Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

kosmasp 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!

cchamb I typically enjoy films like this one, but there is a lot of room for improvement for North American release of Musa.Overall it was pretty good. There are several great battle scenes with great choreography, but don't expect the same gravity defying fights you'd see in a movie like Crouching Tiger or House of Flying Daggers. These fights were more along the lines of Braveheart. In other words, the laws of physics were generally observed during battle. The fight scenes are mostly believable.The story also works on multiple levels. Key themes included leadership under pressure, loyalty, love, designated class roles, and courage. This isn't simply an action movie. The characters are believable and interesting. The story is well written and well executed.One of my favorite things about this movie is the landscape. I really felt a sense of "being there" in the alternately scorching and freezing desert. The region where it was filmed is clearly both beautiful and forbidding at once.Now for my complaints. First, I don't think the translation to English subtitles was very well done. The subtitles were filled with spelling and grammatical errors, but that wasn't as bad as the very brief length of time they were displayed on the screen. Sometimes the words would appear so briefly that I had to rewind two or three times to catch a key phrase. This didn't happen terribly often, but it was often enough to be annoying. It made me wonder if this DVD went through any sort of quality assurance before being packaged.Second, two languages are spoken throughout the movie, Korean and a dialect of Chinese, (Cantonese maybe?). Communication between the Korean and Chinese characters, or the lack thereof, plays a significant role in the movie. Not being able to tell the difference between the two languages, I feel like I missed out on something. For example, when one of the Korean soldiers was addressing the mixed party of Korean and Chinese characters, I just assumed everyone could understand him. Later I realized that wasn't the case. It was a mental exercise to remember who on the screen would be able to understand whomever was speaking at the moment. Obviously a native speaker of either language would have had a much easier time following this aspect of the storyline.Third, I found it difficult to understand the cultural motivations and distinctions between some of the characters. There were several social classes represented in the movie including peasants, royalty, envoys, slaves, military officers, and enlisted soldiers. The caste system wasn't explained and didn't translate well to a Western viewer like myself. A viewer with a prior understanding would have gotten more out of this aspect of the movie, recognizing what kind character interaction is normal or taboo.

livinatthemovies 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.

wngdhussr I recently had occasion to rent this film "MUSA (The Warrior)", from my local library. I think I vaguely remember a small blurb about it in the local paper some time ago, but never got around to seeing it. Boy, was it my mistake to miss THIS film on the big screen... (I'm going to rent it again).Click on the link below, and you can read the various synopsis' of the film and all the essential elements of it. http://www.uk.imdb.com/title/tt0275083/#commentEssentially it takes place in 1375 and involves the Koreans and the Chinese and the the fighting they do against the ancestors of the TARTARS, the early Mongols. Story: Excellent. FX: AWESOME. Characters ensemble: Very Good. It appears that they spared NO expense in the effects dept, nor, in the costuming & weaponry dept. How is it related to this list? It really helps one understand the developments and influence the early Mongols (and the East in general), had on the TATARS, and other Eastern influences that ultimately crept into Polish culture. Since I am the first person in U.S. History to re-enact the Polish Winged Hussars, I found this back information very relevant to my research. There was a similarity between this film and say 'With Fire & Sword', for instance. I saw some parallels, in the characters and themes, although in *entire scope*, this film blows away Fire & Sword.Although there is gratuitous war carnage and decapitations and severed limbs in battle, blood by the gallons, arrows shot gratuitously into necks, eyes, heads, throats, etc.... I believe it is not gratuitous for the sake of itself, rather a necessary element for the storyline. War, especially back then was a gruesome deal, and to see it truly within it's context is very much an eye-opening thing. Although I highly advocate that the members here interested in early research SEE THIS FILM!, do NOT, let your kids see it. It's too intense for them. You'll really love the battle costuming, weaponry, bows, even down to the accurate stirrups used and pointed-toed boots used by the later generations of Eastern foes of Poland.Subtitles are in Chinese, Korean and English. English being the best for us. If you can FIND a copy of this DVD to own, DO IT! It BELONGS in your home research library's. In either case, SEE THIS FILM! Feedback anyone? Cheers, Rik