A Guerra das Flechas

The very mention of arrows in a movie makes us think of Legolas. You know, that dude in The Lord of the Rings trilogy? The elf with straight silky golden locks who never misses when he shoots his unlimited supply of arrows? While Orlando Bloom has made quite an impression with that suave character, the arrow shooting men in this Korean production are a different breed altogether. They are rough, ragged and, well, to put it simply, manly.

Set during the second Manchu invasion of Korea, the manliest one of them all in this movie has to be the protagonist played by Park Hae Il, who goes against the Qing Dynasty to save his younger sister. He also happens to be the best archer in Korea, but because his father was killed as a traitor, one can imagine how limited his future in the country is. One unfortunate follows another, when his younger sister is abducted during her wedding ceremony. Thus begins the quest to save her sister and her husband from the Qing army. In the process, countless arrows are shot, and as you'd expect from a revenge movie, there will be lots of blood.

Director Kim Han Min's work was the second highest grossing movie in Korea last year, and it is not difficult to see why. The fast paced epic action movie boasts of exhilarating sequences which will keep you at the edge of your seats. While you may wonder how a war of arrows can possibly be exciting, you will be thrilled by the perfect execution and choreography of the battle scenes (beat that, Legolas!). The action comes at you fast and furious, and even though there aren't many hand to hand combat, the long distance fighting is heart stopping and riveting.

The story may be based on a period of Korean history which we aren't very familiar with, but the filmmakers make sure it doesn't alienate foreign viewers. Essentially, it is a story about heroism, justice and revenge – universal themes which anyone can identify with. This creates a win win situation: Box office success both at home and in foreign lands.

The 122 minute production, being an action flick, does not provide many emotionally engaging moments. Not that we are complaining though, because for most of the movie, you see the protagonist either chasing his sister's kidnappers, or the bad guys chasing him. There are invasions, battles, confrontations and quarrels. The set pieces are impressive, and there is quite a bit of decent use of computer graphics to enhance the storytelling.

The ensemble cast does a nice job of portraying the anguish and tension felt by the characters during this war of arrows. Park manages to exude a respectable charm with his predictably written character, while the fragile looking Moon Chae Won plays his sister in distress with grace and elegance. The two actors took home the Best Actor and Best New Actress at the 2011 Daejong Film Awards, an established award presented by Korea's Ministry of Culture and Information. The film also took home the accolades for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects.

This undeniably enjoyable popcorn production packs just the right amount of punch and pizazz to engage and entertain for a good two hours at the movies

I have been on the Korean/Asians movies tip these days and the reason is simple it is hard to find a solid and an interesting movie in Hollywood, you see in a way they are doing remakes and even buying movies that are done in other countries to do them in Hollywood style. Well as a movie fanatic I found my getaway in foreign movies and man was I not entertained. This is one of the best movies of 2011 in Korea (Korean is making its mark in Movie industry) and it boasts with Four Awards The film won four awards in 48th Daejong Awards to Best Actor for Park Hae-il and Best New Actress for Moon Chae-won.) The film is about an archer who risks his life to save his sister from slavery under Prince Dorgan's rule. Other reviews have likened it to Apocalypto but this is nothing like it and Apocalypto doesn't even come close to it and I will tell you why… War of the Arrows is not your typical set battle piece it shows emotions you can see their fear, desperation and panic for example the way they portray death is sad, there is no joy in it even for your enemy, while Apocalypto showed victims and victimization this shows sacrifice and dedication and staying true to your promise no matter the situation. While Apocalypto was on Native Americans and doesn't make you relate to the whole ordeal this one makes you wonder what you could have done faced with the same situation. While Apocalypto showed blood thirsty humans turned to beasts kind of thing for their benefit this one is the survival of the fittest. The common thing in them is obviously the gore and violence. Taking this into consideration I find this one a winner. It is fast paced and will have you glued to your screen from the beginning till the end and what makes it a masterpiece is that the stunts are real it doesn't use you CGI except on the tigers scene which I will excuse as getting the real tiger could have dumbed it down a bit… Overall this is a masterpiece and worth your time

Back before the Big Bang that changed warfare (i.e.; the invention of the firearm- also know as "the coward's weapon of choice"), the bow and arrow were the weapons of choice- and one of the deadliest bows ever devised was the type of bow used by the Mongolians (which is bent ONE way, then bent BACK, doubling its power). In WAR OF THE ARROWS, we get a sense of what it might've been like to have used (or been shot by) just such a weapon. This is one of the best examples of how slow motion cgi can actually ENHANCE something as INTIMATE as killing with a bow and arrow- and the fx are utilized to their finest, here. The performances are all solid, and the storyline serves its purpose admirably. All around, a bullseye.

