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War of the Arrows
Theatrical release poster
Korean name
Hangul	최종병기 활
Hanja	最終兵器 활
Revised Romanization	Choejongbyeonggi Hwal
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oejongbyŏnggi Hwal
Directed by	Kim Han-min
Written by	Kim Han-min
Produced by	Jang Won-seok Kim Sung-hwan
Starring	Park Hae-il Ryu Seung-ryong Moon Chae-won Kim Mu-yeol
Cinematography	Kim Tae-seong Park Jong-chul
Edited by	Kim Chang-ju Steve M. Choe Heo Sun-mi
Music by	Kim Tae-seong
Distributed by	Lotte Entertainment
Release date	August 11, 2011 (2011-08-11)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	South Korea
Languages	Korean Manchu
Box office	US$51.4 million US$79,578 (director's cut version)

War of the Arrows (Korean: 최종병기 활), alternately titled Arrow: The Ultimate Weapon, is a 2011 South Korean historical action film starring Park Hae-il, Ryu Seung-ryong, and Moon Chae-won. Set after the Second Manchu invasion of Korea (Qing invasion), the film is about an archer who risks his life to save his sister from slavery under Qing-Prince Dorgon's rule.

Praised by critics for its fast pacing and combat sequences, the film drew an audience of 7.48 million, making it the highest grossing Korean film of 2011. It was also honored at the 48th Grand Bell Awards and the 32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards, including Best Actor for Park, Best Supporting Actor for Ryu, and Best New Actress for Moon. The film is also notable for the rare use of the Manchu language in some of its dialogue, and the demonstrative use of archery techniques, including a tongah arrow guide.

Plot

The film begins with two children, Nam-yi and his younger sister Ja-in, being chased by King Injo's guards and saved by their father Choi Pyeong-ryung, an officer of King Gwanghae and a skilled archer. He sends his children to find a place of refuge with his best friend Kim Mu-seon. As they escape, Ja-in begs her brother to go back to their father, but Choi Pyeong-ryung is killed in front of Nam-yi. Nam-yi, though bitten by the guard dogs, kills them and escapes with Ja-in.

13 years later, Nam-yi (Park Hae-il) has become a skilled archer and hunter with his companions Gang-du, Gab-yong, and Seo-goon, Mu-seon's son. He learns from Seo-goon (Kim Mu-yeol) that he and Ja-in (Moon Chae-won) plan to get married, with the approval of Mu-seon, who is also Ja-in's godfather. During the wedding, Nam-yi is up in the mountains hunting deer when he hears the rumble of invading Manchu forces. When Nam-yi makes it back to the village, he finds his foster father slaughtered and his sister taken away. Nam-yi then sets out to find the Qing army and rescue his sister, who was taken directly to the camp of Manchu prince Dorgon (Park Ki-woong). After he ambushes a scouting party to gain information, the Qing royal guard, led by army commander Jyuushinta (Ryu Seung-ryong), sets out to find Nam-yi.

Before being taken into Manchuria, the prisoners, led by Seo-goon, rebel, with Nam-yi arriving in the nick of time to assist them. Nam-yi, Seo-goon, Gang-du, and Gab-yong seek out the Manchu camp, finding it well guarded and Ja-in still alive. Nam-yi captures the Manchu prince, douses him with alcohol, and holds him hostage until sun rise so his sister and Seo-goon can escape, promising to meet them at a hut. He then sets the prince and his tent on fire, sowing chaos in the camp. Jyuushinta arrives at the camp at daybreak to find the prince dead, and sets out to find Nam-yi. Gang-du and Gab-yong both sacrifice themselves to buy Nam-yi time to get away. At a gorge, Nam-yi leaps across and is pinned down by the Manchu. As they cross, he is able to kill three of them but misses the chance to kill Jyuushinta.

At the rendezvous hut, two Manchu ambush Seo-goon and Ja-in but are killed. On the other side of the gorge, Nam-yi gets shot in the arm, but is able to lure a tiger into attacking the Manchu and elude them again. After gaining a lead, he prepares a final ambush and kills two of his remaining four pursuers. Finally, predicting where Jyuushinta is placed, he bends the trajectory of his last arrow, but Jyuushinta is saved by his last serviceman, who takes the fatal shot in his stead.

Nam-yi rides away to find Ja-in, as he assumes that Jyuushinta is dead. They are about to reunite when Ja-in sees Jyuushinta aiming at Nam-yi from a cliff; but before the arrow hits, Ja-in shoots the horse and Nam-yi falls. As Nam-yi and Jyuushinta face off, Ja-in runs in between them. Nam-yi's arrow barely touches Ja-in's dress, but Jyuushinta's finds its mark and sinks into Nam-yi's heart. Despite Ja-in's protests, Nam-yi pulls it out and fatally shoots Jyuushinta with it. As he lies dying in Ja-in's lap, Nam-yi says that they should go back to their old home in Hanyang. Ja-in lays Nam-yi into a boat, and she and Seo-goon cross back over the river into their homeland.

Cast

• Park Hae-il as Choi Nam-yi
  • Lee David as young Nam-yi
• Ryu Seung-ryong as Jyuushinta
• Moon Chae-won as Choi Ja-in
  • Jeon Min-seo as young Ja-in
• Kim Mu-yeol as Kim Seo-goon
• Park Ki-woong as Dorgon, Prince of Qing Manchu-China
• Ryohei Otani as Nogami
• Kim Ku-taek as Gang-du
• Lee Han-wi as Gab-yong
• Lee Geung-young as Kim Mu-seon
• Kang Eun-jin as Eun-yi
• Lee Seung-joon as Wan-han
• Lee Jae-gu as Hoo-man
• Park No-shik as Jang-soon
• Yoon Dong-hwan as Choi Pyeong-ryung
• Jo Woo-jin as Qing messenger
• Lee Ji-hyun as Gisaeng

English dubbed cast

• Travis Willingham as Choi Nam-yi (voice)
• Alexis Tipton as Choi Ja-in (voice)
• Mirra Capper as Ja-in as a small girl (voice)

Awards and nominations

References

1. "War of the Arrows (2011)". www.koreanfilm.or.kr.
2. "War of the Arrows (Director's Cut) (2011)". www.koreanfilm.or.kr.
3. Kwaak, Je-yup (24 June 2011). "Arrow aims ultimate summer success". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
4. Lee, Hyo-won (4 August 2011). "Arrow aims for new horizons". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
5. Paquet, Darcy (8 January 2012). "South Korean box office in 2011". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
6. Lee, Claire (18 October 2011). "Kim Ha-neul, Park Hae-il get top honors at Daejong Film Awards". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
7. Lee, Claire (27 November 2011). "The Unjust best picture at Blue Dragon Awards". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2012-11-18.

External links

• War of the Arrows at Naver (in Korean)
• War of the Arrows at IMDb
• Arrow, The Ultimate Weapon at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
• Arrow, The Ultimate Weapon at HanCinema

• 2011 films
• 2010s historical action films
• South Korean historical action films
• Films about archery
• Films set in the 17th century
• Films set in Joseon
• Lotte Entertainment films
• 2010s Korean-language films
• Manchu-language films
• 2010s South Korean films