ramses-van-wijk 1375. Nine Koryo knights are stranded in the middle of nowhere after a disastrous diplomatic mission. They have dozens of regular people along with them, and they need to get back home, through an andless desert. Peril and strife follow them all along the way, as they get to know each other. Then a woman appears.Aesthetically the movie is superb. All of the sets are created perfectly, the costumes are exquisite and the camera-work spot on. As is to be expected of modern korean drama, the actors portray heavy emotion and the plot is often melodramatic. Each one of the many characters is a metaphor representing something much larger than itself, often in satire of contemporary society. The storyline as a whole is an adaptation of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, with many parallels between personae between the two. See for yourself to decide who you think is who. Can you guess Teiresias?

kosmasp It's my favorite eastern at this moment. From the more recent movies, I did like "Warlords" a lot too. But "Musa" (aka the Warrior) is on the top of my list. And if you go out and watch it (if you haven't already), then make sure, you watch the Korean cut and not the international cut. They seemed to think that western audiences do not need a few things. And as I have spoken to a Korean friend of mine, I got some info on some rituals and customs, I wasn't aware of.But even without that knowledge the movie does offer you a lot. Be it in the action department, in the story department and in the character development. It is not a coincidence, that this was the most expensive movie, when it got made, in the Asian market (I'm not sure, if this still holds up, or Warlords or any other movie broke that "record").Of course you have to be able to watch an Eastern. For some people this is like torture (I know a few friends of mine couldn't sit through the shorter international version of this). But I'm talking about people who do get Asian cinema and love it. If you are not into it, that's cool. Just don't watch this or turn it off, if you gave it a try. But if you have some spark for Eastern movies, this is the one to watch! Believe me!

freemantle_uk There is a nothing like a good epic film. Here is a fine entry to the genre from South Korea, a nation that doesn't normally make these sort of films. Film in China and staring the beautiful Zhang Ziyi it had potential.Set in 1374 relations between Korea and the Ming Dynasty in China are at a low. The Koreans send a diplomatic mission to resort their relationship, led by General Choi-Jung (Joo Jin-mo). However when arriving in a city he team are captured and exiled from China. Left for dead in the desert their run into a Mongol army party which have captured Princess Bu-yong (Zhang Ziyi). The Korean party save her and hope to return her to Emperor, saving their mission. Within the party is Yeosol (Jung Woo-sung), a recently freed slave who was loyal to his master and excellent fighter with a spear. He and the Princess have an attraction to each other. After freeing the Princess, the Mongols are upset. There were hoping to use her as a bargaining chip against the Ming's China. They chase the Koreans and destroy countryside villages to get her back.The story and plot are simply and believable within the context of the film; always good signs. Within the group many of characters and relationships are developed, especially Yeosol, the General, the Princess and Jinlip, the veteran of the group. Even the main bad guy has some nobility about him. The costumes and weaponry are excellently done. The warfare was brutal and shows woman and children getting killed, something that rarely happens in Hollywood films. The film is deliciously violence. My only real problem with the film, which lets it down is the action. It is good that the action is violence, but it is so overly edited and the shaky-cam make it difficult to follow. If the action was better then the would have been even better.If you enjoy films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Conan the Barbarian and Red Cliff, you will like this film.

Deepfried-Egg This is a very realistic and emotionally charged war epic with cool heroes and fight scenes that captivated my attention like no other war epic movie ever has. This movie kicks butt! This is not a wire-fu heavy martial arts pic. While this does have some martial arts in it, there is no outlandish wire-fu that really turns me off! Haven't we had enough of that? This has the elements of an American Western epic rather than than over-the-top Hong Kong cinema sword play that is just eye candy more than anything...I have a great appreciation for historical epics and this one left me more satisfied than Braveheart and Gladiator did. The reason being is that there is more than one hero to care about. And there is a spoiled rotten princess who gets treated as such. I liked how she didn't always get her way. The journey these heroes and non-heroes take through the desert kept me guessing and dying to see what would happen next. There are many pleasant surprises! I leached on to these warriors and the film makers made me want to stick with them and not miss a thing! This blows away Chinese chop socky cinema which pales in comparison after watching this epic. Outstanding performances especially by the archer! This archer played by Sung Kee is incredibly awesome!! He made Orlando Bloom's archer in LOTR look like a pansy! I really believed these guys were for real..it's that realistic! The cinematography is jaw-dropping and the story...just go rent it now!!!!!