MovieChat Forums > Mongolian Death Worm (2010) Discussion > As an Ameriacn who used to live in Mongo...

As an Ameriacn who used to live in Mongolia, I must say ...

posted 13 years ago by lh574
6 replies | jump to latest

... that this has to be the MOST inaccurate depiction of Mongolia EVER committed to celluloid. EVER.

I know, the main point is the death worm, not Mongolia. But still ...

Therea re only TWO things they got right (a brief mention of "tugriks," the currency of Mongolia, and in the background were a few gers, or "yurts," which is the traditional Mongolian countryside home). But these were "blink and you'll miss them" references.

I was in the Peace Corps and I lived in a ger ("yurt"). I was the only non-Mongolian in my tiny village about 2 hours from Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, and I taught English and HIV/AIDS awareness. I now live in Texas, and the funny thing is this film was made in Texas, and I swear I recognize a few places.

NONE of this film was shot in Mongolia. NONE of it. Mongolians do not drive regular pick-up trucks with the word "Sheriff" in English on the side. I didn't see the Cryllic alphabet anywhere, actually, in this film! Mongolian policemen do not wear cowboy hats, and use perfect English. Their English is mostly very poor ... hence the reason I and Peace Corps intervened. And their hospitals aren't shacks. Yes, they're 3rd World, and their buildings (mostly built by Russian architects) are delapidated and shoddy, but not THIS bad!!!

I was sooooo excited to see this, but words cannot describe how disappointed it left me. I could go on and on and on and on, but you get the picture.

[–] Tess-tastic 13 years ago

We watched the film last night, and (being from the UK) were trying to work out what part of America it was, cos it sure as hell wssn't Mongolia! The summary says the plant is in the "vast deserts", hmmm, I don't remember seeing a single grain of sand. And the roads!

We were VERY impressed that police cars in such a backwards part of the world would have "Police" on the side in ENGLISH, rather than in Mongolian or Chinese.

Still, it was a good laugh, as most crappy Syfy films are.

[–] lh574 13 years ago

EXACTLY, tess-26! ha ha :)

I miss Mongolia. I miss the hospitality of those people, I miss my Mongolian friends, and my American friends that were also there in the Peace Corps.

Mongolians are the most wonderful people I have met in all the countries I have been to and lived in so far. I think that's why this crappy inaccurate representation made me so angry.

[–] enhbat 13 years ago

Thank you lh574, I'm mongolian and just watched this crap yesterday. There were nothing right about Mongolia in this movie. Makers of this movie really should have google about Mongolia, at least.

[–] CorumJI 13 years ago

Folks, apparently this was a SyFy "original"

That means it was shot out of the back of a panel truck with rented equipment and written by a wannabe that can't get a SWG card, using a budget of four figures.

What's amazing is that they could actually afford aging-but-still-attractive "c" grade eye-candy actress Victoria Prat(not a slam on *you*, Victoria, if you ever read this).

More accurately --
Frankly, you're lucky they could SPELL "Mongolian" right:

======================================================
BEWARE THE
Manjolyan//// Mungolyan///// Mingoliun//// Mangolyun/////

Mongolyan Death Wrom!!!
======================================================

LOLZ.

[–] Archnenna 9 years ago

Do their villages fight over goats?

[–] Wuchak (8116) 6 years ago

The central Texas prairie (where the film was shot) BASICALLY looks the same as the remote Mongolian steppes, which is all we see in the movie, along with a W.H.O. wilderness "hospital" (basically a shelter), no villages or cities. True, you usually see vast mountains in the distance in Mongolia, but not always; thus the Texas prairie is an acceptable stand-in for the Mongolian steppes.

Besides, filmmakers use substitute locations all the time to save money. For instance, "Tobruk" (1967) takes place in Libya in Northern Africa, but was shot in the deserts of Arizona and California (!).

Moreover, the cast in "Mongolian Death Worm" is entirely Asian beyond the handful of American characters, so what's the problem?

As for the police vehicle with “POLICE” written in English, that’s the way it is in Mongolia due to the fact that, although the main language is Mongolian, English has been gradually replacing Russian as the second language. Google "Mongolian police vehicle" and see for yourself.