The Sword With No Name

Audience Reviews

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AJ I first saw this film over a decade ago and loved it. I re-watch every few years or so. Yes it has flaws, but the relationship between the leads is warm and touching. I watched it for them and still love it to this day because they also are among the most talented Korean stars and made me love their characters. The film introduced me to Korean movies 13 years ago, and I've loved them since. For me the beauty of the film, based on history but with a romantic overlay, is its story of the young queen's devotion to duty, as well as the swordsman's devotion to honor-and protecting her. He will not leave her side, and she is equally brave and stalwart. It is the story of a woman's love of country and a swordsman's love of her. And it's exquisite. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/17/23 Full Review Audience Member not enough action. Odd story but good cinematography. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good movie, with the exception of one scene at the beginning of the film both protagonists did an excellent job of acting. By the end, I had a lump in my throat. Beautiful costumes, beautiful sets, interesting plotline and subplot. Definitely worth seeing. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member nice film, I really liked the ending and the action sequences were pretty well layed out Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member The Sword With No Name is about a Joseon dynasty bounty hunter becoming the body guard of the queen he secretly loves. It's the love of first sight romance story with two character who can't stand to be separated from each other after spending one day together. The couple themselves are better developed than the actual relationship. One being a devoted Empress who sacrifices what her heart wants for the better of her country. She's given enough development to feel sympathetic towards despite the action making the body guard pursuing her miserable. The body guard is not as fleshed as the young Empress. Instead the film depicts the body guard passion for her love through his action which depending on the viewer will range from being creepy, silly, tragic, or moving. When it's not focus on romance we have a royal family bickering about politics where we have an indecisive villain. That being the king's father who changes sides every other minute, wanting to protect the queen while at other times would like to see nothing more than her death. A failed attempt to add an extra layer of intelligence to the whole film. The political elements are welcoming giving the film a more epic feel. Giving a sense of there is more struggles than simply the guy not getting the girl. Sadly it political aspect is not treated as with much importance compare to the central couple struggles. It certainly has flaws going for an epic story though failing with some half-baked material, but the characters themselves are interesting enough to carry a fantasy like story. Seung-woo Cho provides a good performance not being too romantic or cliched. He keeps it believable carrying much dramatic weight while also showing a lighter side to see what makes him likable. Soo Ae is excellent anchoring, though not dominating the film. Her rashness adds a compelling layer to the film getting across her feelings through her facial expression more than with words. Soo Ae and Seung-woo Cho chemistry works in the film favor with scenes coming off as sweet and tragic. Yong-gyun Kim doesn't skip on the chance on showing beautiful landscapes over telling a good story. He captures the natural beauty of South Korea landscapes from forest, the countryside, and palaces. The costumes aside from being lovely are very detailed. Making the film in certain scenes feel like a engrossing visual poem. The film few and short length swords fights are all terrible. Three out of four sword fights suffer the same problem where plastic CG actor are performing the acrobatics action scene speeding it up with poor uses of fast and slow motion. The change in speed either makes things go by too fast to enjoy the choreography or goes slow to hide the illusion of CG actors doing the action. Not to forget the choreography for the first two sword fights are out of place being more fitting in a video game since the rest of the films the combat is not over the top. One moment in particular being cringe worthy where our protagonist skate with a sword like clever to avoid his opponent strikes. The one and only practical action scene is the worst of the bunch. The unconvincing choreography is mostly to blamed. Viewers can forgive a lone bodyguard winning against an entire army, but not when the hero combatant shows a lack of skill. The lead runs into an army of soldiers and is surrounded with the choreography resulting in our lead mostly trying escape an armlock. It would have also helped if the lead didn't have to spin perform his punch in this particular action scene. These action scenes were unneeded taking you out of the film. The Sword With No Name is a visual treat for the eyes from it beautiful landscapes right down the colorfully detailed costumes. It's story is like a epic fairy tale which sadly never combining politics, romance, and action in coherent manner. The film positives will overshadow it flaws as it has more to admire than detract, but in the end can't feel as if the film was meant to be grander than how it ended up. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Sad, sad, sad... *cries* Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Sword With No Name

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