Customer Reviews

The Divine Weapon

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Korean action swordplay epics haven't exactly reached the plateau as of yet. There have only been a few noteworthy films such as "Shadowless Sword" and "Bichunmoo". Director Kim Yu-jin's latest modestly budgeted swordplay epic "The DIVINE WEAPON" is set in the Joseon era; the film is a semi-historical tale about the creation of the first rocket during King Sejeong's reign in the 1400's. It seeks to tell a significant event in Korean history; the film is entertaining on its own right, but certain elements kept it from becoming a well-rounded spectacular epic.

Tension is all over the Korean region in 1430. Despite the fact they are a smaller region, the Joseon dynasty is flourishing but they are being controlled by the Ming dynasty who demands increased tribute and even more eunuchs (in the hundreds) to serve. Joseon's top weapons designer, Ga-Song has developed plans for powerful weaponry that may change the balance of power. One night, Ga-Song is killed but his daughter Hong-Li (Han Eun-Jeong) narrowly escapes. A close friend of her father, Chang-Kang (Ahn Sung-Kee) aids her to stay hidden and brings her to a merchant named Sul-ju (Jeong Jae-Yeong) who has issues with the court. The palace and the Joseon army are being watched very closely by representatives of the Ming court, but perhaps Sul-ju may be able to help Hong-Li decipher the secrets of the secret weapon; construct the Singijeon (a machine that can fire multiple explosive arrows) while there is still time to avert catastrophe.

"The Divine Weapon" chronicles the creation of the first rocket used in warfare in 1430. This weapon can launch special arrows as well as a huge explosive arrow for about 3 km. The film does keep its focus about the story of the rocket itself; the film carefully shows its secrets and the risks in creating such as weapon. It comes as no surprise that the film may be easy to enjoy to film fans; it portrays a historical event, the political intrigue that came during this time, there is a lot of action, there are dabs of romance and touches of humor. Kim Yu-jin knows the elements that can make a film successful in the box-office. The plotting is actually not too bad, the political conspiracies and cultural implications are brought into exposition and while there is a perfunctory love story underneath its layer, the direction doesn't focus on those elements and rather more on the Joseon struggle. The developing relationship between Sul-ju and Hong-Li does manage to pitch in some needed charm in its proceedings because of the good performances of the two protagonists.

The film does have a fair amount of characterization, but it does suffer a little from the abundance of different characters. At times, the film gets a little difficult to follow and some scenes may encourage a small disconnection to the proceedings. There is also a brutal scenes with young boys being castrated that felt a little forced to show the Ming's cruelty. I thought most of the film was saved by Sul-ju as the main protagonist. I liked the fact that he appeared very human; a profiteer who is only interested in one thing until we see his development as a patriot because of what he has seen and the sacrifices made. Hong-Li is the one factor that proves once again that women can bring out the best in a man, as she demonstrates her compassion and her willingness to lay down her life for the good of one nation. The film does have several stirring speeches that can bring out the patriotism in its viewers as the film is full of motivational flag-waving. This may have been inspired by the movie "Hanbando" since the film's producers are the same.

There is a lot of action to be had with "The Divine Weapon". The swordplay in the film looked very realistic and avoids the usual wire work in other Wuxia films. The fights are quick and serves to expose Sul-ju's skills as a swordsman as he engages skilled swordsmen in their own right. Director Kim Yu-jin saves the final grand battle sequence at the final act and I thought this was a very calculated and smart move on his part. It makes the fights part of the film's plot rather than having fights to get to the film's resolution; as it managed to generate some tension and suspense as to what would happen in the final encounter. We see the usual grand underdog battle as a mere 100+ Joseon warriors become pinned down by about 3,000 Ming mercenaries. Kim does display competence in shooting the battle scene and of course, the viewer is treated to a grand display of the power of the Singijeon artillery which up to this scene, the viewer can only guess at its capabilities. The battle scenes are quite verbose in its own right, but it felt that it was proper to the film's tone.

I rather enjoyed the fact that director Kim uses the minimal amount of CGI in the film and only uses it when absolutely necessary in the final scene. The film is also nicely shot but exercises a fair amount of restraint as to avoid the film from becoming too extravagant. The screenplay is kept moving at an even vigorous pace as to keep its viewers entertained that its 134 minute runtime went by quickly.

"The Divine Weapon" is one film that may not prove to be groundbreaking or stellar, the film doesn't exactly show us anything very memorable; but the energetic direction, the lush cinematography, good costumes and set designs are enough to keep the film aloft while its discipline and restraint kept it grounded. It isn't the grand spectacle I could've wished for but it is highly entertaining. The film is a good example of how playing one's aces well can pay off, despite any flaws a film may have.

