document_title: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

question_text: who played the witch in hansel and gretel

text: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

text: Plot[edit]

text: Abandoned by their father deep in a forest, young Hansel and Gretel enter a gingerbread house and are captured by a cannibalistic witch. The witch forces Hansel to continuously eat candy to fatten him up, and enslaves Gretel by ordering her to prepare the oven. The siblings outsmart her and incinerate her in the fire of the oven. In the fifteen years that follow, Hansel and Gretel become famed witch hunters, slaying hundreds of witches. The pair find that they are somehow immune to spells and curses, but the incident in the gingerbread house has left Hansel diabetic. He needs a shot of insulin every few hours or he will get sick and die.[N 1]

text: Becoming witch hunters as adults, Hansel and Gretel arrive in the town of Augsburg and immediately prevent Sheriff Berringer from executing a young woman named Mina for witchcraft. Mayor Englemann tells the crowd that he has hired the siblings to rescue several children presumed abducted by witches. Berringer hires trackers for the same mission in the hopes of disgracing the mayor and cementing his power. All but one of the sheriff's party are killed that night by the powerful grand witch Muriel, who sends one man back to the town tavern as a warning to the locals. Hansel and Gretel, along with the Mayor's deputy Jackson, capture the horned witch and interrogate her. They discover that the witches are preparing for the coming Blood Moon, where they plan to sacrifice twelve children in order to gain an immunity to fire.

text: Muriel, accompanied by her witches and a troll named Edward, attack the town and abduct the final child. Muriel kills Jackson and launches Gretel out a window, rendering her unconscious. Gretel is rescued by Ben, a local teenager who is a fan of theirs and plans to be a witch hunter himself. Hansel grabs onto a fleeing witch by her broomstick, but falls and is lost in the forest.

text: The next morning, Mina finds Hansel hanging from a tree. She takes him to a nearby spring where she heals his wounds and makes love to him. Gretel searches for Hansel in the forest, but is attacked by Sheriff Berringer and his posse. The men capture and beat Gretel before being stopped by Edward who kills the sheriff and his men. Edward tends Gretel's wounds and tells her that he helped her because trolls serve witches. Hansel and Gretel reunite at an abandoned cabin which they discover is both a witch's lair and their childhood home. Muriel appears in front of them, telling them the truth of their past. She reveals that Hansel and Gretel's mother was a grand white witch named Adrianna who married a farmer. On the night of the last Blood Moon, Muriel planned to use the heart of the white witch to complete her potion. She found Adrianna too powerful and decided to use Gretel's heart instead. To get rid of Adrianna, Muriel revealed to the townspeople that Adrianna was a witch. The resulting angry mob burned her alive and hanged Hansel and Gretel's father. Following this revelation, the siblings battle Muriel before she stabs Hansel and abducts Gretel for the ceremony.

text: Hansel wakes up with Mina, who reveals herself to be a white witch. She heals his wounds again and uses a grimoire to bless Hansel's arsenal of weapons. Hansel, Mina, and Ben head out to disrupt the Blood Moon Sabbath. Mina begins slaughtering dark witches with a Gatling gun, while Hansel squares off against Muriel's witches and frees the children. Edward defies Muriel's orders and releases Gretel before Muriel throws him off the cliff. Muriel flees on a broomstick, but Ben manages to shoot her and forces her to crash. Hansel goes after Muriel while Gretel stops to revive Edward. Hansel, Ben, and Mina follow Muriel's trail to the original gingerbread house. Muriel wounds Ben and kills Mina before Hansel shoots her several times, knocking her into the house. Gretel arrives and the pair engage Muriel in a brutal fight that ends with Gretel decapitating her with a shovel. They burn Muriel's body on a pyre and collect their reward for rescuing the children. They head out on their next witch hunt accompanied by Ben and Edward.

text: During the credits, Hansel and Gretel are able to slay a Desert Witch.

text: Extended cut[edit]

text: Aside from additional profanity, gore, and sexual content, and a few extra lines, the extended version features a few extra scenes.[6] In one scene, Berringer blames the Mayor for the witches' attack and murders him in public. The scene where Berringer and his goons assault Gretel is also extended; it occurs in between the scene where Mina heals Hansel and has sex with him, and shows that the men plan to rape Gretel right before Edward kills them.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Jeremy Renner as Hansel, the brother of Gretel and a witch hunter who takes insulin following an incident at a witch's gingerbread house.

Cedric Eich as young Hansel

Gemma Arterton as Gretel, the sister of Hansel and a witch hunter.

Alea Sophia Boudodimos as young Gretel

Famke Janssen as Muriel, an evil grand witch.
Pihla Viitala as Mina, a white witch who befriends Hansel and Gretel.
Thomas Mann as Benjamin "Ben" Walser, a teenage fan of Hansel and Gretel.
Derek Mears as Edward (in-suit performer), a troll that is in the services of Muriel.

Robin Atkin Downes as Edward (voice)

Peter Stormare as Sheriff Berringer, the power-hungry and brutal sheriff of Augsburg who does not trust Hansel and Gretel.
Ingrid Bolsø Berdal as Horned Witch, a member of Muriel's personal coven with a lot of horns on her head.
Joanna Kulig as Red-Haired Witch, a red-haired member of Muriel's personal coven.
Bjørn Sundquist as Jackson, Mayor Engleman's deputy.
Rainer Bock as Mayor Englemann, the Mayor of Augsburg who hires Hansel and Gretel.
Thomas Scharff as Hansel and Gretel's father, an unnamed farmer.
Kathrin Kühnel as Adrianna, the grand white witch who was Hansel and Gretel's mother.
Zoë Bell as Tall Witch, a witch who is captured by Hansel and Gretel.
Monique Ganderton as Candy Witch, the old witch who lived in the gingerbread house.
Stephanie Corneliussen as Desert Witch (uncredited), a witch with sand-based abilities.

text: Production[edit]

text: Wirkola got the idea to create a film based on the adult lives of Hansel and Gretel in 2007 while at film school in Australia. After being discovered by Gary Sanchez Productions, Wirkola pitched the idea at a meeting with Paramount Pictures and won a contract. Production began in March 2011 at the Babelsberg Studios in Germany and included extensive use of traditional special effects. In addition, Renner and Arterton had a month of training beforehand to prepare for the physical demands of their roles. In terms of the weapons and wardrobe, Wirkola wanted an old-world look with a modern touch, and he was adamant about filming outdoors in European nature rather than in a studio. The project was filmed in Germany and featured an international cast and crew.

text: Development[edit]

text:
"Blood and gore and action, all the stuff that I love...It's definitely an R-rated movie, the first draft has a lot of blood and guts. First and foremost, it's an action movie, I think, with horror elements. And of course some dark humor as well. But the action and horror are the most important feelings I want."[7]

–Tommy Wirkola (writer/director) in 2009

text: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is the first English language film and the first big studio production of Norwegian writer and director Wirkola, up to this point best known for his 2009 Nazi zombie-themed, independent horror comedy film Dead Snow. Wirkola said he was contacted by producer Kevin Messick from Gary Sanchez Productions after the screening of Dead Snow at the Sundance Film Festival: "So my first meeting, my first day in LA was with those guys and I pitched Hansel and Gretel and they loved it. And they took me to Paramount two days after and we sold it."[8] In 2013, Wirkola commented, "I’m still surprised that they went for it, because it’s a crazy, rock n’ roll script. It’s full throttle, there’s lots of blood and gore and bad language, I often wonder how I got this movie made. It’s all across the world now. But people really seem to respond to it, which is what we hoped, that people would enjoy this ride."[9]

text: An announcement of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters sparked a production of several other "Hansel and Gretel"-based films made by different studios, including The Asylum's mockbuster Hansel & Gretel,[10] Syfy's Witchslayer Gretl,[11] and Lionsgate Home Entertainment's Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft.[12] The film was also a part of an overall Hollywood trend of witch-themed films, among them Beautiful Creatures (which also stars Thomas Mann) and Oz the Great and Powerful, set to be released that same season.[13][14] The project was given a budget of $50 million,[15] co-financed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[16]

text: Concept and design[edit]

text:
"I loved fairy tales growing up. I used to listen to them on tapes and "Hansel & Gretel" scared the hell out of me and it always stayed in the back of my head. I always wondered what happened to those characters."[17]

