Customer Reviews

Musa: The Warrior

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

 

 

I watched this movie a while back when it was first released and thought that it was a terrible, pointless movie with characters that you don't care for and so it was a relief when they all died off, and the people who were still alive should have just die off. But that was the US version. All the essential plot line and character development were cut out to the point where what's left didn't make any sense, the characters were one dimension and have no redeeming features, their interaction boring and meaningless.

I came into the original movie recently and wow! Whoever edited the US version should be shot for butchering a masterpiece. Do not watch it! Please only watch the longer version. Otherwise, you'll miss out on a moving epic tale of courage, honor, loyalty where even ordinary people turn into true warriors against insurmountable odds.

This warrior movie is a very seriously directed, edited and performed movie, a great movie, far better than 'El Cid' or any other movies. The fighting scenes, the screenplay, the actings, the directing, editing, setting, costumes, cinematography.....you name it, all not just good but great. A fantastic movie. Kowtow to Korean new generation directors and screenwriters, they've become so mature and so seamless defined. Also kowtow to Korean government, without its 100% commitment in helping the Korean movie industry, this almost perfect production record in recent years simply won't happen. Hollywood be aware, you guys now almost suck every time churning out lousy productions one after another. Except overused dynamite explosions, unnecessary sexual scenes, disturbing and annoying sound tracks, scores, stereotyped screenplays, plots, scenarios...what else you guys in Hollywood really did good and well to the movie industry?

Now there has been a lot of reviews on the DVD quality. The picture of the movie that I am reviewing is the same as the customer image from T. Lam. It has the Tai Seng sticker on the front, has great DTS sound, and near total perfection on the picture quality in a letterboxed format. It comes in a fold out case that slides into another outer case.

This is a Korean movie and all that I had heard about it is it smashes Braveheart and Gladiator in terms of action. I also heard that the budget was over 60 million dollars! Now if they put all the money on costumes and weaponry, I could believe it. While it is a beautiful looking movie, it only has one set: the desert. The cinematography is great except for the action where they could have done without so many close-ups.

The story is about a Korean Envoy who fails in completing there mission of meeting with the Ming emporer. There is one man who was a slave but was freed by his master just before he died. This will not be excepted by anyone in the party which includes a general, Seargent, ..., all who are against him. So he leaves them and walks on his own to bury his master's body. This conflict between the slave and the people who should be his friends was really the only thing I found of interest in this movie storywise. So we find out he can use a spear very well. When the Mongol general sees this, he wants him to be on his side. I will let you experience the rest on your own but wiull warn you that the princess had me falling asleep during her scenes.

I have to be honest, this is a very boring film that didn't leave me thinking about it whatsoever afterwards. I found everything predictable and even when they did surpirse me, they did it in a terrible way and left me wishing they kept their linear path.

This movie is a Category III film(rated R) and their are some of the most gruesome action scense I have seen since Black Hawk Down.

Also I found out that the Tai Seng version that I saw is cut by 25 minutes, that certainly could have made a difference in my rating.

This historical Korean War epic takes place during the first year of the Korean Woo Dynasty, the Yuan(Mongol Khan)Empire and the Ming Dynasty around 1375AD. A Korean diplomatic expedition is sent to reestablish peaceful political relations with the Ming dynasty. But they find themselves mislead by Ming representatives and never make it the chinese capital to fulfill their mission. They are treated like criminals or enemies of the state and are escorted by Ming guards as prisoners to the desert until they are attacked by the Mongols. The Mongols in essense have no quarrel with the Koreans and leave them to their peril to survive the desert. The characters seems to develop at this point with plenty of realistic action here and throughout the film. It has the feel of 'Gladiator' but without the intense drama, development and interaction between the main characters. They are the spoiled brat myopic general, the solemn and free slave who is a well skilled talented martial artist, the practical strategist and noblisse obliged wise sergeant officer, the Ming Princess who is level headed portrays herself as royalty that cares for her people and the Mongol General sent in pursuit to recover the princess to use her as bargaining chip for the sister of the Mongol leader with the Ming King. The film plot sacrifices an interesting epic story that could be deeper in dialogue and character development for prolonged detailed battled scenes. The mystical but talented Warrior free-slave YeoSung is the central hero for this story for which the film is named. He is respected by the enemy Mongol General, despised by the Korean General and is trusted as the personal bodyguard by the Ming Princess, who seems to have romantic thoughts as a reward for his duties if they survive the chase. But that thought is only potrayed through the fine acting of Ziyi Zhang.
This is not a martial arts film, so the story that the film is trying to tell misses its mark at scoring hugely in the international market because it lack drama and character development. For example 'Hero'with Jet Li was based on the King Qin the first king of the Chinese Empire which developed the characters who interacted in the story beautifully and had drama while at the same time displaying excellent martial arts. A well told story has a good plot, excellent drama and character development. The characters in this film never draw you into the story. So the true meaning of a potentially fantastic story is lost making it unmemoriable. But I have to say that the battle scenes were of epic purportions that Hollywood should take a cue on. They are realistic and brutal the way a war film should be especially during this time period. If you are into this type of film I would suggest that you watch 'The Emperor and the Assassin' which basically tells the same story as 'Hero' but it is of epic purportions with brutality on the battlefield as well as, in the kings court like you will never see it. It hits you in the gut harder and more times than the 'Warrior' or 'Hero' because of the combination of drama and some graphic scenes that draws you into the characters and the plot. It also has some good martial arts scenes that are realistic and quick as they would happen in the real world.
The difference between the films 'Warrior' and 'Musa,The Warrior' is it seems that the Sony version 'Warrior' has a cleaner digitized picture with English subtitles. 'Musa' has language in Korean and Chinese with Chinese and English subtitles along with better dolby surround. Other than that the English Dubbing(language voice over) seems that it was done by the same people that did the old language dubbing in the 70's and 80's for the Chinese Kung Fu flicks or the anime Japanese films. The voice dubbings could have more inflection for the scenes and characters but I guess they reflect the drama and out of budget minded accountants that are responsible to use it as an after thought by hiring anime voice dubbers. I'm sure this is not the last time that this story will be told on film. I just hope it is given more care in being told by a more colorful and dramatic story teller to make it unforgettable for all audiences.