Review of Bichunmoo / Musa The Warrior Collection Box Set

Introduction

This is a review of The Warrior, the second film in this set. Read my review of Bichunmoo here.

A Korean war drama from the 14th century is not everyone`s cup of tea, but this ought to be the logical progression for fans of films from the east, particularly those of you who have stacks of Hong Kong Legends discs in your collections.

The Koreans are on a mission for peace, but the Chinese are not interested in peace. They capture the peace keepers and dump them out in the desert. But the Mongols come to their rescue and the Koreans escape the Chinese. Then a princess stumbles their way causing more problems. Which side will win out in the end?

Video

A 2.33:1 anamorphic transfer. Yes, really. Just a tiny bit less wide than your usual 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. Apart from this odd size, and the slight wonky look (as Mike noted in his original review of this film, one half of the screen is in fact a pixel higher), this is an excellent transfer from the Premier Asia team. A limited colour pallette provides a stunning vision of the 14th century in the east.

Audio

A choice of DD5.1 English dub (avoid at all costs, it`s totally inappropriate on a film like this), DD5.1 Korean or a Korean dts soundtrack. The 2 Korean tracks are excellent, with the dts taking the prize as it just has the edge in terms of quality.

Plenty of work for your speakers here, with great bass, and lots of sounds flying around. A real enhancement to your viewing pleasure.

Features

Another feature packed DVD from the Premier Asia team.

Disc 1 contains trailers and the ever present Bey Logan is joined by Mike Leede. It`s a good track as they have plenty to say about the film and Korean cinema in general. However, as Mike noted in his review again, it would have been nice to have had someone from the film involved as there is much they could have told us.

Disc 2 is packed with documentaries and interviews, making up around 3 hours of bonus material. There is quite a bit of cross pollination of material in there, and it`s made up of

Epic Proportions: The Making Of The Warrior featurette
A Breed Apart featurette
The Art Of War, a behind the scenes featurette

There are also out-takes, more behind the scenes material and 20 minutes of interesting deleted scenes.

Biographies and the gallery close out the extras section. A well rounded bunch of material.

Conclusion

This is not your usual chop socky action feast. A war drama it well and truly is, lacking the high flying wire action that you might have seen elsewhere. There are plenty of battle scenes, but these are more of the gritty war type than the flying swords of Crouching Tiger.

Difficult to watch at times, but definitely worth the effort at least once. A slice of something different from the east, packaged up in an excellent 2 disc set. Good visuals and great sound are backed up by lots of extras which give you some real insight into the film, and increase your appreciation.

Recommended as a change from the usual HK action flick. Bichunmoo, the other film in the set is very much along the same lines, so the scores apply equally to both films. Worth renting or borrowing from a friend in the first instance.