–Tommy Wirkola in 2013

text: Wirkola said, "I have a strong memory from my childhood of just how dark and gruesome their tale was and I wondered what would have happened to the two of them when they grew up? They had this dark past and this intense hatred of witches. So as I thought about it, it made sense to me that of course they would be fated to become great witch hunters. We wanted it to feel like this could be happening 300 years ago but at the same time, there is a modern spin on all the action, characters and weaponry. It was a fun way to make a classical world feel fresh."[18] Wirkola said that he originally came with that idea in 2007 while studying film and television at Bond University in Australia, when he wanted to make it as just a short film,[5] and that the film school director Simon Hunter advised him: "Tom, don't ever speak of the idea again until you are in front of a Hollywood producer and I guarantee you will sell it."[19]

text: Gary Sanchez Productions' Adam McKay said in 2010, "The idea is, they've grown up and they hunt witches. It’s a hybrid sort of old-timey feeling, yet there’s pump-action shotguns. Modern technology but in an old style. We heard it and we were just like, ‘That’s a freakin' franchise! You could make three of those!'"[20] Dante Harper was hired to rewrite the script, aimed for "having a gory-but-funny Shaun of the Dead vibe."[21] McKay said inspirations included Sam Raimi's early horror comedy films like Army of Darkness but also "John Carpenter's movies, which we all love [and] we're all hugely influenced by the first Matrix—obviously a really big one—also the Bourne Supremacy movies and the way Oliver Wood shot those. You kind of throw in all those, mix 'em up in a pot and that's what you get."[22] Wirkola also credited Quentin Tarantino for influencing him "in many ways"[23] and singled out Peter Jackson's Braindead for having been "a game-changer" for him.[9]

text:
"It's got kind of like a steampunk vibe mixed with a little bit of a goth edge and hyper-cartoon violence like Kick-Ass and all set in a very specific world...It's like a Sam Raimi-type horror movie, like Evil Dead II."[24]

–Adam McKay (co-producer) in 2010

text: Messick said they designed "a fairy tale, mythological fantasy world" that feels like it happened long time ago but is not set in any particular time period.[25] Marlene Stewart created the film's costumes, using traditional leather and linen but without an antique look. Its steampunk-like, retro-futuristic weapons were created by the weapon designer Simon Boucherie and Wirkola, who said they wanted Hansel and Gretel's weapons to look as if the characters hand-made them.[18] Wirkola stated he "just wanted this crazy, mashed-up world where you can’t pinpoint where it is, or when it is" and the modern elements are there to "add to the fun and tone of the film."[5] He said, "We wanted the movie to feel timeless and for the movie to feel like a fairy tale, but still grounded. It was a lot of fun coming up with the different weapon designs and ways of killing witches. We mixed old and new elements. But no matter how modern some of the weapons are, they all have an old-fashioned feel and look like they could fit into this world."[9]

text: The Stone Circle witches' looks were designed by Twilight Creations (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows).[18] According to McKay, "the witches are awesome in it. Nasty, mean witches, and we'll get some great actresses for them as well."[24] Wirkola said he wanted to reinvent witches as villains: "I do love Witches of Eastwick. We wanted to try to avoid the classical witch with the long nose stirring the pot. I really wanted them to be...dangerous, fast – they’re stronger than Hansel and Gretel...It’s a good basis for a villain."[8] He recalled that "the most fun was finding their look and sound. For the main witches, we found one animal to represent all of them, like Muriel is a wolf. It just helped us find the witches. In some ways, it feels like they're the spawn of the dark places of nature. It should feel animalistic."[26] Asked if he was worried about "this perception that it might be interpreted as sexist", Wirkola said, "For me, that’s a classical villain from hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Yeah, I never worried about that, to be honest."[5] He added, "People forget how truly dark and twisted those stories are. [The original "Hansel & Gretel"] talks about a witch burning alive in an oven, screaming and scratching."[9] Ulrich Zeidler's concept art for some of the witches was released on the Internet.[27]

text: Casting and characters[edit]

text: Jeremy Renner, who played the film's adult Hansel, has stated that his initial attraction came from a one sheet he was given even before seeing the script, showing Hansel and Gretel walking away and a witch burning at a stake in the background, which he found "incredibly interesting"[28] (this scene was included in the finished film). He added, "When I read the script, my first thought was, 'I can’t believe this hasn’t been done yet.' It’s such a great idea with so much potential. That dynamic was definitely a big thing, I loved that what Tommy [Wirkola] wrote left so much room for character."[28] Wirkola said he wanted Renner in the role after seeing him in The Hurt Locker.[29] Wirkola, who described Hansel as the "loose cannon" of the duo,[30] gave him an additional character flaw of diabetes, in addition to the psychological scars that Hansel shares with his sister (in the original idea for the short film, Gretel was also suffering from eating disorder[5]).[31] Renner said it was a great escape for him "as this was a fairytale with no stress like the other action movies I'd done recently. I was having so much fun hanging on a wire like Peter Pan, hanging onto a broom and doing other crazy stuff."[32] He stated, "That was one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had because there’s something magical about that old world, fantasy thing."[33]

text:
"There's a lot of fairy tale stuff, but that fight is really real and bloody and quite brutal. Women are the villains a lot of the time. Not all the time. There are some horrible male villains as well. But I guess Gretel is very feminist. She's quite full on."[13]

–Gemma Arterton (Gretel in the film)

text: The role of adult Gretel, whom Wirkola wanted to be "a really, really strong and fun female character,"[5] was originally planned for Noomi Rapace, who dropped out of consideration for the part prior to early January 2011.[34] Diane Kruger and Eva Green were reported to also be in talks for the role.[35] English actress Gemma Arterton was ultimately cast in the role. She impressed Wirkola with her performance in The Disappearance of Alice Creed,[30] and, after they have met, with her "really filthy sense of humour" as "the humour is essential to this film."[9] Arterton said she was attracted to Wirkola's "strong vision" for the film,[13] calling it "very, very dark, and bloodthirsty and there’s a lot of cursing. It’s kind of got a Tarantino feel, really." Arterton described her character as "much more in tune with her spiritual side. Hansel is a typical action hero, cheeky, funny, a womanizer. She’s much more of a thinker, intense, internal and bit more open-minded than he is." She said that Gretel is "a sexual character but she's not having sex with anybody, which is a change for me because usually in my films I'm sleeping with somebody!"[32] She further explained the characters: "Hansel & Gretel have this unstoppable bond but they’re also so different from each other. She’s the brains of the operation. He’s the brawn. He’s the joker and the show-off. She’s more the watcher, the researcher, the one who tries to really understand witchcraft."[36] Arterton added, "Jeremy [Renner] and I found within the script moments where we showed the vulnerable side of them. Often in action movies, people are scared to put that in. I think it was important."[37] She said that she "loved every minute" of the production and did not want it to end, also crediting it for helping her overcome her fear of getting hurt.[38]

text: The role of the chief witch Muriel,[39] described by Arterton as "the queen bee of witches",[40] was given to Dutch actress Famke Janssen.[41][42] Janssen too described the film as "Tarantino-esque", with "a lot of blood, gore and exploding witches."[43] Wirkola said he had a crush on Janssen since he saw her in GoldenEye as Xenia Onatopp, "an amazing villain,"[44] and that in his opinion her being not only a good actress but also a beautiful woman who is "huge" and "menacing somehow" made her "a perfect combination" of "sexy and dangerous".[26][45] Janssen said that at first the initial appeal was just money, but she quickly took a liking of the script and of Wirkola personally.[43] She also thought the idea of playing an "evil to the core" witch "was appealing and different", saying, "I hadn't done anything like it…A character like a witch feels like you would have so much freedom, because there are no restrictions as to what you can do."[13] Later, however, she was constantly being distracted by the special effects work and felt that she "really understood the character" only in one part of the film.[43] She found the time-consuming process of applying such makeup (taking three hours to apply and one hour to remove[46]) "very strange" and also felt restricted and afraid of acting over-the-top in her witch role. In the end, she still had "a lot of fun" playing someone who is completely evil,[47] and felt that it was "so empowering"[48] to have "an inner witch to get in touch with once in a while."[49] Janssen said the film might appeal to women and girls, too: "There's a brother and a sister story. And there's a romance in it too - but obviously not with the witch. Nobody falls in love with the witch."[13]

text: Edward, a morally conflicted troll enslaved by Muriel,[50] was voiced by Robin Atkin Downes and played by Derek Mears (Jason Voorhees in 2009's Friday the 13th).[51] Mears was using an elaborate animatronic suit that he compared to "kind of like NASCAR where I’m piloting it but I'm not doing it by myself...I think there’s like five guys controlling the individual parts of the character. There’s one person who does the eye brows, one person does the feet."[52] Janssen, who could not "say enough things about Tommy [Wirkola]", said she was especially impressed at how he stuck to his specific vision and "fought" hard to hire a number of unknown European actors that would otherwise be unlikely to appear in a big studio American film,[53] in effect making it a much more international production.[48]

