War Of The Arrows (2011)

Orphaned as a child, Nam Yi overcame tragic loss to become the most accomplished hunter and archer of his generation. When his beloved Korea comes under attack from Chinese imperial forces, he returns from the forest to discover that his sister, and only living relative, has been taken into slavery by Manchu invaders. Now faced with the most daunting challenge of his life, he must fight to re-unite his family and prove his courage against the greatest archers history has ever known.

There are times when I need to watch a historical Asian epic and this one from Korea certainly fit the bill. The story is familiar but engaging. I really enjoyed the arrow effects that turned the ancient weapon into something akin to having a sniper's rifle in the hands of an expert. I actually wish they had used the 'arrow cam' less because in this case, less is definitely more.

The film builds the action up quickly to one long chase sequence and has drawn comparisons with 'Apocalypto'. I can see why people would say that having seen both films. Many of the scenes in 'War of the Arrows' could have been directed lifted from the Mel Gibson film. The version I saw was dubbed well so there were less awkward translation moments than usual.

8/10