I feel good about Sergei Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible, but I like the now-forgotten Printer Ivan Fedorov of 1941 better. Of course, Eisenstein’s creation is a masterpiece. It's indisputable. But with all that in it:
1) too many historical blunders (Queen Anastasia, poisoned in 1564, and Malyuta Skuratov, originating from the common people, which are worth);
(2) The king is shown to be a bloody madman and in general a very unpleasant person.
And that's not the case in Printer. Such rough blunders are not visible there and the image of Ivan the Terrible is not so unambiguous. The tsar here is rather a positive character, despite the pressure of obscurantists from among the boyars and clergy, helping Ivan Fedorov to organize the printing business. True, Fedorov in the end still has to leave Russia, but the guilt of Ivan Vasilyevich here is not, as it happened through the fault of intriguers who misled the Emperor.
Also in the Printer I liked the way Malyut Skuratov and Vladimir Staritsky showed. Staritsky here is not a fool, manipulated by his domineering mother, and Malyut is not a “capoklyak” (Vyacheslav Molotov’s statement). That is, the actor who played Skuratov is more suitable for his role than Eisenstein’s Zharov. A formidable type with an oriental predatory face. Something Konstantin Stepankov reminds, IMHO.