text: Several Scandinavian actors were cast in major roles, including Pihla Viitala, Peter Stormare (who Arterton said had actually inspired her to start acting[54]),[55] Bjørn Sundquist, and Ingrid Bolsø Berdal.[56] In addition, actors from Germany and Poland (including Thomas Mann, Rainer Bock, and Joanna Kulig) and other parts of the world were also cast. Viitala, a self-described "big fan" of Renner, said she was nervous at first, but found him "extremely" easy to approach, made a good connection, and enjoyed working with him.[57] Wirkola said Berdal was chosen for her "piercing" eyes, adding: "There are a lot of Norwegians in the film. Minor parts, but I knew I could get great actors in small parts and Ingrid has a great physicality."[26] Stormare said he was only surprised at "how smart Tom [Wirkola] is, and how broad this fantasy is and the span of his imagination," his favourite aspect being how "some of the witches are so sexy and cool."[58] He compared the film's production to being in Disneyland, saying it felt like a dream to him.[38]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Wirkola said, "From day one, I was very clear that I wanted to shoot this thing in Europe. I really wanted that European feel of cold mountains, big forests, that sort of spirit was important to me. Luckily we did get to shoot it in Germany which is the homeland of the fairy tale. Shooting in natural outdoor sets is very important to me, compared to working on a sound stage."[9] It took place in Germany, at the Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam-Babelsberg, in a filming location at an old forest near Berlin (production designer Stephen Scott said that he searched for and found what he believed looked like a "medieval forest" free of human interference[59]) and in the city of Braunschweig in Lower Saxony.[60][61][62] After the film was delayed to 2013, the crew did a "couple" of re-shoots, including "a little bit" in the deserts of California (filming the post-ending scene, an extended version of which was also released in a promotional clip "The Desert Witch").[63][64]

text: Principal photography began in March 2011, using digital cinematography. Wirkola said, "Hopefully – you can see what I’m inspired by: Raimi and Jackson. Actually I’m a big fan of [Steven] Spielberg and the way he shoots action scenes. I think in a lot of modern action movies, it’s hard to see what’s going on. Shaky cam… Hopefully what we strived for was to go a little retro in how you shoot action scenes."[8] The film was shot in 3-D[65][66] and its real 3D shots were done by lead stereographer Florian Maier and his team from Stereotec.[67] Wirkola said: "We shot half of it in real 3D and the other half was post converted. Actually the 3D thing wasn’t there in the beginning. It was something the studio suggested later on. We embraced it and I think it actually really helps in getting people into this fairy tale world."[8] The filming process took three months.[46] A 12-minute B-roll footage was later released on the Internet.[68]

text: Stunt coordinator and second unit director David Leitch compared it to a "Jackie Chan hybrid of comedy and action."[36] Prior to the filming, Leitch organized a month-long boot camp in order to prepare Renner and Arterton (who said she was also glad that at least she could use her prior training that she received while studying at RADA) with extensive weapons, fight and stunt training.[32] Janssen said she enjoyed "flying", something that she always wanted to do, adding that despite her reputation as an action star it was the first film where she really had to do something physical (including suffering a minor accident on the set[69]),[70] because she could not use a double in the close-up scenes where she had the makeup on.[71] During one of the scenes, where Gretel is thrown through a wall and falls down several meters, a stunt double for Arterton was dangerously injured when a nail got lodged in her skull close to the brain; Arterton said she initially wanted to do this stunt herself but Wirkola would not let her.[72] Arterton herself suffered an injury when she sprained her ankle while running through the forest.[32] Stunts for the more aggressive witches were done by New Zealander stuntwoman and actress Zoë Bell.[73] Renner did practically all of his stunt scenes himself.[30][71]

text: Visual effects and post-production[edit]

text:
"Most of it is all practical, even the witches flying on the brooms – it was pretty much all practical. They were all on wires, it was awesome! There’s a scene [where] I come down around and literally there’s 60 witches there. The rock structure was maybe 70 or 50 feet tall, it was massive, and I’d be shooting these witches and they’d just be flying off on wires."[28]

–Jeremy Renner (Hansel in the film)

text: The film's visual effects were created using mostly practical effects, supplemented by computer-generated imagery (CGI) created by Hammerhead VFX[73] for about 15% of the film's special effects, such as the transformations.[64][74] Wirkola said: "I’m a big believer in just using CGI to polish what you get on camera. For me that’s the ideal use of CGI. We have a troll in the film that is animatronic. I loved him. It took some convincing to get the studio along with the animatronic creature. There have been bad experiences with animatronics throughout various productions but I saw this company Spectral Motion. They did the Hellboy movies and I just loved it."[8] Wirkola added: "I come from Norway where we can’t afford CGI. But this is a fantastical world of witches and trolls and I wanted to ground the movie where I could. The blood should look real."[17] Janssen, however, despite Wirkola's warnings, "was not entirely prepared for how involved and long that was going to be" and "actually wanted to burn the prosthetic make-up by the end of the movie."[13] She recalled being "so overwhelmed by what this prosthetic business was all about", saying: "Acting has been so specific for me and what I've learned - eyes, facial expressions, all of that stuff - and with something like this, you're robbed of all of this. Or I could no [longer] rely on things I've done in the past. It was different and frustrating at times because I had this circus of people around me in case something became unglued."[75] Muriel and the other principal witches were prepared by Mike Elizalde's Spectral Motion, who also created and handled the animatronic troll.[76] Jon Farhat was the visual effects supervisor and aerial second unit director.[77]

text: Conceptual design and production studio Picture Mill collaborated with Wirkola and Messick to create the title and opening credits sequence telling some of the early adventures of Hansel and Gretel as they grew up to become famous witch hunters. It was created with Stereo3D Toolbox through a combination of hand-drawn illustrations, practical fire effects and CGI animation.[78] The digital color correction was supervised by Stefan Sonnenfeld.[79]

text:
"Dead Snow is my love letter to [Sam] Raimi and this is kind of its own thing. In the beginning, they said go crazy. But if you go too far with the humor, it becomes spoofy and loses its impact. Too gory and it just takes you out of it."[26]

–Tommy Wirkola in 2013

text: Janssen said the film is "definitely played with a bit of a wink and doesn't take itself too seriously."[13] Wirkola himself described it as "a little more grounded" and action-centered than Dead Snow.[26] He recalled that he has tried to downplay comedy elements: "If you go too far, it can turn into a spoof almost...We shot a lot more than what is in the movie of course and it’s just balancing it when you’re cutting."[8] Speaking of graphic violence, he said that "the first version we tested was for sure the most extreme. Some stuff stayed in, some stuff got cut out."[8] By August 2012, Paramount was reportedly test screening two versions of the film, rated R and PG-13, and the R-rated cut received the positive feedback.[80] Wirkola said, "I was afraid. I actually made sure they could never cut it to PG-13...We always knew it was going to be R."[8] McKay said that Paramount's Adam Goodman "was perceptive enough to see the same thing and got behind it as well."[22] Wirkola said, "The pre-production and shooting went very smooth, but the post-production was very new to me and how they do things here with testing and the studio."[26] He said about the test screenings in particular: "I can see why they do it – there’s a lot of money involved and they want it to hit as broad as possible. But I think it’s a flawed process, I really do."[9] McKay said that Paramount executives might nevertheless regret the film's R rating.[81]

text: Music[edit]

text: Hans Zimmer worked on Witch Hunters as an executive music producer.[82] Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson (co-author of Zimmer's score for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) created the film score. Örvarsson had previously scored Season of the Witch so initially he was "a bit apprehensive" to work on another witchcraft film but was "too fond of the story to say no and found Tommy Wirkola's take on the subject matter to be very refreshing."[83] Örvarsson found it easier to collaborate with Wirkola due to their shared Nordic heritage and said that their discussions about the music for the film "might have had some of the most cold and dark humor of any Hollywood music meetings."[83]

text: The film's soundtrack, Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters - Music from the Motion Picture, was released in MP3 format by Paramount Music on January 22, 2013.[84][85] A physical soundtrack album was released on January 29, 2013 from La-La Land Records.[86] The song "Bundy" by Norwegian rock band Animal Alpha is used during the film's end credits, but is not included on the film's soundtrack.

