1375. Nine Koryo knights are stranded in the middle of nowhere after a disastrous diplomatic mission. They have dozens of regular people along with them, and they need to get back home, through an andless desert. Peril and strife follow them all along the way, as they get to know each other. Then a woman appears.Aesthetically the movie is superb. All of the sets are created perfectly, the costumes are exquisite and the camera-work spot on. As is to be expected of modern korean drama, the actors portray heavy emotion and the plot is often melodramatic. Each one of the many characters is a metaphor representing something much larger than itself, often in satire of contemporary society. The storyline as a whole is an adaptation of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, with many parallels between personae between the two. See for yourself to decide who you think is who. Can you guess Teiresias?

It's my favorite eastern at this moment. From the more recent movies, I did like "Warlords" a lot too. But "Musa" (aka the Warrior) is on the top of my list. And if you go out and watch it (if you haven't already), then make sure, you watch the Korean cut and not the international cut. They seemed to think that western audiences do not need a few things. And as I have spoken to a Korean friend of mine, I got some info on some rituals and customs, I wasn't aware of.But even without that knowledge the movie does offer you a lot. Be it in the action department, in the story department and in the character development. It is not a coincidence, that this was the most expensive movie, when it got made, in the Asian market (I'm not sure, if this still holds up, or Warlords or any other movie broke that "record").Of course you have to be able to watch an Eastern. For some people this is like torture (I know a few friends of mine couldn't sit through the shorter international version of this). But I'm talking about people who do get Asian cinema and love it. If you are not into it, that's cool. Just don't watch this or turn it off, if you gave it a try. But if you have some spark for Eastern movies, this is the one to watch! Believe me!

I dunno...Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood but this flix left me cold. Except for being a little more graphically gory then most I felt that plot and action was pretty generic: the super heroes, the beautiful haughty princess, yawn...It was actually even pretty funny how two of the main heroes, the slave and the general, both were seemingly cut down and dead only to be perfectly fit and slaughtering dozens just a few scenes after their fall. Man, their powers of recovery were amazing! Not a doctor around either. The heroic leads glared their way throughout this movie. I'd rather watch The Seven Samurai for the umpteeth time that waste my time on this movie.

Musa, though long and drawn out, was entertaining and well written. I felt the authenticity of the actors and sets.I'm especially pleased with this film because one of the most fascinating Asian cultures is also one of the least explored on the big screen. I was very much impressed by the Korean actors and their ability to deliver powerful and meaningful roles.I definitely would recommend this film not to martial arts buffs (which this is not what the film is about at all), but to world history buffs that would like to take a glimpse at an unexplored culture for the first time.