I can’t wait to watch this movie! The Swordsman, directed by Choi Jae-hoon (최재훈) and starring Jang Hyuk (장혁), Kim Hyun-soo (김현수), Joe Taslim, Jung Man-sik (정만식) was filmed in 2017 but due to some production/financial complications, it was only released las month in South Korea, in the midst of a pandemic and with relatively little promotion. Still, like a true underdog, the movie managed to take second place among all movies released that week (release date was Sep 23rd) and 1st among domestic releases.
With new movies released during Chuseok, The Swordsman went down a few spots but hey, it’s still out there fighting the good fight and it has gotten mostly positive reviews from press and audience. From what I could gather, the general concensus would be 1) Predictable story but moves at a good pace 2) Good acting 3) Amazing action sequences
It has been compared to other action movies like Taken, The Man From Nowhere (also from Opus Pictures), The Professional (aka Leon), etc. The movie has been sold to 55 countries and here is hoping a major streaming service also picks it up soon.
Here is some more good stuff to get you as excited as I am (but beware of spoilers)
TRAILER:
TRAILER: CHARACTERS
MUST WATCH: Impressive action sequence, all in one take. This is what got me the most excited!
THE MOVIE BEATS REVIEW: A thorough review but practically spoiler free. It focuses on the action sequences
“The right blend of of exciting sword-wielding action, drama, and warrior’s code to satisfy the appetites of more die-hard genre fans“.
Full written version:
https://www.themoviebeat.com/the-swordsman-2020-korean-movie-review/
Hancinema review: A good read, with some analysis of the character’s motivations. It contains spoilers
https://www.hancinema.net/hancinema-s-film-review-the-swordsman-145684.html
Visit the Soompi movie thread for more information:
Stuck on Hyuk 
i’m stupid for wonder about this like it means the worst but what is he reading…….. 😦
I loved the Swordsman, it’s one of my favorite movies, and I do have some Jang Hyuk fan art for all you beautiful Hyukie fans! http://www.etsy.com/shop/sageukparadise. It can be found in the “장혁 Collection.”
Thank you Lauren! Your fan art is indeed beautiful. I hope you get inspired to create some for Bloody Heart
I will! I have some in person events coming up, but once Those are done, I will create some new stuff!
And I forgot to mention that I watched the Swordsman on The Site Which Shall Not be Named. I can’t say how good or bad the story is because it is computer subbed. The story seems pretty typical but one thing is for sure, the action scenes are amazing!
The plot is very generic, nothing super original but the action scenes were indeed great and I thought the actors were charismatic enough to keep it entertaining.
@Drama Fan – I’m commenting here so as not to post a spoiler in the Chuno rewatch over at the Fangirl Verdict:
You may know this already but chose not to mention it in your comment about fleshing out more of Dae gil’s character because of spoilers for newbies over there – but as to how Dae guk’s father treated Eonnyeon and her brother – did you know that Eonnyeon’s brother is Dae gil’s half brother?
Yes, I know all of that lol! But that doesn’t really flesh out anything for me. I feel like everything I know about Daegil is from JHs acting and not so much from what was written. Its all assumptions, I “assume” the father was a hypocritical bastard but I might also “assume” Unnyun didn’t really ever do hard work and apparently “never went out” as she was always and continues to be so naive and so physically fragile. We are all inferring based on a few dialogues and the way they talked and were dressed but a lot of blanks were left for us to fill in.
Oh, yes. I didn’t mean to say that Dae gil’s connection to Eunnyeon’s brother told us all – not at all. If anything, it’s more of an insight into the brother than to Dae gil whom I don’t think even knew about it, at least he didn’t in their younger years.
I just wondered if you’d caught that as it’s just a one-liner thrown out there.
I haven’t watched the movie yet (probably will today) so I’m staying away from reading this entire post of Drama Fan’s until I’ve watched.
But I’m here to ask what injury did Hyuky sustain while filming? This article says he was hurt but doesn’t say how badly or where: https://geekculture.co/mastering-two-languages-eating-nasi-goreng-and-training-blind-with-joe-taslim-and-jang-hyuk-for-the-swordsman/
Hi Beez, this is not a review full of spoilers. I haven’t watched the movie myself. The movie is not available to US viewers yet. I plan to post something about how you can watch the movie through the Hawaii Film Festival website and/or app starting November 5th. The cost is around 5$. His inury was around his eyes. I will look for an Instagram post where its visible and post the link.
Thanks, Drama Fan. Although I haven’t checked, I plan on watching it today at everybody’s favorite illegitsl site. But I’ll still pay for it whenever it becomes available to rent.
But I don’t think its available there lol
You’re right! dagnabbit! Although they do have a holding place for it that says “upcoming”. I thought it was released in September?
Released in SK. Who knows when they’ll be able to get it. Like I said, best bet for now, is to wait till Nov 5th to watch it in the US. At least we’ll get that.
Surprisingly, I’ve been seeing a lot of movies “there” within a week of their release. I watched Alive with Yoo Ah in and Park Shin hye the same week it came out in S.K. Although that movie didn’t need much by way of subtitles as there’s very little dialogue.