text:
Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters - Music from the Motion Picture

Soundtrack album by Atli Örvarsson

Released
January 22, 2013 (digital), January 29, 2013 (physical)

Genre
Orchestral, electronic, choir

Label
Paramount Music, La-La Land Records

text: Track listing[edit]

text:
[show]Track listing

No.
Title
Length

1.
"The Witch Hunters"
2:29

2.
"Business Is Good"
2:11

3.
"Trolls Serve Witches"
3:33

4.
"Lost Children Crying, Vol. 2"
2:33

5.
"You Do the Bleeding"
3:34

6.
"There Are Good Witches in the World"
4:11

7.
"This Place Could Use a Bit of Color"
4:17

8.
"Goodbye Muriel"
3:21

9.
"Don't Eat the Candy"
3:48

10.
"Burn 'Em All"
5:03

11.
"White Magic"
1:52

12.
"Shoot Anything That Moves"
3:29

13.
"The Fairy Tale"
2:53

14.
"Augsburg Burns"
4:20

text: Distribution[edit]

text: Theatrical release[edit]

text: Initially slated for a March 2, 2012 release,[16] the film was pushed by Paramount Pictures to a ten-month delay for January 11, 2013.[88] Co-producer Kevin Messick later said: "We’d finished it but we were still discussing adding a coda scene, which we were able to shoot. And there was always the consideration that Jeremy [Renner] had Avengers and Bourne coming out. So the studio made a wise strategic move in finding a good release date for us."[17] Wirkola said that "the main reason is because they wanted to wait on Jeremy. He was cast before Mission: Impossible, Bourne and The Avengers. They wanted to wait until after those. I was, of course, disappointed then, but actually it helped because we came in under budget" and so the delay enabled him to re-add and shoot an additional scene that is set in the desert and which was cut from his original screenplay.[26] The first trailer for the film was released on September 5, 2012.[89]

text: The film was again delayed by two weeks to January 25, 2013 in the United States and Canada. A statement from Paramount suggested that the film was delayed to enable it to be released in IMAX 3D format.[90] In early January 2013, illegal copies of the film were discovered in a major anti-piracy bust.[91] Prior to its North American premiere, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters was first released in Russia on January 17, followed by the releases in Indonesia and the Philippines on January 23, and in several nations across Latin America and South-East Asia on January 24. On the same day (January 25) it was also released in more countries of Latin America, with the other parts of the world following between January 31 and mid-March 2013.[92] The film was also released in the motion effects theaters using 4DX[93] and D-Box motion enhancement technologies.[94] In Mexico, it was the first feature film to be shown in Cinemex's new X4D Motion EFX theater format, provided by MediaMation.[95][96]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The "extreme version" home release was announced by Wirkola to feature more comedy and "more guts and blood and gore, stuff that didn't make the [theatrical] cut."[5][9][17][23] Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters was released by Paramount Home Media Distribution on June 11 in its original theatrical cut and a longer, unrated cut "with never-before-seen footage that was too intense for theaters". It is available in the versions: either a double Blu-ray edition (the 1080p AVC video and the 6-channel Dolby TrueHD audio) or a triple Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD limited edition, both coming with an UltraViolet digital copy and three behind-the-scenes special features: "Reinventing Hansel & Gretel" (15:41m), "The Witching Hours" (9:01m) and "Meet Edward the Troll" (5:25m).[97] In addition, just the theatrical cut of the film will be made available on a single DVD.[98][99] The unrated version is 10 minutes longer (98 minutes long).[100]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Los Angeles Times predicted the film would become a "box-office bull's-eye, with pre-release audience surveys indicating an expected $30 million for the opening weekend in the United States.[15] One week prior to the U.S. release, the film opened to a "huge" $8.6 million in Russia (the all-time 50th best opening in Russia/CIS[101]), which made its international prospects look good, according to Yahoo! News.[102] Entertainment Weekly predicted the film would "likely top the chart in its debut weekend" with $17 million;[103] similarly, MovieWeb predicted $17.5 million.[104] Paramount said they counted on $20 million.[105] Speaking on January 31, Wirkola claimed the film had so far "opened in 19 territories and went to number one in 18 of them."[17] The U.S. initial midnight screening at selected theaters made an estimated $500,000, a "so-so result".[102] The film took the top position on its first day's screening at 3,373 locations across the country, earning an estimated $6 million and suggesting a three-day total of $15–17 million, according to various estimates.[105][106][107]

text: The film topped the weekend's North American box office with $19 million, the first day's under performance blamed on bad weather on the U.S. East Coast. In addition, it earned $25 million in several other territories where it had already been released (representing about 40% of the international market).[108][109][110] However, it held well during its box office run, dropping only 52% in its second weekend and 39% in its third and fourth.[111] On March 19, Reuters reported that while the film "was no blockbuster in the United States", it was much better received in other countries for a $205.9 million total haul to date, including $24.1 million in Brazil, $19 million in Russia, $14 million in Mexico and $12.8 million in Germany.[112] The film's theatrical run ended on April 25, with a total gross of $225.7 million including $55.7 million domestically.[4]

text: Overall, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters was Paramount's fourth highest-grossing film of 2013, following new graphic novel and franchise entries: World War Z, Star Trek Into Darkness, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, respectively.[113] It is estimated that, following published production costs, marketing and advertising fees, and the percentage of overseas revenue that was lost by the domestic studio, similar fantasy reboots such as Snow White and the Huntsman, Mirror, Mirror, Jack the Giant Slayer, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and I, Frankenstein fail to match the total studio winnings for Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, which makes it one of the most financially successful films of the fantasy-reboot genre, despite having the smallest estimated budget and lowest Metascore of the recent entries.[4]

text: Critical response[edit]

text:
"If the very title has you rolling your eyes, don’t even bother. If, however, it makes you think you’d like to see the further adventures of the fairy tale characters, by all means take a chance."[114]

–Daniel M. Kimmel

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 130 reviews with an average rating of 4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Alternately bloody and silly, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters fails as both a fantasy adventure and as a parody of same."[115] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 21 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[116] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[117]

text: Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote "this convoluted hybrid of fairy tale and fantasy/action/comedy/horror aims for campy fun, but comes off tedious and blood-spattered."[118] Andrew Barker of Variety called the film "inconsistently acted, and somehow both underwritten and overplotted," and while the action is "frequent and competently staged," it might feel too repetitive "as yet another witch is ripped apart limb from limb, sending yet another wave of viscera sluicing toward the camera."[119] Similarly, Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post wrote that "after a while it’s easy to become numb to the repulsive sights and bored by action that once seemed intense and exciting" in this "rarely funny spoof that’s heavy on bone-crushing and blood-gushing," giving it one-and-half star out of four.[120] Steven Farber of The Hollywood Reporter also wrote a scathing review, saying that while "Wirkola makes the most of the 3D technology", "the film is too fanciful to be truly revolting" for its gore effects and "despite its few wry jokes, the script is awfully thin."[121] Roger Moore of The Charlotte Observer gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, writing that Wirkola "focuses on the fights and flings all manner of viscera at the 3-D camera as limbs are whacked off and heads and torsos explode. Less attention was paid to the story, and the dialogue is a tad over-reliant on the random f-word to land a laugh."[122] Lou Lumenick of the New York Post gave the film zero out of four stars, writing that "nothing makes a whole lot of sense in this incoherent movie, whose director’s philosophy seems to be: When in doubt, cut somebody’s head off."[123] Kat Murphy of MSN gave it one star out of four, comparing this "big-budget faux fairy tale about skanky witches" to a "downscale video game for dull-eyed teens happy to lap up lame wisecracks and lots of gore."[124] According to Vulture's Bilge Ebiri, "if the similarly situated Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter took itself too seriously, the problem with Hansel & Gretel is that it doesn’t quite take itself seriously enough."[125] Keith Staskiewicz of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C-, calling it "an intermittently fun, but overexcited and predictable mish-mash."[126] Alicia Malone of IGN rated it a 4.5/10, stating "there are a few funny moments, but overall Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is too similar to many films we’ve seen before."[127] Calum Marsh of Slant Magazine lambasted the film's "sub-Tim Burton aesthetic" and wrote that "the result suggests A Knight's Tale as penned by Seth MacFarlane," giving it zero out of four stars.[128] Scott A. Gray of Exclaim! praised some elements of the film, such as "lush and colourful art design that recalls a Guillermo Del Toro production, sound creature makeup and special effects, decently choreographed action scenes and a pair of leads who do their damnedest to sell the limp script", giving it a score of 4/10.[129] Chris Knight of The Vancouver Sun called it a "mess of a fairy tale", expecting "a wiccan outcry at the film’s depiction — nay, endorsement — of the torture of witch-folk."[130] Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail gave it one star out of four, concerned how it "has an alarming number of females being strung up, burned, shot, decapitated and eviscerated."[131]

