[5] The author's edition of 1842, expanded and rewritten, and considered more pro-Russian,[6] was used for the film (this also being the text that is familiar to most readers).

The film DVD was released in the United States under the alternate title The Conqueror in 2010,[7] and in the UK in 2011 as Iron & Blood: The Legend of Taras Bulba.

[9] The film was also cautiously watched in Poland, where its possible anti-Polish character was widely discussed and its propagandist elements examined.

[10] This was enhanced by the fact that the filmmakers added some scenes depicting Polish brutality to the original plot by Gogol.

[11][12] The cover of the US DVD edition (titled The Conqueror) has the tagline "Between Fire and the Sword Lies a Hero", a possible underhand reference to Polish historical fiction book and film With Fire and Sword (Polish: Ogniem i mieczem).