Fighter in the wind

To be quite honest, I didn't know anything about this film before I had purchased it. In fact, I had only bought it for two reasons. The first was that I knew it was a martial arts film and two, because it featured Masayo Kato, who appears in a few movies that I happen to like. However, by the time I had finished watching the movie, I had to admit that it exceeded my expectations for a few reasons. For instance, it had some drama, which most martial arts films tend to lack; the picture quality was superb; and above all, it was an autobiographical sketch based on a real life martial arts master.

I won't go over the story, as I'm sure that a few other people had already given it away anyway. But to those who have criticized the film on the basis that it was "boring" just because the fights were too quick and not very well choreographed, I think it's important for them to acknowledge the fact that this was based on a true story. Most fights really did end relatively quick because of Choi Bae-dal's lethal blows. In fact, it was said that most fights between him and his opponents did not last more than three minutes, while other matches ended with only single blows coming from one of Bae-dal's kicks or punches.

Needless to say, I did enjoy the film as I've already emphasized above and was glad that I saw it for another reason: because I would not have embraced Bae-dal's depicted character with the same respect that I currently have for the other great martial arts legends, the likes of which include Musashi, Bruce lee, Wong Fei Hong, et al.

8 out of 10

One major problems I had with this movie is the almost utter lack of character development. The protagonist has very little conversation that reveals his thoughts. Instead the director focuses on his determination, which is shown soley through actions, rather than words that might provoke a deeper understanding of the character. To sum up my knowledge of the characters: Baedal wants to be the best fighter, his best friend is a goof, and the bad guy is harsh and hates Baedal. Thats about as deep as it gets. Slight exagerration, but you see what I mean (and I do mean SLIGHT).

The second shortcoming was Baedal's transformation to a great fighter. For the most part is was glossed over and unrewarding. We get a glimpse of the brutal training he endured, and then miraculously he is like a whole different fighter. When this movie is about the transformation from an average fighter to the "best" in Japan, I expect a little more than that.

Lastly I have to knock it down a point for the style of the film. It seems like during some fights they decided to arbitrarily add in special effects. These detract from the movie, especially because the rest of the movie is not stylized in that manner (Kill Bill for example). Also, some of the sets and characters/costumes seemed a little cheesy, making me think it was a relatively low budget film. Not what I would expect for a movie from 2004.

The disappointing part of this movie is really that they could have done a lot better. The story itself has plenty of interesting aspects that are great for a movie. However, the way they chose to present was just plain dull, largely due to the reasons I have expressed above. While I was watching, it gave me the attitude, "Oh, hes gonna fight this guy, maybe it will be cool", "Okay, this is boring, when is the next fight?." And its not at all because I'm obsessed with fighting, its because the scenes between fights were really lacking.

If you want to see a great coming of age/martial arts movie about determination and deep characters, I recommend "Once Upon A Time in High School". It has everything that this movie lacked.

I was pretty excited when this hit theaters. There was a lot of buzz floating around about it being the next great martial arts film. Unfortunately, for everything it does right, it does equal wrong.

For starters, this is a martial arts film, so you would assume there would be lots of fighting. And there is fighting, just not all that much. Most of the film is littered with lengthy dialogue scenes that are intended to deepen the characters, but this fails as well. Character motivation seems to be limited to "spur of the moment" reasoning and the ultimate plot is nothing more than standard fight-film fare (boy gets beat up a lot, boy trains, boy beats up everybody).

This isn't to say that the film doesn't have some positive aspects. The film is gorgeous; color, cinematography, lighting, all handled with expert flare. As for the fights (when the film gets around to them), they are excellent. Eskewing the modern trend penchant for treating fights like elaborate dance sequences, here instead we get some real hard-hitting brawls that also maintain a look of grace.

If only the filmmakers had put as much effort into the writing as they did into the look of the film, this could easily have been one of the top martial art films, instead of mild entertainment destined to be forgotten.

Score: 6/10

This korean movie claims to be inspired by the life of Choi Bae-dal, who founded the kyokushinkaikan variation of Karate, and the film explores the prejudice between the Koreans and the Japanese back then.

The setting is in post-WWII Japan, with Yakuzas and American GIs abound, not to mention the influx of Korean immigrants. This film narrates the life of Bae-dal in a fairly straightforward way, following his path to fame amongst fighters - taking on karate, judo and even kendo exponents.

Somehow this film parallels Stephen Chow's KungFu Hustle, which also narrates the life of a nobody to a somebody, with a pretty babe in tow for good measure, except this one is without the slapstick comedy.

The first half plods on, as our protagonist is still a greenhorn in the martial arts world. Once you've gotten past the first hour, things start to pick up when he trains himself to be the best of the best, but towards the finale, it somehow hints of Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai. Probably no fault of its own, as it explores the same theme amongst all martial arts - honour and justice.

The fight scenes, which looked spectacular in the trailers, actually offers nothing new. Most of it are quick cuts and slow motion, and given the premise, could've offered more in terms of actual fights.

This should appeal to those who wanna know more about the myth behind Kyokushinkaikan Karate. If you're looking for real Kung-Fu action, you'll probably be better off with a Jet Li martial arts movie.

OK, first things first; this is NOT a martial arts kung-fu beat em up movie (If you want that, go watch Ong-Bak!). Throw those expectations OUT and prepare to enjoy a very gripping action/drama with some of the most beautiful filmwork i've seen in a while. To keep it simple, this movie is very exaggerated biography of Choi Baedal (Later changed his name to Mas Oyama), founder of Kyokushin karate, starting from before WW2. The fight scenes are not like standard kungfu flicks. They don't fight for 5 minutes. It's realistic in this sense. They trade a few blows and one or the other falls down in severe pain. This movie screams of a comic book feel. Fight scenes are stopped in mid-action to emphasize the form and the impact of the blows, the color and framing of each shot is reminiscent of comics as well. It emphasizes Choi Baedal's super-heroish qualities. The storyline is very interesting, although it runs a little long. Overall, its a very beautiful film to watch. Its great to see a movie really focus on the philosophies and ideas of martial arts rather than just the fighting itself. It also deals with the fears mindset of a fighter. Its VERY sad, and can sometimes come off as corny, but the overall emotional impact is there. Watch it, and remember, its NOT a pure kung fu beat em up movie and you will enjoy it.