Fighter in the Wind

Fighter in the Wind AKA Baramui Fighter
South Korea (2004)
Starring:  Dong-kun Yang, Aya Hirayama, Masaya Kato

Fighter in the wind is one of those 60 or 70 movies I've been sitting on for five or six months, waiting till the time was right to watch it.  It had literally been so long I forgot what it was supposed to be about.  I'm glad I finally took the time to watch it.   This movie has some pretty horrible reviews, but given that it is based on a true story some of Choi Bae-dal's fans might not like it.  In nearly every movie that surrounds a figure wrapped in legends truth is exaggerated and the films tend to use a sort of poetic license as history is twisted to fit the big screen.  Fighter in the Wind is no different.

The movie begins as a Korean man ends up joining the Japanese air force during WWII.  After he and a few other Koreans refuse to go on a kamikaze mission the fighting life of Bae-dal begins...starting with a Japanese General.  There is a sense of honor that Baedal seems to be fighting to obtain that starts in that one fight with the General.

There are a few things I didn't like about this movie.  The action while good is all fragmented.  I like my martial arts flicks to have fluid action through each fight and not clip to the punch landing or knee breaking.  Okay maybe I have just one complaint.  The movie other then the lack of fluidity from the director in the fight scenes is pretty cool.  All in all I wish I had watched it months ago instead of letting it sit there.

Quote(s):  A man can be poor As long as he has a goal and strives to attain it he is beautiful. - Choi Baedal

I am afraid of fighting.  I am afraid of being beaten and loosing.  But, I am more afraid of surviving as a cripple than dying in a fight.

Ajeossi - The Man from Nowhere

Ajeossi - The Man from Nowhere
Korea (2010)
Starring:  Bin Won, Sae-ron Kim, Hyo-seo Kim


Ajeossi was unique.  It certainly isn't the typical bullet ballad or is it a straight kick ass movie, but it has aspects of both.  The beginning is a little slow, but when the action starts to kick in the pace changes completely.  


As the movie starts it opens up defining this awkward relationship between a pawn shop owner that shuts most of the world out and a little girl that is without friends or a father.  There's speculation due to his seclusion that the pawnshop owner is a sexual predator, but we soon learn that is far from the truth.  


From one silent good deed to the next he takes care of the little girl till her mother betrays the wrong group of people and she is kidnapped.  From then on this silent pawn shop owner goes up against gangs, villains, organ harvesters, police, and his own past. . . when all the forces at work in the movie come together there's one spectacular bang. 


The Man from Nowhere touches on some subjects that we all wish didn't exist.  In some very blunt ways it depicts the atrocities committed by organ harvesters, the dark underworld of gangs and drugs, and the violence created by these shady paths of life.  This movie is super graphic and will leave you going WTF? a few times.  To me it is in a small way a reminder of the acts committed against other humans on a daily basis, we should all be so lucky as to never see this part of life in reality.


With that said, the choreography is done well.  The cinematography is also pretty good.  Every person in the movie had a foul mouth and the way things were translated gave me a good laugh.  It could be the movie was actually written that way and it was designed to interject humor through dialog - I would welcome someone's opinion who can understand it in it's native language.  All in all I'm glad I watched it.  If you want to see it in English though, I'd go for the subtitled version instead of the dubbed one - the audio on the dubbed version is all kinds of horrible.   
Quote:  He didn't flinch when I shot the gun.

Jeon Woo-chi - The Taoist Wizard

Jeon Woo-chi
2009
South Korea
Starring:  Su-jeong Lim, Yun-seok Kim, Dong-won Kang

Jeon Woo-chi was a whole lot of fun to watch.  This movie is a fusion of fantasy, adventure, action, humor, and deities.

Jeon Woo-chi is about a wizard, Wooji, who is grand in all aspects except that of the reality painted in the movie; his character is acting inside of acting.  He is a jester, adventurer, a wizard, wise, and a prankster.  His character makes the movie.

This movie is another from South Korea that explorers time travel and integrates it into the movie.  In Jeon Woo-chi the part of the movie takes place in the distant past and part in some time that resembles our present.

The way magic is used in this movie is a new portrayal of the subject to me.  This movie uses Taoist magic consisting of charms or spells written on pieces of paper which are only good once as best as I can tell.  The use of Taoist magic is a fitting compliment to the gods that are portrayed in the movie.

I have to say I enjoy what I call outlandish outfits used in many of the period movies of South Korea.  They make me smile.

All in all I had a great time watching this movie; it was fun, a good laugh, entertaining, and presented some really unique CGI/magic.  If you're into the fantasy martial arts genre this is a movie for you.

Quote:  "I am a wizard.  What is a wizard you ask?  A ruler of the winds, a bringer of the rain on dry lands, who leaps through space and governs the world with a swift blade, but handles that sword like a gentle flower.  A wizard's duty is to aid the helpless.  The head is where all decay begins!"

Cheon Gun - Heaven's Soldiers

Cheon Gun (Heaven's Soldiers) 2005

Heaven's Soldier's, from Korea, is surrounded by quite a bit of speculation.  This movie while produced by South Korea is viewed by much of the world as a plea for a unified Korea.  This speculation might have been lost in translation, but I can understand how it might have been inferred.

After a super secret meeting between North & South Korea and a nuclear weapon is stolen.  After some cosmic events this weapon is transported back in time by pure coincidence - along with a small group of special forces troops which were firing at each other prior to traveling through time.

One of the first people the team comes into contact with is a figure of extreme historical significance who instead of being the valiant conqueror/protector is a petty thief and beggar.  The North Korean troops are deluded enough to believe that this great figure is part of the ruling line of their country while South Korea reinforces how that is impossible.  From that point on there are many pokes at North Korea by the South Korean troops.

This movie was filmed fairly well.  There are also many parts of the movie that made me laugh.  The fights between the future troops and invading barbarians of the past were done well.  There's one part of the movie, a scene where a claymore blows up that is a must see.  Cheon Gun makes it in my list of to see movies as one of those you put a number on and wait for the day when you have plenty of time.  It is entertaining and it does give some very slight insight into the relationship between the Koreas.