text: Some reception of the film, however, was much more positive, in particular by reviewers for horror outlets. Michael Gingold of Fangoria gave it two-and-half out of four skulls,[132] while Jonathan Barkan of Bloody Disgusting gave it four out of five skulls, stating it "isn’t a movie meant to scare or make you think but it is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable movies of its kind that I’ve seen in years."[133] Scott Weinberg of FEARnet wrote that "aside from some very clunky editorial missteps in the film's second half, there's a good deal of wit, enthusiasm, energy, and amusing attitude to be found in the dumb-yet-self-aware Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters," all while noting that he is "not the type to act snobbish around a ridiculous film that obviously knows it's ridiculous."[134] According to Ryan Larson of Shock Till You Drop, the film "is a mixed bag" but "fortunately, the lows don’t appear as often as you would think," and, "if taken at face value, Hansel & Gretel is well worth the view."[135] William Bibbiani of CraveOnline, who criticized the film's inadequately "limp" marketing campaign, found the movie itself "inherently stupid" but in a good way, "played with humor, ultraviolence and anachronistic fetish."[136] Cinema Blend's Sean O'Connell stated that the film is "often mean and nasty, but that's really its saving grace."[137] Peter Paras of E! recommended this "super violent, pretty funny flick" for how it "revels in the mayhem".[138] Tom Russo of The Boston Globe, giving the film three out of five stars, called it a "splattery fanboy fun. Preposterous, clearly, but fun."[139] Jonathon Natsis of Filmink wrote: "Hansel and Gretel is not a 'film'. It's a 'movie', in all its unabashed, excitable glory...big on blood-soaked entertainment and low on pretension."[140] Rick Florino of Artistdirect gave it four out of five stars, stating: "This has all the elements of a classic action flick, and it's destined for cult status. Welcome to the most fun movie of 2013."[141] DVD Talk's Jamie S. Rich summed up: "Is Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters a good movie? Probably not. At least not in any way that is defensible by regular critical standards. Is it a hell of a good time? Absolutely so. Unabashedly so. That's all it wants to be."[142]

text:
"This Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters may [be] the only [one]; and, if so, no big whoop. But the good witches and the bad ones will linger in moviegoers’ memories. And we’ll always have Edward."[143]

–Richard Corliss

text: Neil Geinzlinger of The New York Times wrote that "it may not stay in the public eye long because this movie is probably not going to put up Twilight-like numbers," adding that "the script doesn't give them enough of the witty lines that can elevate these types of movies to must-see status, which is odd, since the producers include Will Ferrell."[144] Vince Horiuchi of The Salt Lake Tribune suggested that this film should have been made 30 years ago by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell, while instead "the Hansel and Gretel we’re left with runs out of its magic potion far too early to let us enjoy its wicked possibilities."[145] A more positive comparison to Raimi and Campbell's Army of Darkness was made by Pete Vonder Haar of the Houston Press, who gave it three out of five "witch hazels" and wrote: "I'm not sure if witches are the next vampires/zombies, or if the hinted-at franchise potential has any legs, but this was a perfectly vulgar way to spend 90 minutes."[146] Tim Grierson of Screen International wrote that Hansel and Gretel "works best as an unapologetic B-movie action flick" and "feels like a first film in a franchise that’s meant to set up the main characters and conflicts, which can then be fleshed out in sequels" but "the problem is that there isn't enough here to warrant a return trip to this semi-magical land."[147] Richard Corliss of TIME agreed with this sentiment, stating that "one might be enough — too much, for some tastes."[143]

text: Cult status[edit]

text: At the conclusion of 2013, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters made multiple annual movie lists dedicated to underappreciated or underrated films.[148][149] Movies.com opined it "is, hands down, the most underappreciated film of the year…'Proper' filmmaking or not, if you've got me cheering at the screening, grinning big and then walking out with a little extra adrenaline, you’ve done something right."[150] Ryan Doom from JoBlo.com wrote that "while usually that’s the thing I mock, [Hansel & Gretel] somehow ended up pretty damn enjoyable…Why not? It never takes itself serious and it knows exactly what it is: a silly film that isn't afraid to do what the hell it wants."[151] Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters has hence been labeled as a cult film by a number of horror-fantasy film fans, as well as by some critics who initially saw no merit in the movie. This significant financial and fan following have led some to question the initial perception of the film in relation to its debut in January, considered to be "a refuge for films that don't have a shot of generating good word of mouth or having a leggy run."[152] While Renner's box office draw and the film's "well-articulated premise" have been listed as major factors behind its theatrical success, its ability to maintain a lasting fan following has also been attributed to its original concept, excellent gore and action sequences, Renner's and Arterton's tongue-in-cheek performances, and the film's ability to not take itself too seriously.[4][153][154][155] The film was nominated for the 40th People's Choice Awards in the category Favorite Horror Movie, but lost to Carrie.

text: Accolades[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text:
Year
Award
Category
Nominated
Result

2014
People's Choice Awards
Favorite Horror Movie
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
Nominated

text: Sequel[edit]

text: On March 19, 2013, Paramount announced that a sequel to the film is in the works due to overseas box office numbers. Hansel & Gretel producers Ferrell, McKay, Messick, and Flynn were reported to return.[112][156] In June 2013, McKay officially confirmed his involvement and said that "everyone feels like as good as the first one is, we can really jack it up a level with the second one. So, fingers crossed everyone will come back" (including Renner and Arterton).[22] McKay suggested that Paramount might insist harder to make the film rated PG-13 this time.[81] Talking about Wirkola's "pretty insane" ideas for the second film, McKay said this could be one of those instances where the sequel does go further than the first one."[157] Regarding the storyline, he offered one hint: "Think of different kinds of witchcraft."[22] It was revealed that the sequel will have a 2016 release date.[158]

text: In September 2014, Wirkola announced that he would not be returning to direct the sequel: “I have been lately attached to a few more things, it’s just a matter of time and priorities. I did Dead Snow, then Hansel & Gretel, and then Dead Snow 2. I want to do something a little bit different now and not just do sequels. I did write the script and I hope to be involved in it. But yeah, I won’t be directing it.”[159] He said "the first film was a learning curve for me working in the studio system and the script I wrote for the original was so different [than the final movie]. We ended up taking a lot out and altering stuff that first time. I tried taking what I learned and still delivered a sequel script that’s an R-rated action film."[160] Cinema Blend reported Renner said that despite his busy schedule he agreed to reprise the role of Hansel because the first film "was a lot of fun doing the movie," but without Wirkola directing again he might be less likely to return for the sequel.[161]

text: On August 7, 2015, it was reported that Bruno Aveillan will make his feature film debut helming the sequel, with Wirkola as a writer and executive producer.[162]

text: Television adaptation[edit]

text: Deadline reports that Paramount is planning a Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters TV series. It is possible that this series may ultimately be produced in place of the proposed sequel.[163]


document_title: Raging Waters

question_text: when did raging waters san dimas first open

root

text: Raging Waters

text: Raging Waters San Jose[edit]

text: The Raging Waters San Jose amusement park is located in Lake Cunningham Park in East San Jose, adjacent to Capitol Expressway, Eastridge Mall, Eastridge Transit Center and Reid-Hillview Airport.

tag: p

text: Raging Waters Sacramento[edit]

text: Raging Waters Sacramento water park is located at Cal Expo and was formerly known as Six Flags Waterworld.

