Released in 2011, "War of the Arrows" is set during the second Manchu invasion of Korea where Korean Nam Yi, an expert archer, pursues the Manchurians to save his younger sister Ja-In, who was dragged off by the invaders.The tone is akin to 2006' "Apocalypto" and, while the plots are similar, the protagonist in "War of the Arrows" is the hunter rather than the escapee; not to mention his loved ones have been captured by the enemy and torn from their homes, not hidden somewhere near their village. Imagine the excellent TV series "Vikings," but with way more action and set in 17th century Korea. This is a top-of-the-line adventure/action flick with awesome forest cinematography, superb costuming, effective score, convincing acting and consistent thrills. All you have to do is persevere through the first half hour and then it's non-stop-thrills from there. There are some flaws, like the villagers being wholly surprised by the Manchurian attack to the point of obliviously performing their regular activities to the very moment the horsemen strike by the sword; even a wedding ceremony is completely surprised. Why sure! The chasm sequence is also weak because the warriors wouldn't be able to successfully jump across unless it was 20' wide or less, but it looks much wider. Then there's the lame tiger CGI. Despite these negatives, this is an eminent adventure/action flick.Unless you speak Korean you'll have to click on the English audio or subtitles on the DVD. The film runs 128 minutes and was shot in South Korea. GRADE: B+

War of the Arrows, also known as Arrow, the Ultimate Weapon, is set in historic South Korea. Language includes Korean and Manchu, but English subtitles are also available. Set after the Second Manchu invasion of Korea, there is a strong link to real life events. The lead actors are a brother and sister who have a strong but shaky relationship. The theme of the movie involves the invasion by the Manchurian's of Korea, who are allied with the south Chinese who the Manchurian's detest. Nam-yi, following in his father's footsteps, becomes a highly skilled archer and hunter. His skills get put to the test after his sister Ja-in gets kidnapped by the Qing army. He decides to put his life on the life to save her. What we see involves a fascinating battle between Nam-yi and the Qing soldiers, led by another ruthless and highly skilled archer. Viewers are set for a highly entertaining battle, with a great story line. Yet another fantastic movie from South Korea, who are becoming masters of story telling and film production. This film is highly recommended and would be a great way to end the day along with some hot beverage.

Its simple story is unfolded in Korea of the 17th century, the mid- period of the Chosun Dynasty. In 1623, Kwanghaegun was dethroned by the Injo revolt and immediately replaced by his cousin King Injo. Young Nam- i's father, a military officer, was killed being labeled as a traitor, and, as ordered by his father before his death, Nam-i managed to escape with his younger sister at the last minute. They went to their father's friend living outside the capital, who took a great risk by raising them as the part of his household while hiding their identities.13 years have passed. Both Nam-i(Park Hae-il) and Ja-in(Moon Chae-won) are now grown-ups. Although still protected well, Nam-i has virtually no future except enjoying the hunt with his servants or polishing his archery skills, for it is impossible for him to enter the government due to his background. Meanwhile, Ja-in is happily going to marry Seo Goon(Kim Moo-yeol), the only son of their protector who has liked her since they were young, and Nam-i is happy for his sister.However, in the middle of their wedding, the vast army of Qing suddenly invades their town. Unlike King Kwanghae-gun, King Injo made an unwise diplomatic choice of disregarding the rising power of the Qing Dynasty which would soon replace the Ming Dynasty in China. He paid a hefty price for underestimating Qing; he had to personally surrender to the Emperor in legendary humiliation while many of his people were taken to Qing as the prisoners/hostages. Ja-in and her groom are among them, and it is Nam-i's mission to rescue them from the Qing army and take them back to their country. He is willing to eliminate anyone standing on his way with his bow, but it won't be easy. While he is mostly alone, there is the elite force led by the Qing general Jyu Sinta(Ryoo Seung-yong), who notices Nam-i's uncanny talent right from their first encounter and recognizes him as a worthy opponent to him and his men.The film relatively lags while establishing the characters and their situations during the first half, but, once everything is set and ready, it kicks into high gear to the full speed. You may find the use of shaky cam in period drama distracting, but it is right approach because it is necessary for the characters to move fast and think fast like Jason Bourne for their survival and win. While rarely losing the sense of the direction, the movie is filled with energy to tighten our attention to what is going on the screen. Being real is always important for this kind of action movies, and the director Kim Han-min and his crews do deserve the praise for their accomplishment. You can see the people in the movie are really running in the mountain forests, or, in one gripping scene, jumping over the cliff to reach to the other side across a ravine.And I was very amused by how the arrows were used in the film. The arrows are more flexible than bullets, so some seemingly impossible trajectories are possible at least in the movie. While I believe the arrows on the screen are CGIs in many cases like the bullets in "Wanted"(2008), these arrows look real and destructive, and they are not shot mindlessly. The characters usually shoot their arrows based on quick calculations and their instincts – that makes the confrontations between them look like a deadly chess game between the expert snipers with rifles.The characterization is broad, but the performers have strong presence to pull us into the plot. Although it is the national conflict at first, the story ultimately becomes the personal conflict between the characters determined to stop each other with their all hearts and brains, and we become involved in it. Park Hae-il is a believable action movie hero of the 17th century; you can sense he will even descend to the bottom of hell to save his sister and his friend. Moon Chae-won is also good as the bride who is as resourceful as her groom. In the action movies made in these days, the female characters no longer stand back from guys' actions, and Ja-in does not disappoint us with her quiet but defiant attitude to her enemies.The villain is always one of the crucial factors determining the success of the action movies, and Ryoo Seung-yong, who was impressive as the leader of North Korean military unit in recent South Korean movie "The Front Line"(2011), gives a forceful performance with his penetrating eyes and steely will behind them. He and other non-Chinese actors are pretty much believable with their Manchurian dialogues at least in my view(Machurian has been almost a dead language since the Qing Dynasty engulfed China and then assimilated itself into the Han Chinese culture, so few will find faults in the movie). I find it interesting how the movie allows them to have some human sides. They are not vicious monsters, and they have an understandable reason for being a lot furious about Nam-i and others who meddle with their business. Though they are quite determined to kill our hero, you may feel a little sorry for them.Sidenote: As some South Korean critic pointed out, there is a major historical error in the movie with Qing prince Dorgon, who is depicted as the character more or less than a petty bad guy. Unlike his fictional counterpart, he lived longer and did lots of thing to solidify the Qing Dynasty as the regent prince. That does not spoil the entertainment, but I think it is not bad to know about such a historical fact before watching the movie.

Well, I was dumbfounded when I see both rating of this movie and number of comments. The only comfort for this outstanding movie is what ever few ratings under 30 as of today are all positive. It happens in past as well that some of the outstanding movies lost somehow and don't reach to the broader audience. This movie can easily compare to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers, Hara-Kiri & Warriors of the Rainbow. But unfortunately this movie didn't get its due credit and also publicity, because this movie don't have big names like Ang Lee or something, otherwise acting, direction, screen play, story and editing are top notch. This is a one among few war movies which shows violence and bloodshed very much but you don't feel like its just gore you feel pain, you feel brutality of the war. Of late Koreans are coming up with great movies but among all the Korean movies I have seen so far this is the BEST. A 7.1 critic rating somehow don't justify at least to me.