War of the Arrows is not your typical action film. Certainly, much about it is typical. The lone hero, avenging his nation which has been taken over by some other hostile nation, sets out on a journey to rescue his kidnapped sister. In the process, he becomes a hero of the people. Yes, we've seen this before. But where this film truly shines is in it's inspired choice of focus: that of the bow and arrow. This is particularly interesting because archery is something that takes great skill. So, seeing an action film that takes on this weapon as focus is interesting in and of itself. But the film actually succeeds where it might otherwise fail.

As stated before, the film is fairly typical. It takes place during the Second Invasion of Manchu, when China invaded Korea in the early 1600's. The focus is on Nam-Yi, a skilled archer who, along with his sister Ja-In, must flee to a friend of their father's when he is killed. We spend a good deal of time in the beginning of the film seeing these two characters as children and then when they are young adults, but it's mostly somewhat interesting drama that does a decent job of setting up the story. The real meat of the film kicks off in the second hour when Ja-In is kidnapped and Nam-Yi must go after her. Once this part of the story gets underway, the action gets underway with it, and it's pretty damn impressive.

The choreography and cinematography following the battles between arrow slinging warriors is fantastic. There were moments when I had to rewind and play the scene again just to get a second look. This isn't out of poor filmmaking, but because some of the scenes are so damn cool, you want to see them again. And luckily, these scenes are rapid fire and a plenty. From the chases through the woods to a ravine shoot out to the final stand off, you barely have a moment to catch your breath. Although you realize that these men aren't actually as skilled as they come off, there are moments when you're none the less amazed at what's being shown.

Of course, this action would mean nothing if it weren't surrounded by at least competent filmmaking, but there is great skill displayed here. Our actors never feel unnatural, even if the acting isn't to rave about, and the cinematography is fantastic. This film would not work at all if the camera work was shotty, and thankfully it's not. You can savor each moment of fantastic action in calculated, collected shots that take the time to slow down when necessary and catch you by surprise when necessary. Suffice to say, all of this creates one fantastic action film, one of the best I have seen from Asia in quite some time.

If you're a fan of Asian action films, you owe it to yourself to give War of the Arrows a try. It's completely worth the time, even running over two hours. You won't be disappointed.

This is a stylish and sleek movie that is unduly criticized by many, especially those from other Asian countries as can be seen among other reviews here.

Most do not seem to understand the main point of this movie because they do not know the historical background this movie was set against and consequently they just think this is a ripoff of Hollywood.

The time ... the 17th century. Korea just repelled the Japanese invasion with Ming China's aid which alternated between being an ally and being racist tormentors of the Korean populace.

Manchu(Jurchens) were a nation of fierce warriors from the north, or they thought of themselves that way at least. They had been under the Chinese yoke and just threw it off. They are eventually to invade China proper and to rule over Chinese for the next 300 years. If you saw Last Emperor you will understand this historical setting.

An important thing to remember here is that they were NOT Chinese. Their hatred of Chinese was immense, almost pathological.(and the reason that they invaded Korea was precisely that the Korean court acted like a vassal of Ming China.) This contrasts very sharply with today's Manchu who think of themselves as Chinese.

Just 40 years prior to this event there was the infamous Japanese invasion of Korea and Ming China sent a force to aid Koreans. But this force came from Liatung base, the primary function of which was to suppress Jurchens and Mongols.

Even though that war ended in the victory for Korea and China this created a power vacuum in Manchuria as Ming China no longer controlled the region effectively. This is how the Jurchens(Manchu) rose to power. They were burning with hatred of Chinese for their condescending and racist treatments of their people.

The Korean King who was the crown prince at the time of the Japanese invasion ascended to the throne in the early 17th century. And because of his war time experience he was a practical man and saw the newly arising Manchu as a force to reckon with. He tried to be neutral between Ming China and Manchu.

However he was deposed by a group of Korean nobility and they tried to justify their coup with a more pro china stance. This is how Manchu invaded Korea twice and the second one was more catastrophic as shown in this movie.

So this movie is about the anger of the Korean masses felt toward the effete and effeminate Korean nobility class who were incredibly more loyal to Chinese than to their own people. It is about a war that could have been avoided if the Korean King at the time(generally regarded as the weakest and the most effeminate king in the history of Korea) and the nobility could back their word with action or had a more practical sense.

The Korean government did not help their people, actually did not even want to as long as they could hold onto their power, so the people had to help themselves against all odds. This is the basic premise of this film.

Anyway for those who are not interested in Korean or East Asian history... Manchu are not Chinese and the language they spoke in the movie was not Chinese.(In fact it was the Manchu language which is now dead. It was recreated from the Korean records of the Manchu language. The movie creator deserves some credit for this.)

If you can free yourself from this common misconception that Manchu were just a type of Chinese people you are already half-way there. Manchu were no more Chinese than Mongols are.