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.

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

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.

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.