Musa (2001)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Sung-su Kim

Writer:

Sung-su Kim (writer)

Release Date:

7 September 2001 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

We must go back to Koryo!

Plot:

1375. Nine Koryo warriors, envoys exiled by Imperial China, battle to protect a Chinese Ming Princess from Mongolian troops.

Plot Keywords:

Princess | China | Desert | Korea | False History

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Woo-sung Jung	...	Yeo-sol
Sung-kee Ahn	...	Jin-lib
Jin-mo Ju	...	Choi Jung
Ziyi Zhang	...	Princess Bu-yong (as Zhang Ziyi)
Yong-woo Park	...	Ju-myeong
Jeong-hak Park	...	Ga-nam
Hye-jin Yu	...	Du-chung
Seok-yong Jeong	...	Ha-il
Du-il Lee	...	Ji-san
Yeong-mok Han	...	Dan-saeng
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Er Cha Huo	...	Ying Jie-na
Jae-ho Song
Hae-jin Yu
Rongguang Yu	...	Rambulhua, Yuan General

Also Known As:

Musa the Warrior (Canada: English title)
The Warrior (UK)
The Warrior Princess (working title)
The Warriors (informal English title)
Wu shi (China: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody battle sequences.

Runtime:

158 min | Argentina:155 min | Canada:154 min | Hong Kong:129 min | UK:132 min

Country:

South Korea | China

Language:

Mandarin | Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Germany:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | UK:18 | Malaysia:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Liaoning, China

Company:

Beijing Film Studio

Trivia:

During filming in China, Woo-sung Jung got knee-injury while shooting one of his fight scenes and had to stay behind after the Korean crew came back to Korea.

Fantastic

Version: Eastern Eye's R4 DVD release. Korean audio, English subtitles.

There are two kinds of people who will enjoy 'Musa'. The first are those who will make the obvious comparisons 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and subsequently praise. The others are those like me: Easily amused by long, bloody battle scenes. Is something wrong with me?

China, 1375: The Ming are in power in China, and fighting a war against the Ming. A Korean delegation expelled by the Ming government encounters a group of Yuan soldiers who have kidnapped the Ming Princess Bu-Yong (Zhang Ziyi). After rescuing the Princess, the Koreans find that the Yuan soldiers are rather keen to capture the Princess again and kill anyone in their way. Who would have thought that making Mongolian soldiers angry was a BAD idea?

I'm a bit wary of drama movies (can you tell?), so if I'd known 'Musa' was a 2.5 hour long love story / war movie, I probably would have avoided it. I'm glad I didn't, as 'Musa' proves that even drama can be awesome! The story of love and honour set against an epic journey is one that even I'll admit to have found to moving and captivating.

Real comments aside, the only reason 'Musa' came to my attention was because it is an action movie, and features Mr. Iron Monkey himself, Rongguang Yu. A far cry from the (sometimes very) intense martial arts movies that Rongguang Yu is usually in, 'Musa' is a bloody depiction of war. No character flies around using magical kung-fu, but they can still swing a weapon around and look really cool while doing it.

I really can't say much about 'Musa' that hasn't already been said. It may have a limited appeal - its long, violent, and dramatic - but well recommended to anyone who can sit through two and a half of drama and violence. Fantastic - 10/10