Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A Masterpiece!

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

When a thief driving a motorcycle steals a purse of a pedestrian, the clumsy, naive and honest rookie policeman Sang-hwan (Seung-beom Ryu) runs after him, but the skilled specialist in martial arts Wi-jin (So-yi Yoon) captures the criminal and Sang-hwan is severely injured. She brings Sang-hwan to her home, where the six Masters of Tao heal him and believe that he has a powerful Qi, the spiritual energy of the universe, and could be a powerful warrior. Sang-hwan begins his training to ascend to a Maruchi, while the evil and ambitious Heuk-woon (Doo-hong Jung) is accidentally released from his imprisonment. The powerful Heuk-woon attacks the masters, searching a key that they protect, which would permit him to become an Arahan and dominate the world. When the masters are defeated, Sang-hwan and Wi-jin are the only hope to mankind."Arahan" has great special effects, a nice cast and could be a good action movie. Unfortunately the comedy never works, with the clumsy anti-hero Sang-hwan being a confused not-funny character. Maybe this type of humor works in other cultures, but I did not like it. The developments of the rich characters is weak, and maybe in Asian cultures the concepts of Qi and Tao are clear, but at least for me, I was forced to research about these concepts of the Chinese culture to understand their meanings. But for fans like me of South-Korean movies, "Arahan" is essential. My vote is six.Title Brazil): "Arahan"

In a similar style and tone of Wilson Yip's "Lung Fu Moon" (Dragon Tiger Gate, 2006), we find ourselves immersed in one of the most sensational fantasy-action martial arts films that truly becomes a symbol of both artistic vision and amazing confrontational sequences. Each piece of this film is brilliantly played as we eagerly watch the development of Sang Hwan's character. The music that accompanied many of the fight sequences created such a tense and exciting backdrop - every scene was as stunning as the next. In addition to the incredible martial arts display, this film presents a strong sense of comedy that is interspersed at just the right moments. The fact that the movie was a very urban, down-town city setting added to the overall enjoyment - especially considering the strange mix of fantasy-action and the realism of metropolitan city streets.I highly recommend this film to those wishing for a fun, thrilling, fantasy-action martial arts journey. It was so amazing!

A geekish cop is, unbeknowst to him, a secret chi master: he falls in with the 7 Grand Masters (although there's only five left) who are busy trying, and mostly failing, to find their way in the world. A bad guy turns up who wants a magic key that will make him God, or some such agreeable nonsense: our hero and his friends try to stop him. A lightweight, fun Asian action-adventure movie that is what it is, but is a good example of what it is: nice wire work, good fights, a little lowbrow comedy, and a nice slambang conclusion. Some fun is had with the characters trying to adapt to changing times: a sequence with the Grandmasters on a television show is priceless. Manages to entertain without getting in the way of itself; recommended.

I had a chance to view this film during the NIFFF 2004 (Neuchatel International Fantasy Film Festival) in Switzerland. Far Eastern Films are very popular this days (at least in Europe) and offer a different way of telling stories than the big US-productions. The naive downtown policeman Sang Hwan helps the good and punishes the bad. He is discovered b a martial art master and trained to unleash the powers within him, in order to fight the ultimate evil Heung Un and save the world. This South-Korean film is combining humor, action and special effects a little bit in the tradition of Jackie Chan-films. "Arahan" is based on a Korean cartoon. 3 out of 5 *