Musa

A violent historic epic, Musa is the tale of a Korean diplomatic envoy to China that is exiled and left for dead in the desert. Left to their own devices they must find their way back from China across the desert and steppelands. Things become more complicated when the hotheaded Korean general decides to rescue a Chinese princess from some Mongolian warriors. The initial rescue (which results in a bloody battle) may be a success, but it still leaves the Koreans and Chinese stranded in the middle of nowhere—and pursued by a horde of very angry Mongolians.

General Choi Jung (Jin-mo Ju) is determined to lead the convoy back to Korea, but when a chance arises to rescue the Chinese Emporer's daughter Princess Bu-yong (Ziyi Zhang), he decides to put everyone at risk and take it. If they succeed the diplomatic mission could turn from a failure into a success.

In the meantime there are a lot of morale issues between the upper class Korean knights, led by the general, and the footsoliders, who are led by the older and wiser Jin-lib (Sung-kee Ahn). Throw one ex-slave named Yee-Sol (Woo-sung Jung) with insanely good spear skills and a penchant for decapitating people who bother him into the mix, and you've got a group of people who are barely better to each other than their enemies are.

Featuring beautiful scenery and cinematography, excellent acting, some kick-ass battle sequences, and a surprising focus on characterization, class differences, and the relationships between people under pressure in a terrible situation. Musa is, simply put, a great movie.

The fights do have some a lot of up-close shots and shaky-cam and while this usually irritates me it works well here.  Musa isn't a martial arts film. The battle sequences are chaotic, brutal, and in several cases quite gory—heads and limbs are removed, arrows go through throats, and blood flies. There are a few smaller, more stylish, fights as well. A vicious battle in the forest is my personal favorite; old footsoldier Jin-lib proves to be an unconventional badass.

Musa has an air of nationalistic pride for Korea to it but it's never enough to be annoying. The leader of the Mongols isn't treated as a cardboard cutout, and while the Chinese princess initially comes off as spoiled, she has her own sense of honor and tries to do right by her people. The movie is melodramatic enough to become a bit cheesy here and there, but there's always another savage battle just around the corner, and the whole thing is so splendidly shot that it isn't a big deal.

There are at least two cuts available on DVD; the shorter, international version trims the movie down by around 30 minutes and will probably appeal more to people looking for a more action-oriented film; it's still quite long (my shorter DVD clocks in at 130 minutes). I've watched both and personally prefer the longer version; it has more time to give the characters depth. Either cut is very watchable.

If you're a fan of historic epics with some great battle sequences and a bit of gore doesn't scare you off, I highly recommend Musa.