War of The Arrows

The Korean House of Flying Daggers?

War of The Arrows (2011)
Choi-jong-byeong-gi Hwal (original title)
122 min - Action/History
Director: Han-min Kim
Writer: Han-min Kim (screenplay)

Stars: Hae-il Park, Seung-yong Ryoo and Chae-won Moon

Synopsis

Set in 1636, the second Manchurian invasion of Korea rages chaos, as villages are attacked by overpowering Manchurian soldiers. The Manchurians kidnap childhood sweethearts, Ja-in and Seo-Goon on their wedding day. In an effort to save his sister, Ja-in's brother Nam-Yi sets out to defeat the enemy and save his sister and other Korean victims with only 1 bow.

After not hearing much about this film I was very surprised to see just how great it was! After a bit of research I discovered it was the 2nd highest grossing film in South Korea in 2011. Not only was it a financial success, it also won numerous awards, including Best Actor for Park Hae-il and Best New Actress for Moon Chae-won at the Grand Bell Awards (Korean equivalent of the Academy Awards). I think this film deserves all the success it has achieved.

The great thing about War of The Arrows compared to a lot of the other recent Asian period films is you don't have to know anything about the history. The history is there, but all that matters is the Manchurians have captured Nam-Yi's sister, and he will do anything to get her back. One of the Qing warriors Jyu Shin-Ta has an elite troop which are trying to hunt down Nam-Yi to stop him from doing anymore damage. Can Nam-Yi rescue his sister before she becomes a slave?

I have heard War of The Arrows being compared to House of Flying Daggers and The Hunger Games... WTF? I actually noticed some similarities with this and HoFD, some of the scenery and cinematography, the arrows and daggers, and the ending is also a little reminiscent. No idea were The Hunger Games comparisons came from...

The film looks stunning! Some of the projectiles of the arrows are excellent, the way the camera follows them and the realism really makes this film! There is hardly any hand to hand combat but plenty of weapon fights with spears and arrows to keep you entertained. The characters are all very like able especially the lead. Occasionally the action takes a back seat for some character development, but it's all relevant and interesting, and gives you a breather until the next epic fight scene. The film being just over 2 hours flies by and you will be entertained start to finish.

I recommend this film to all! Especially for fans of period action films like Hero, House of Flying Daggers, etc. War of The Arrows got released on Monday 7th across the UK on DVD and Blu-Ray. And it is also available on US Netflix for immediate streaming.

8/10

Trailer below: