A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is just that and almost nothing more: a slapstick for uneducated people; who when watching a movie do not want to or do not like to bother their minds with things like plot, plausibility of events or laws of physics. If in reality nobody acts the way those various characters act and objects do not work the way that is shown on the screen, then it is no problem for those kind of viewers. And it should be no problem for others as well, because it is suppose to be an adventure fantasy comedy (with elements of musical), that even has a kind of a proper disclaimer at the beginning. But the problem is, that this picture is simply not funny. With an exception of one laugh and 2 or 3 smiles, this comedy is just boring, predictable and annoyingThe only thing of value in it are the shots of high quality, in their entirety: lighting, sets, special effects; all those technical and visual aspects of the film. They not only stood the test of time in comparison to many other movies of that era. Moreover, for a film made in the Eastern Bloc, its quality is simply amazing when compared to other movie productions of economically struggling communist countries. (Although some part of this comes probably out from restoration process for the digital release)And having pointed that out, it is no wonder that this movie is what it is- a sweet pill for the masses brutalized by a communist system. And it is not like this is "a stupid piece of cinematic feces", just because "it was made in the 70's in the USSR". Hollywood was making back then and still is making the same kind of unfunny comedic garbage for simpletons, just like the Russians did with this movie, but only without Benny-Hill-like running around (which Ivan Vasilevich is abundant of). Probably there are even more much worst "comedies" made in USA per decade now, than there were made thorough the entire Soviet period of Russian cinematography

This film is not only very funny, but also the product of a deep knowledge and love of classic Russian cinema. Some cadres are clearly inspired by Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible, part I (Ivan Vasilevich looking from the window, Ivan Vasilevich sitting with the scribe) and their presence in the comedy context (in a world turned upside-down, as Bachtin would have it) is the silver bullet that provides laughter and delight to the intellectual as well as to the unsophisticated viewer, who may be content with recognizing on the apartment's wall a reproduction of Repin's "Ivan Grozny killing his own son". Building on this, Gaidai displays his own masterly craft: he can make you laugh with just one word (Tsar Ivan looking at contemporary Moscow - devastated by modern buildings - and bursting out "Beauty!"). Great acting by everyone, Miloslavski (Leonid Kuravliov) being my personal favourite.

All the humor in the movie was original at the time, and still is, but I guess not to everyone, especially residents of the US who are used to perverted humor and such. I find it silly how a non Russian speaking person could rate this movie at all... This movie is purely made for Russia and all the former USSR countries, and most of the Russian population have all seen it and love it! A lot of phrases in the movie are commonly used everywhere in Russia to this day, and will be used for at least another century. This film made Russian history. I love it too!

This film is the classics for those who speak Russian. Many of the charachter's sayings passed into a proverb and are widely used in informal talk. But to enjoy the language one should have a notion about old-Slavic language. As for the comment about the thief looking as a porn star and the probability that the producer intended this - it is absolutely impossible.Soviet cimetography never used pornographic details, besides Soviet viewer din't see any porno films until maybe late 80s and there were nothing to hint to in 1973 (!). In this respect, the soviet viewer was absolutely innocent and naive.