Highly Recommended! [3 ½ + Stars]

The U.S. Dvd has good picture quality but sadly only has a 2.0 Dolby Digital Korean language track. (the Korean release has 5.1 Dolby Digital) The release is pretty bare-bones.

I gave this movie 5 star on account of the delicious interaction between Hong Li and the principal actor. It is nice to see how the relationship between Hong Li and the principal actor gradually developed from 'disgust' to 'affection' and then 'love'. Thus, in a sense, this movie goes beyond a pure 'action' movie to a 'romantic' action movie. Anyway, in 1448, the 30th year of Sejong's reign, the Ming Dynasty's meddling into Joseon's domestic affairs goes to extremes and Sejong secretly plans to develop Singijeon, a rocket weapon upgraded from goryeo's firearms technology. The Ming finds out and quickly dispatches assasins to attack the research lab, but, Choi Hae San, the man in charge of the project, destroys himself along with the research materials to protect the weapon's secret. His daughter Hong-Li (Han Eun-jung) barely escapes but loses the chong-long Records (Singljeon's blueprints) to the Ming's assassins.

In my view, this movie is a "must" view from at least 2 grounds: (1). It pointed out 1448 as the new era of warfara, with the development of rudimentary missiles (rocket weapons = divine weapons). Only 300 years later that Europe managed to replicate these weapons. This is the second Korean movie (the first is "The Legend of Shadowless Sword") I have ever seen and as the first movie, I am delighted to give this movie 5 stars; and (2). I am fascinated by the dynamics (tension) as the project manager interacted with the daughter of the man who was in charge of the project (Lee Hong Li). No two persons could look so different and yet, united by a common purpose (the unity and welfare of their country ie Joseon), the differences gradually melt together, and together they overcome the difficulty of losing the Singijeon's blueprints to the Ming assassins. I would also urge the readers to read closely the language used. One can learn a lot from this, from vulgar language to royal language.

It's 100% in Korean, no English subtitles
pretty frustrating considering what it cost, $30

So buyer beware buying this through Amazon, if you can understand Korean
then perhaps it's worth it
but without even English Subtitles, for us.......it stinks

OK people. There are a lot of flix from Korea that are a bit rough and harsh in production. They are not as polished as us spoiled Yankees are use to. This production,however,is as close to the high-grade and polished quality of US movies as I have ever seen and only the language reminds me that it is not out of a Hollywood stage. The acting, storyline and quality of production all meet or exceed first rate productions. While the US is technically the best story tellers in the world we are not,by a long shot, the only ones with stories of great interest to tell and this production says the Korean (Chosen) film industry is on our very doorsteps in quality. Korean history being such a mystery to the rest of the world that there needs to be more explanation of it to foreign audiences to eliminate some of the lack of fluidity not apparent to Korean and those of us with some measure of historical knowledge of the area.This lack of fluidity would be the same when we send our stories that are based on American history or fables not easily know outside of Americans such as a mention of the Alamo stand would have great meaning to us without a lengthy explaination but would be a bit of confusion to a Korean audience. As this whole story is based on 15th Centry Korean history, not everything flows,as it were. This is not,in any manner, a critism of the film nor of any of the qualities I have already mentioned. It is only offered in way of explaination why some non-Asian audiances may be confused about parts of the storyline. Others can tell you the storyline. Take it from me, this is a first rate movie.

I have no idea about the historical accuracy, but the movie was well done. I will compare it to the characterizations developed in the many movies on Robin Hood. Very entertaining. Both the protagonists and antagonist characters are well written. Good story. Well worth the watch. The main male lead and the Chief Army officer have some excellent sword fights. All the characters leave you wanting more. I look forward to seeing more films with Jae-yeong Jeong.

LIke many of the comteporary Korean films that try to use history as a metaphor to convey contemporary views, the Divine Weapon fail miserably due to its outright historical inaccuracies.

First of all, the relationship between Ming China and Chosun at the time was no different than that of comteporary US and ROK. While there may be disagreements, the relationship has benefited the Chosun regime (and the Korean people). In fact, the Chosun dynasty would have ceased its existence when it was invaded by Hideyoshi of Japan in 16th century if it wasn't because of the Ming China's military rescue. Incidentally, unlike th US that oftentimes overstayed their welcome, the Ming China's troop withdrew after the extermination of the enemies.

Second, Chosun kingdom may be known for many things but it was not a military powerhouse. The weapon mentioned was highly something already invented in China and put into effective military use at the time. In fact, during the subsequent Japanese 16th invasion, the entire Chosun army was overwhelmingly defeated because of the lack of firearms and it was only when the Ming Chinese came with superior guns that turned the tide.

Third, in the movie the characters portraying Ming Chinese often wore Manchurian pigtails of the subsequent Qing dynasty. It is as ridiculous as seeing George Washington and his minutemen wear Mexican sombreros.

To sum, the movie is deeply flawed and not entertaining.