text: Raging Waters Los Angeles[edit]

text: Raging Waters opened June 18, 1983, located in Los Angeles Los Angeles County in the city of San Dimas, near SR 57 between Interstate 10 and Interstate 210. Park officials described it as California's largest water park in 2011.[2]

text: The park was formerly known as "Raging Waters San Dimas", but as of 2016, official media was using the name "Raging Waters Los Angeles" for this location.[3]

text: Attractions[edit]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text:
San Dimas Raging Waters is featured on Baywatch in season 1 episode 15 "Muddy Waters".
San Dimas Raging Waters is featured as a fictional water park called Waterloo in the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
The 1991 Nickelodeon kids' game show Wild and Crazy Kids featured an episode shot entirely within the park.
Raging Waters is mentioned in the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Raging Waters is mentioned in the 1994 film Little Big League, although it takes place in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Raging Waters is always mentioned in The Steve Harvey Show (1996–2002) as being visited by the main characters, although the show takes place in Chicago, Illinois.[citation needed]
Raging Waters is mentioned in the 2006 film How to Eat Fried Worms, where Woody mentions to Billy that he "threw up at Raging Waters and they had to drain the whole pool".
The San Dimas park was used in the production of the 2007 film Norbit. As Rasputia slides down the a slide, she overshoots the base and ends up splashing out all of the water from a nearby pool.
Raging Waters is mentioned in the 2008 film Drillbit Taylor, by one of the candidates for the boys' bodyguard.
The San Dimas park was the setting of the music video for Justin Bieber's 2012 song "Beauty and a Beat".
The San Dimas park is referred to in the episodes "Josh and I Go to Los Angeles" and "When Do I Get to Spend Time with Josh?" of the series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015–present).
It was the setting for the S12E02 episode of "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia "[5] Bird and Max both go down the vortex, with High extreme and Tiki Head from Splash Island Adventure

tag: ul


document_title: Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia

question_text: . in 1219 which mongol king attacked trans oxania

text: Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia

text: Origins of the conflict[edit]

text: After the defeat of the Kara-Khitans, Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire gained a border with the Khwarezmid Empire, governed by Shah Ala ad-Din Muhammad. The Shah had only recently taken some of the territory under his control, and he was also busy with a dispute with the caliph in Baghdad, An-Nasir. The Shah had refused to make the obligatory homage to the caliph as titular leader of Islam, and demanded recognition as Shah of his empire, without any of the usual bribes or pretenses. This alone had created problems for him along his southern border. It was at this junction the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire made contact.[4] Mongol historians are adamant that the great khan at that time had no intention of invading the Khwarezmid Empire, and was only interested in trade and even a potential alliance.[5]

text: The Shah was very suspicious of Genghis' desire for a trade agreement, and messages from the Shah's ambassador at Zhongdu (Beijing) in China described the exaggerated savagery of the Mongols when they assaulted the city during their war with the Jin Dynasty.[6] Of further interest is that the caliph of Baghdad had attempted to instigate a war between the Mongols and the Shah some years before the Mongol invasion actually occurred. This attempt at an alliance with Genghis was made because of a dispute between Nasir and the Shah, but the Khan had no interest in alliance with any ruler who claimed ultimate authority, titular or not, and which marked the Caliphate for an extinction which would come from Genghis' grandson, Hulegu. At the time, this attempt by the Caliph involved the Shah's ongoing claim to be named sultan of Khwarezm, something that Nasir had no wish to grant, as the Shah refused to acknowledge his authority, however illusory such authority was. However, it is known that Genghis rejected the notion of war as he was engaged in war with the Jin Dynasty and was gaining much wealth from trading with the Khwarezmid Empire.[citation needed]

text: Genghis then sent a 500-man caravan of Muslims to establish official trade ties with Khwarezmia. However Inalchuq, the governor of the Khwarezmian city of Otrar, had the members of the caravan that came from Mongolia arrested, claiming that the caravan was a conspiracy against Khwarezmia. It seems unlikely, however, that any members of the trade delegation were spies. Nor does it seem likely that Genghis was trying to initiate a conflict with the Khwarezmid Empire with the caravan, considering he was making steady progress against a faltering Jin empire in northern China at that very moment.[5]

text: Genghis Khan then sent a second group of three ambassadors (one Muslim and two Mongols) to meet the shah himself and demand the caravan at Otrar be set free and the governor be handed over for punishment. The shah had both of the Mongols shaved and had the Muslim beheaded before sending them back to Genghis Khan. Muhammad also ordered the personnel of the caravan to be executed. This was seen as a grave affront to the Khan himself, who considered ambassadors "as sacred and inviolable."[7] This led Genghis Khan to attack the Khwarezmian Dynasty. The Mongols crossed the Tian Shan mountains, coming into the Shah's empire in 1219.[8]

text: Planning and Dispositions[edit]

text: After compiling information from many intelligence sources, primarily from spies along the Silk Road, Genghis Khan carefully prepared his army, which was organized differently from his earlier campaigns.[9] The changes had come in adding supporting units to his dreaded cavalry, both heavy and light. While still relying on the traditional advantages of his mobile nomadic cavalry, Genghis incorporated many aspects of warfare from China, particularly in siege warfare. His baggage train included such siege equipment as battering rams, gunpowder, and enormous siege bows capable of throwing 20-foot arrows into siege works. Also, the Mongol intelligence network was formidable. The Mongols never invaded an opponent whose military and economic will and ability to resist had not been thoroughly and completely scouted. For instance, Subutai and Batu Khan spent a year scouting central Europe, before destroying the armies of Hungary and Poland in two separate battles, two days apart.[10]

text: The estimates for the sizes of the opposing armies are often in dispute. All contemporary Muslim historians claim that the Mongol army was larger, with several chroniclers providing the figures of 400,000 for the Shah (spread across the whole empire) and 600,000–700,000 for the Khan. 800,000 for Genghis was also thrown around, though with less frequency. Modern historians still debate to what degree these numbers reflected reality. David Morgan and Denis Sinor, among others, doubt the numbers are true in either absolute or relative terms, while John Mason Smith sees the numbers as accurate as for both armies. Sinor uses the figure of 400,000 for the Khwarezmians, but puts the Mongol force at 105,000–150,000. Near-contemporary sources, such as Rashid Al-Din, state that the Mongols had 105,000 soldiers total (in the whole empire, not just on a campaign) in 1206, and 129,000 in 1227.[11]

text: Carl Sverdrup, using a variety of sources and estimation methods, gives the number of 75,000 for the Mongol army. Sverdrup also estimates the Khwarezmian army at 40,000, 1/10 of the contemporary 400,000 figure, and states that all contemporary sources are in agreement that, if nothing else, the Mongol army was the larger of the two. He states that he came to 40,000 by first calculating the size of the Mongol army based on their historical records, and then assuming the Kwharezmian army was exaggerated by the chroniclers to about the same magnitude as the Mongol one.[12] McLynn also says that 400,000 is a massive exaggeration, but considers 200,000 to be closer to the truth, and supports a Mongol army size of over 100,000.[13] Genghis brought along his most able generals, besides Muqali to aid him. Genghis also brought a large body of foreigners with him, primarily of Chinese origin. These foreigners were siege experts, bridge-building experts, doctors and a variety of specialty soldiers.

text: During the invasion of Transoxania in 1219, along with the main Mongol force, Genghis Khan used a Chinese specialist catapult unit in battle; they were used again in 1220 in Transoxania. The Chinese may have used the catapults to hurl gunpowder bombs, since they already had them by this time.[14] While Genghis Khan was conquering Transoxania and Persia, several Chinese who were familiar with gunpowder were serving with Genghis's army.[15] Historians have suggested that the Mongol invasion had brought Chinese gunpowder weapons to Central Asia. One of these was the huochong, a Chinese mortar.[16]

text: In this invasion, the Khan first demonstrated the use of indirect attack that would become a hallmark of his later campaigns, and those of his sons and grandsons. The Khan divided his armies, and sent one force solely to find and execute the Shah – so that a ruler of an Empire as large as that of the Khan's, with a larger army, was forced to run for his life in his own country.[4] The divided Mongol forces destroyed the Shah's forces piecemeal, and began the utter devastation of the country which would mark many of their later conquests.

text: The Shah's army, numbering anywhere from 40,000 to 200,000 (mostly city garrisons), was split among the various major cities, with his elite cavalry stationed near Samarkand as a reserve force. The empire had just recently conquered much of its territory, and the Shah was fearful that his army, if placed in one large unit under a single command structure, might possibly be turned against him. Furthermore, the Shah's reports from China indicated that the Mongols were not experts in siege warfare, and experienced problems when attempting to take fortified positions. The Shah's decisions on troop deployment would prove disastrous as the campaign unfolded, as the Mongol speed, surprise, and enduring initiative prevented the Shah from effectively maneuvering his forces.

