Musa – Der Krieger (2001)

Musa – Der Krieger: Directed by Sung-su Kim. With Jung Woo-sung, Sung-Ki Ahn, Ju Jin-Mo, Ziyi Zhang. 1375. Nine Koryo warriors, envoys exiled by Imperial China, battle to protect a Chinese Ming Princess from Mongolian troops.

“Version: Eastern Eyeu0026#39;s R4 DVD release. Korean audio, English subtitles.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are two kinds of people who will enjoy u0026#39;Musau0026#39;. The first are those who will make the obvious comparisons u0026#39;Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonu0026#39; and subsequently praise. The others are those like me: Easily amused by long, bloody battle scenes. Is something wrong with me?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eChina, 1375: The Ming are in power in China, and fighting a war against the Ming. A Korean delegation expelled by the Ming government encounters a group of Yuan soldiers who have kidnapped the Ming Princess Bu-Yong (Zhang Ziyi). After rescuing the Princess, the Koreans find that the Yuan soldiers are rather keen to capture the Princess again and kill anyone in their way. Who would have thought that making Mongolian soldiers angry was a BAD idea? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m a bit wary of drama movies (can you tell?), so if Iu0026#39;d known u0026#39;Musau0026#39; was a 2.5 hour long love story / war movie, I probably would have avoided it. Iu0026#39;m glad I didnu0026#39;t, as u0026#39;Musau0026#39; proves that even drama can be awesome! The story of love and honour set against an epic journey is one that even Iu0026#39;ll admit to have found to moving and captivating.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eReal comments aside, the only reason u0026#39;Musau0026#39; came to my attention was because it is an action movie, and features Mr. Iron Monkey himself, Rongguang Yu. A far cry from the (sometimes very) intense martial arts movies that Rongguang Yu is usually in, u0026#39;Musau0026#39; is a bloody depiction of war. No character flies around using magical kung-fu, but they can still swing a weapon around and look really cool while doing it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI really canu0026#39;t say much about u0026#39;Musau0026#39; that hasnu0026#39;t already been said. It may have a limited appeal – its long, violent, and dramatic – but well recommended to anyone who can sit through two and a half of drama and violence. Fantastic – 10/10”