Kazakh girl Aisholpan who contends for becoming an eagle hunter (reckoned as a man's vocation) through the help of her hunter father Rys Nurgaiv. Narrated by Daisy Ridley, the film opens with the grandiose landscape of Altai Mountains with a prefatory ceremony of releasing an eagle to its natural habitat after serving a seven-year training stint (a ritual abided by all the eagle hunters in the light of their reverence to the nature and the species), then dwells on the central story in the chronological order, while glancing through Aisholpan's school life and her family's nomad traditions. Once Aisholpan expresses her wish to become an eagle huntress herself, to follow the family's hallowed heredity, it is worth noting that her parents' wholesome espousal is not because there is no male heir in the household to carry on the torch, she is the eldest child of three (two girls, one boy), so remarkably, it is purely derived from love and support without any hidden agendas, as her mother comments, a girl should have her own right to choose what she wants to do. After a perilous outing near a mountainside cliff to nab her own eaglet. Aisholpan is officially geared up to become a real eagle huntress under Rys' training and her grandfather's blessing (although the training process feels a shade under-presented).Meanwhile, first-time director Otto Bell doesn't intend to set the bar of obstacles too high, barring for the discontent from some senior male eagle hunters addressing bromides, there is no hindrance in Aisholpan entering the region's annual Golden Eagle festival as the first female and youngest participant, and without too much pains, she snatches the first place in front of the awe-struck audience and fellow contestants. When the fanfare settles, the real challenge transpires as Aisholpan and Rys embark on a fox-hunting journey in the wintry terrains of slippery frozen rivers and knee-deep snows, which will ultimately qualify her as a bona-fide eagle huntress, the film aptly brings down its curtain after Aisholpan's golden eagle conquers its first prey in tandem with Sia's infectious closing-credits song ANGEL BY THE WINGS. Undeniably, this smoothly orchestrated tale somewhat runs to betray its staged M.O. of re-enacting Aisholpan's victorious trajectory than recording these events in real-life synchronicity, but bearing in mind the daunting task to capture he stupendous eagle-swooping momentum, one might find this compromise unavoidable. Be that as it may, THE EAGLE HUNTRESS is a massively appealing ethnic reportage even its leitmotif appears pretty generic, but on the other hand, viewers should be glad the filmmakers haven't elevated their subject onto the stratosphere of progressive feminism, to accommodating a more westernized taste, which does speak volumes of their integrity to preserve Aisholpan and her family's unalloyed affinity with the awe-inspiring nature and tradition, to whom, that is what really matters.

When you see a footage of someone struggling alone against nature, don't you always wonder... is the person holding the camera also in danger? Why can't they help each other? Watching this film I had the same confusion i have with all the reality TV shows. Was it (1) a spontaneous shooting with the actors doing real life and just trying to ignore the massive presence of a movie crew. Or (2) was it just a theatrical reenactment of things that had happened in recent past? Or was it (3) pure acting based on a script? The creator of a documentary had always the power of montage, but when you get to decide how people will live and talk in real live is another level of deception. The suspicion of this deception destroys the true content of the artwork and you are left with just travel advertising no matter how beautiful and inspiring it looks.

If it plays anywhere near you, I recommend seeing "The Eagle Huntress"; a true life adventure of a 13-year old nomadic girl from Mongolia who becomes the first recognized female to train a 15-pound eagle to hunt with her on horseback. It's a wonderful movie of a family living and surviving in a barren and forbidding land. Yet the photography is beautiful and the aerial shots using a drone were spectacular. In our ultra-connected world, it is easy to forget that there are people existing meagerly in the world as they have for generations and at the very edge of modernity. This movie was assisted by the Sundance Institute and exec produced by the noted documentarian, Morgan Spurlock, and the actress, Daisy Ridley, among others. It should be mentioned that only by the support by the viewing public that wonderful films like this will continue to be made.

"It's not a choice, it's a calling that has to be in your blood." Aisholpan's father, Nurgaiv.Rarely does a documentary tell it like it is; manipulative docs sometimes embellish with contrived conflicts or outrageously obvious re-creations. The Eagle Huntress needs no phony clashes or extensive re-enactments, for its hero is 13 year old Aisholpan, from Asia's Altai Mountains, the first female Kazakh in twelve generations to be a bona fide eagle huntress.The Eagle Huntress is so beautifully shot you'd almost book passage to visit this isolated world in Mongolia by the China border. Director Otto Bell said, "It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there." The air and sky are clear like we in the city have never seen, and the nomadic tribe that gives us Aisolpan is so loving and innocent as to make us wonder what our modern technology has taken from us.I guess I am most impressed that the modern notion of female empowerment is played without histrionics among elders who question her fitness as a woman to compete in the annual Golden Eagle Festival. Aisholpan is the perfect model for early teen film goers: fresh faced, wide smiled, and ready for challenges. Director Otto Bell lets the male power gently give in to the age of feminism without acting like stupid old guys.The Eagle Huntress works not just as a tract supporting the new woman but also as a treatise on simple, authentic life style where what one does trumps what one says. By the way, she's a perfect role model because she lacks the self-absorbed qualities of today's female heroes.It's beautiful and uplifting in the most honest way a doc can be.