text: Initial invasion[edit]

text: Though they technically bordered each other, the Mongol and Khwarezm Empires touched far away from the homeland of each nation. In between them was a series of treacherous mountain ranges that the invader would have to cross. This aspect is often overlooked in this campaign, yet it was a critical reason why the Mongols were able to create a dominating position. The Khwarezm Shah and his advisers assumed that the Mongols would invade through the Dzungarian Gate, the natural mountain pass in between their (now conquered) Khara-Khitai and Khwarezm Empires. One option for the Khwarezm defense was to advance beyond the towns of the Syr Darya and block the Dzungarian Gate with an army, since it would take Genghis many months to gather his army in Mongolia and advance through the pass after winter had passed. The Khwarezm decision makers believed they would have time to further refine their strategy, but the Khan had struck first.[17]

text: Immediately when war was declared, Genghis sent orders for a force already out to the west to immediately cross the Tien Shan mountains to the south and ravage the fertile Ferghana Valley in the eastern part of the Khwarezm Empire. This smaller detachment, no more than 20-30,000 men, was led by Genghis's son Jochi and his elite general Jebe. The Tien Shan mountain passes were much more treacherous than the Dzungarian Gate, and to make it worse, they attempted the crossing in the middle of winter with 5+ feet of snow. Though the Mongols suffered losses and were exhausted from the crossing, their presence in the Ferghana Valley stunned the Khwarezm leadership and permanently stole the initiative away. This march can be described as the Central Asian equivalent of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, with the same devastating effects. Because the Shah did not know if this Mongol army was a diversion or their main army, he had to protect one of his most fertile regions with force. Therefore, the Shah dispatched his elite 50,000 man cavalry reserve, which prevented him from effectively marching anywhere else with his main army. Jebe and Jochi seem to have kept their army in good shape while plundering the valley, and they avoided defeat by a much superior force. At this point the Mongols split up and again maneuvered over the mountains: Jebe marched further south deeper into Khwarezm territory, while Jochi took most of the force northwest to attack the exposed cities on the Syr Darya from the east.[18]

text: Meanwhile, another Mongol force under Chagatai and Ogedei descended from either the Altai Mountains to the north or the Dzungarian Gate and immediately started laying siege to the border city of Otrar. Genghis, who had marched through the Altai mountains, kept his main force further back near the mountain ranges, and stayed out of contact. Frank McLynn convincingly argues that this disposition can only be explained as Genghis laying a trap for the Shah. Were the Shah to march his army up from Samarkand to attack the besiegers of Otrar, Genghis could then rapidly encircle the Shah's army from the rear. However, the Shah dodged the trap, and Genghis had to change plans.[19] In the fall of 1219, after besieging Otrar for five months, the prince's forces managed to storm the main part of the city by entering a sally port gate that was not secured.[20] A further month went by before the citadel at Otrar was taken. Inalchuq held out until the end, even climbing to the top of the citadel in the last moments of the siege to throw down tiles at the oncoming Mongols. Genghis killed many of the inhabitants, enslaved the rest, and executed Inalchuq.[21]

text: Sieges of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Urgench[edit]

text: At this point, the Mongol army was divided into five widely separated groups on opposite ends of the enemy Empire. After the Shah did not mount an active defense of the cities on the Syr Darya, Genghis and Tolui, at the head of an army of roughly 50,000 men, skirted the natural defense barrier of the Syr Darya and its fortified cities, and went westwards to lay siege to the city of Bukhara first. To do this, they traversed 300 miles of the seemingly impassable Kyzyl Kum desert by hopping through the various oases, guided most of the way by captured nomads. The Mongols arrived at the gates of Bukhara virtually unnoticed. Many military tacticians regard this surprise entrance to Bukhara as one of the most successful maneuvers in warfare.[22] Whatever Mohammed II was intending to do, Genghis's maneuver across his rear completely stole away his initiative and prevented him from carrying out any possible plans. The Khwarezm army could only slowly react to the lightning fast Mongol maneuvers.

text: Bukhara was not heavily fortified, with a moat and a single wall, and the citadel typical of Khwarezmi cities. The Bukharan garrison was made up of Turkish soldiers and led by Turkish generals, who attempted to break out on the third day of the siege. The break-out force, of perhaps 20,000 men, was annihilated in open battle. The city leaders opened the gates to the Mongols, though a unit of Turkish defenders held the city's citadel for another twelve days. Survivors from the citadel were executed, artisans and craftsmen were sent back to Mongolia, young men who had not fought were drafted into the Mongolian army and the rest of the population was sent into slavery. As the Mongol soldiers looted the city, a fire broke out, razing most of the city to the ground.[20] Genghis Khan had the people assemble in the main mosque of the town, where he declared that he was the flail of God, sent to punish them for their sins.[citation needed]

text: After the fall of Bukhara, Genghis headed to the Khwarezmian capital of Samarkand and arrived in March 1220. During this period, the Mongols also waged effective psychological warfare and caused divisions within their foe. The Khan's spies told him of the bitter fighting between the Shah and his mother, who commanded the allegiance of some of his most senior commanders and his elite Turkish cavalry divisions. Since Mongols and Turks are both steppe peoples, Genghis argued that Tertun Khatun and her army should join the Mongols against her treacherous son. Meanwhile, he arranged for deserters to bring letters that said Tertun Khatun and some of her generals had allied with the Mongols. This further inflamed the existing divisions in the Khwarezm Empire, and probably prevented the senior commanders from unifying their forces. Genghis then compounded the damage by repeatedly issuing bogus decrees in the name of either Tertun Khatun or Shah Mohammed, further tangling up the already divided Khwarezm command structure.[23] As a result of the Mongol strategic initiative, speedy maneuvers, and psychological strategies, all the Khwarezm generals, including the Queen Mother, kept their forces as a garrison and were defeated in turn.

text: Samarkand possessed significantly better fortifications and as many as 100,000 men defending it. As Genghis began his siege, his sons Chaghatai and Ögedei joined him after finishing the reduction of Otrar, and the joint Mongol forces launched an assault on the city. The Mongols attacked using prisoners as body shields. On the third day of fighting, the Samarkand garrison launched a counterattack. Feigning retreat, Genghis drew a garrison force of 50,000 outside the fortifications of Samarkand and slaughtered them in open combat. Shah Muhammad attempted to relieve the city twice, but was driven back. On the fifth day, all but an approximate 2,000 soldiers surrendered. The remaining soldiers, die-hard supporters of the Shah, held out in the citadel. After the fortress fell, Genghis reneged on his surrender terms and executed every soldier that had taken arms against him at Samarkand. The people of Samarkand were ordered to evacuate and assemble in a plain outside the city, where many were killed.[24]

text: About the time of the fall of Samarkand, Genghis Khan charged Subutai and Jebe, two of the Khan's top generals, with hunting down the Shah. The Shah had fled west with some of his most loyal soldiers and his son, Jalal al-Din, to a small island in the Caspian Sea. It was there, in December 1220, that the Shah died. Most scholars attribute his death to pneumonia, but others cite the sudden shock of the loss of his empire.[citation needed]

text: Meanwhile, the wealthy trading city of Urgench was still in the hands of Khwarezmian forces. Previously, the Shah's mother had ruled Urgench, but she fled when she learned her son had absconded to the Caspian Sea. She was captured and sent to Mongolia. Khumar Tegin, one of Muhammad's generals, declared himself Sultan of Urgench. Jochi, who had been on campaign in the north since the invasion, approached the city from that direction, while Genghis, Ögedei, and Chaghatai attacked from the south.

text: The assault on Urgench proved to be the most difficult battle of the Mongol invasion. The city was built along the river Amu Darya in a marshy delta area. The soft ground did not lend itself to siege warfare, and there was a lack of large stones for the catapults. The Mongols attacked regardless, and the city fell only after the defenders put up a stout defense, fighting block for block. Mongolian casualties were higher than normal, due to the unaccustomed difficulty of adapting Mongolian tactics to city fighting.

