Bichunmoo

This movie does a fairly good job of tying together a bunch of clichéd tragic plots. The action is okay but a bit cheesy. The wire work isn't too ridiculous. It doesn't really have anything to offer martial arts fans. A lot of the fighting is supernatural and the blows don't even connect.

It has some problems with the plot. Every few minutes a character will run off and do something stupid just to make the viewer sad. There is a gap of about 15 years in the middle of the film during which important things happen but the film just continues without explaining them. You never actually find out why all the characters are where and they are and doing what they're doing after this gap.

I'm mixed about this one, honestly. As far as Korean cinema goes, this is a decent one, important for the Korean film industry as it was another big-budget-esque sweeping epic, (though one of the first for its fantasy style) and was a hit in Korea. If "Shiri" announced to the world that Korean cinema was a world player, "JSA," "Tell Me Something" and this, "Bichunmoo" solidified that sentiment.

But a film does not necessarily work because of these facts. The simple matter is that "Bichunmoo" isn't anything too special. Sure, there "Crouching Tiger" comparisons come into play, but honestly, even without having to be in "CTHD's" shadow, Bichunmoo still wouldn't be all that great.

The story revolves around Jinha, a young man who grows to be one of the greatest warriors of his time, and his love for a woman. As chance may have it, complications arise, and they're separated, in which time she learns to move on with her life, and he adopts a new name, and identity.

The account above is a very crude and general overview of the story. In actuality, the story is much more complicated. Yes, he adopts a new name, but there are other things at play; Mongol Forces, Anti-Mongol Forces, the girl's husband and children, and the protagonists partners as well as his ex-but-may-not-quite-be rival.

And this is where the cracks start to show. The film is very, VERY busy. Too much occurs, too quickly. Yes, Korean filmmakers are told almost by necessity to cut down the running times (in order to get more showings in) but this is ludicrous. The film moves at an amazingly brisk pace, that more then once, I was confused. It also doesn't help that a very crucial and important scene is cut out of the print I watched which states that Jinha has changed his name, introduces two major characters, informs us that he's sided with anti-Mongol forces, gives an outline of the group's attack, and explains who the hell those guys that are fighting with Jinha are. Had these been retained, I as well as many others would not have been as confused.

And in moving this quickly, much of the attention is lost, and one never cares for the characters. The two characters in love received no sympathy from me, and I became so restless that I was tempted to fastforward to the next fight scene.

But anyhow, but fight scenes, choreography, and cinematography all are excellent. They are not polished, but I believe this was intentional. The film does not rival by any means the best Hong Kong martial swordplay films, but they are well done, nonetheless.

All in all, Bichunmoo is an entertaining film, but not a great film. It left me feeling a bit hollow, and as stated earlier, attempts to accomplish too much. Had they split the movie into two, and taken their time with the story, it would have been much better.

Not bad. This korean movie is a mix between an epic story and an action movie... Combats are very good. The plot is a bit confused. I had to watch it twice to understand some things. Dark warriors, with a large hat on their heads are very picturesque and the technique used by the main character remembers some techniques used is some video game (do you remember Ken and Ryu in Street Fighters and their "Aduken" shot?).

Saw it if you like wuxia movies. You could spend a glad evening watching it.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian Empire with the descendants of Genghis Kan rules China. In this environment, the poor Jinha (Shin Hyun-June) is raised by his uncle that teaches him the secret martial art of the Bichun. The daughter of a concubine of the powerful General Taruga (Hak-cheol Kim), Sullie (Hee-seon Kim), is raised with him and they have a crush on each other. When her mother dies, Sullie's father brings her to the Taruga House and she tells Jinha that she would wait for him. But the general promises her to the powerful Chinese lord Namgung Junkwang (Jin-yeong Jeong) to increase his power with the alliance. When Jinha's uncle is lethally wounded by warriors that want to know the secrets of Bichun, he discloses the Korean royal origins of Jinha. While traveling to meet Sullie, Jimha befriends Junkwang without knowing that he is the man that will marry Sullie. Sooner Jinha is betrayed and almost dies; along the years, he fights against the Mongolian Empire. When he meets Sullie again years later, she discloses a family secret to him.

"Bichunmoo" is a movie with a promising beginning and wonderful art direction, costumes and soundtrack; unfortunately it is also too long, with a confused screenplay, and melodramatic like a soap opera. In a certain moment, the story becomes messy with many betrayals and confused situations and it is hard to the viewer to know who is who. In 2000, "Bichunmoo" was the most expensive Korean movie ever made. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Bichunmoo, A Saga de um Guerreiro" ("Bichunmoo, the Saga of a Warrior")

The movie strays from the original manhwa, mostly due to time restraints. Therefore some of the characters are barely introduced and their actions seem very random. You should watch the series that came out a few years later that goes into a lot more detail and character development. Still was a good movie though.