Saulabi

"Saulabi" starts off at the demise of the Paekje Kingdom in Korea around 600 AD. Warriors and rulers are committing ritual suicide similar to Japanese seppuku. One main family or offshoot of this Kingdom had emigrated and settled in Japan. Several hundred years later some Paekje descendants travel to the settlement in Japan, seeking to re-forge the "Heaven" sword in order to bring back the "essence" of the Paekje people.

It's a little confusing at the start and I only fully understood the above premise after reading about Saulabi on the Internet later. It only got interesting for me when one of these Paekje warriors, Woo-Do, falls in love with Osame, who is betrothed to a local Japanese lord. I liked the idea that Woo-Do's Korean stringed instrument can only make notes when played by his family - when Osame learns to make it play, it solidifies their love.

When the Japanese lord finds out about their relationship, of course his men set out to kill Woo-Do and the plan to reforge the sword is in jeopardy. The fight scenes will not "wow" you, but I found the swordplay to be realistic. I think one of the highlight fights was when Woo-Do takes on one of the Lord's men, armed with only a bamboo staff. (Realism ends in one scene near the end where Woo-Do takes on about 30 opponents with no sword!)

The often strained Japanese-Korean relationship is a central theme.

I didn't think this movie was great, but it deserves more than the "3.9" currently scored on IMDb. I think when it gets several hundred votes the score will settle out at slightly above 6.

I don't understand why this movie has such bad comments and ratings.

While it's not a cult movie, it's still a good one IMHO.

Seemingly, there are not enough action/fight scenes for the detractors of the film, or not good enough ones.

But is it necessary to have plenty of action to make a good film ??? I wonder !!! There can be more to a movie than just battles after battles.

Furthermore, the acting was not that bad neither, and there were interesting personages in nice settings and nice period costumes.

The story is about the daughter of a Japanese lord who must marry the master of her father against her will... and her love for a warrior of another land and the enmity between the rival factions...

I quite enjoyed this movie and recommend it.

Fans of action films, go watch some Jean-Claude Vandame movies instead!

8/10

I thankfully only wasted two bucks renting it. I thought it would be a korean epic along the lines of MUSA as did the first person to comment. The action scenes are so poorly done that you see actors standing still waiting for there 'turn' to sword fight.

Well I tend to be the champion of underdog film I can't do that here.The plot is basically the same as Bichumoo but japanese instead of mongols. It lacks the fun fantasy of that film. and lacks the epic realism of MUSA. Don't be fooled by slick packages...this movie is bad.