text: The taking of Urgench was further complicated by continuing tensions between the Khan and his eldest son, Jochi, who had been promised the city as his prize. Jochi's mother was the same as his three brothers': Genghis Khan's teen bride, and apparent lifelong love, Borte. Only her sons were counted as Genghis's "official" sons and successors, rather than those conceived by the Khan's 500 or so other "wives and consorts." But Jochi had been conceived in controversy; in the early days of the Khan's rise to power, Borte was captured and raped while she was held prisoner. Jochi was born nine months later. While Genghis Khan chose to acknowledge him as his oldest son (primarily due to his love for Borte, whom he would have had to reject had he rejected her child), questions had always existed over Jochi's true parentage.[25]

text: Such tensions were present as Jochi engaged in negotiations with the defenders, trying to get them to surrender so that as much of the city as possible was undamaged. This angered Chaghatai, and Genghis headed off this sibling fight by appointing Ögedei the commander of the besieging forces as Urgench fell. But the removal of Jochi from command, and the sack of a city he considered promised to him, enraged him and estranged him from his father and brothers, and is credited with being a decisive impetus for the later actions of a man who saw his younger brothers promoted over him, despite his own considerable military skills.[4]

text: As usual, the artisans were sent back to Mongolia, young women and children were given to the Mongol soldiers as slaves, and the rest of the population was massacred. The Persian scholar Juvayni states that 50,000 Mongol soldiers were given the task of executing twenty-four Urgench citizens each, which would mean that 1.2 million people were killed. While this is almost certainly an exaggeration, the sacking of Urgench is considered one of the bloodiest massacres in human history.[citation needed]

text: Then came the complete destruction of the city of Gurjang, south of the Aral Sea. Upon its surrender the Mongols broke the dams and flooded the city, then proceeded to execute the survivors.[citation needed]

text: The Khorasan campaign[edit]

text: As the Mongols battered their way into Urgench, Genghis dispatched his youngest son Tolui, at the head of an army, into the western Khwarezmid province of Khorasan. Khorasan had already felt the strength of Mongol arms. Earlier in the war, the generals Jebe and Subutai had travelled through the province while hunting down the fleeing Shah. However, the region was far from subjugated, many major cities remained free of Mongol rule, and the region was rife with rebellion against the few Mongol forces present in the region, following rumors that the Shah's son Jalal al-Din was gathering an army to fight the Mongols. Tolui's army consisted of somewhere around 50,000 men, which was composed of a core of Mongol soldiers (some estimates place it at 7,000[26]), supplemented by a large body of foreign soldiers, such as Turks and previously conquered peoples in China and Mongolia. The army also included "3,000 machines flinging heavy incendiary arrows, 300 catapults, 700 mangonels to discharge pots filled with naphtha, 4,000 storming-ladders, and 2,500 sacks of earth for filling up moats."[7] Among the first cities to fall was Termez then Balkh. The major city to fall to Tolui's army was the city of Merv. Juvayni wrote of Merv: "In extent of territory it excelled among the lands of Khorasan, and the bird of peace and security flew over its confines. The number of its chief men rivaled the drops of April rain, and its earth contended with the heavens."[26]

text: The garrison at Merv was only about 12,000 men, and the city was inundated with refugees from eastern Khwarezmia. For six days, Tolui besieged the city, and on the seventh day, he assaulted the city. However, the garrison beat back the assault and launched their own counter-attack against the Mongols. The garrison force was similarly forced back into the city. The next day, the city's governor surrendered the city on Tolui's promise that the lives of the citizens would be spared. As soon as the city was handed over, however, Tolui slaughtered almost every person who surrendered, in a massacre possibly on a greater scale than that at Urgench. After finishing off Merv, Tolui headed westwards, attacking the cities of Nishapur and Herat.[27] Nishapur fell after only three days; here, Tokuchar, a son-in-law of Genghis was killed in battle, and Tolui put to the sword to every living thing in the city, including the cats and dogs, with Tokuchar's widow presiding over the slaughter.[26] After Nishapur's fall, Herat surrendered without a fight and was spared. Bamian in the Hindukush was another scene of carnage during the 1221 siege of Bamiyan, here stiff resistance resulted in the death of a grandson of Genghis. Next were the cities of Toos and Mashad. By spring 1221, the province of Khurasan was under complete Mongol rule. Leaving garrison forces behind him, Tolui headed back east to rejoin his father.[citation needed]

text: The final campaign and aftermath[edit]

text: After the Mongol campaign in Khorasan, the Shah's army was broken. Jalal al-Din, who took power after his father's death, began assembling the remnants of the Khwarezmid army in the south, in the area of Afghanistan. Genghis had dispatched forces to hunt down the gathering army under Jalal al-Din, and the two sides met in the spring of 1221 at the town of Parwan. The engagement was a humiliating defeat for the Mongol forces. Enraged, Genghis headed south himself, and defeated Jalal al-Din on the Indus River. Jalal al-Din, defeated, fled to India. Genghis spent some time on the southern shore of the Indus searching for the new Shah, but failed to find him. The Khan returned northwards, content to leave the Shah in India.

text: After the remaining centers of resistance were destroyed, Genghis returned to Mongolia, leaving Mongolian garrison troops behind. The destruction and absorption of the Khwarezmid Empire would prove to be a sign of things to come for the Islamic world, as well as Eastern Europe.[20] The new territory proved to be an important stepping stone for Mongol armies under the reign of Genghis' son Ögedei to invade Kievan Rus' and Poland, and future campaigns brought Mongol arms to Hungary and the Baltic Sea. For the Islamic world, the destruction of Khwarezmid left Iraq, Turkey and Syria wide open. All three were eventually subjugated by future Khans.

text: The war with Khwarezmia also brought up the important question of succession. Genghis was not young when the war began, and he had four sons, all of whom were fierce warriors and each with their own loyal followers. Such sibling rivalry almost came to a head during the siege of Urgench, and Genghis was forced to rely on his third son, Ögedei, to finish the battle. Following the destruction of Urgench, Genghis officially selected Ögedei to be successor, as well as establishing that future Khans would come from direct descendants of previous rulers. Despite this establishment, the four sons would eventually come to blows, and those blows showed the instability of the Khanate that Genghis had created.

text: Jochi never forgave his father, and essentially withdrew from further Mongol wars, into the north, where he refused to come to his father when he was ordered to.[25] Indeed, at the time of his death, the Khan was contemplating a march on his rebellious son. The bitterness that came from this transmitted to his sons, and especially grandsons, Batu and Berke Khan, (of the Golden Horde) who would conquer Kievan Rus.[10] When the Mamluks of Egypt managed to inflict one of history's more significant defeats on the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, Hulegu Khan, one of Genghis Khan's grandsons by his son Tolui, who had sacked Baghdad in 1258, was unable to avenge that defeat when Berke Khan, his cousin, (who had converted to Islam) attacked him in the Transcaucasus to aid the cause of Islam, and Mongol battled Mongol for the first time. The seeds of that battle began in the war with Khwarezmia when their fathers struggled for supremacy.[20]


document_title: Matthew 13

question_text: what are the 7 parables in matthew 13

question_tokens: what are the 7 parables in matthew 13

text: Matthew 13

text: Description[edit]

text: Matthew 13 presents seven parables and two explanations of his parables. At the end of the chapter, Jesus is rejected by the people of his hometown, Nazareth.

text: The chapter contains the following parables, in respective order:

text:
Parable of the Sower
Parable of the Tares
Parable of the Mustard Seed
Parable of the Leaven
Parable of the Hidden Treasure
Parable of the Pearl
Parable of Drawing in the Net

tag: ol

text: The following explanations of the first two parables are included:

text:
Explanation of the Parable of the Sower
Explanation of the Parable of the Tares

text: The four first parables (on to Matthew 13:34) "were spoken in presence of the multitude, and the other three again within the circle of the disciples".[2] German liberal Protestant theologian David Strauss thought this chapter was "overwhelming with parables".[3] At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus sits in a ship or a boat on the Sea of Galilee and addresses the crowd who stand on the shore or the beach.[4] The Textus Receptus has inserted the definite article, (Greek: τὸ πλοῖον, to ploion), suggesting that there was a boat kept waiting for him,[5] but other texts do not include the definite article and the Pulpit Commentary therefore argues that it was "wrongly inserted".[6]

text: Text[edit]

text:
Originally written in Koine Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic
Some ancient manuscripts containing this chapter are:
Papyrus 103 (~200; extant: verses 55-56)
Codex Vaticanus (~325-350)
Codex Sinaiticus (~330-360)
Codex Bezae (~400)
Codex Washingtonianus (~400)
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450)
Codex Purpureus Rossanensis (6th century)
Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus (6th century; extant: verses 5-32, 42-58)
Codex Sinopensis (6th century; extant: verses 7-47, 54-58)
This chapter is divided into 58 verses.

text: Structure[edit]

text: This chapter can be grouped (with cross references to other parts of the Bible):

text:
Matthew 13:1-23 = Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15)
Matthew 13:24-30 = Parable of the Tares (Mark 4:26-29)
Matthew 13:31-32 = Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:19-21)
Matthew 13:33-35 = Parable of the Leaven (Luke 13:20-21)
Matthew 13:36-43 = Parable of the Sower explained
Matthew 13:44 = Parable of the Hidden Treasure
Matthew 13:45-46 = Parable of the Pearl
Matthew 13:47-52 = Parable of Drawing in the Net
Matthew 13:53-58 = Jesus is rejected in Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6; Luke 4:16-30)