This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

A Disappointing Continuation

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This is one of the most visually stunning films you will ever see - don't miss it!The director creates a sense of continuous movement that provides an arpeggio to the growing romance between the two lead characters - or is it a romance? Only you can decide

I don't know how many of the reviewers of this movie realize just how difficult some of the visual effects the director managed to pull off really are. I'm currently an art student and I've helped in the filming of more than a few movies in my life and I've seen more movies than most people have even heard of and yet this movie has stood near the top of the list of my favorite films since I saw it. Now maybe I'm biased because this movie has more emotion depicted in one scene of swordplay than movies like the Notebook. If you missed it the first time through you were obviously reading a book by its cover because its story is told through expressions and movements of the characters not through the traditional blunt, in your face talking which can sometimes neglect the need for visuals in a movie. Half the movies that have come out in the past five years wouldn't be worth a damn except for their dialog. They would be better as books on tape. This movie is all about the visuals and how they blend with an amazing score. Very few directors can pull off emotions through pure visual splendor and music. How this has a barely above a five rating is disgusting. I recommend this movie to anyone. They say the plot is thin but if your just basing that off the dialog you've missed three quarters of the story. Watch the actors body language and how the music builds upon it.

When movies are being showed at festivals people automatically presume that these movies are special! My experience is that most of the time that is not the case! Most of these movies only will be shown at film festivals and not find their way into the normal theaters! The reason that most of these so called "special" movies are just bad! And they always cover up these facts by giving these movies more meaning than the movies actually have! Talking about symbolism and history and so and so on! There have been movies where I could agree with some symbolism and such! And sometimes discovering this symbolism and metaphors can be fun! But for this to happen the movie itself has to be enjoyable so that you will watch the movie more times to discover all of the special elements used! "The duelist" is not an enjoyable movie! It is one of the "special" movies mentioned above! The whole movie is set up like one big dance scene with people twirling,spinning,jumping and swinging swords! Maybe some people will call this martial arts,but believe me it isn't! It qualifies as action,nothing more nothing less! It is also not clear if this supposed to be a comedy or a drama! Trust me that it is neither! It is sometimes funny and touches dramatic elements! But for the most time actors fail to carry the drama because they act as real fools (so how can I take matters seriously)! The ending contains a little twist! We find out that the man who is telling stories (throughout the movie) to his buddies actually is telling this story! So maybe all is made up! "Oh joy!" We have been tricked,it is even worse than I thought! Is everything as bad as I say! Well,I must mention that the cinematography is very beautiful and is the main reason that this movie is worth a glance! But just a glance!

I saw this film at the opening night of the Hawaii International Film Festival, as an unannounced special screening. Outrageously colorful and stylized, it's a tale of a girl trained as a sword-fighter who works as a cop, and a mysterious masked swordsman who may or may not be in league with a gang who is flooding the country with counterfeit money. The plot is confusing enough, but it really doesn't matter: it's just an excuse for some amazing set- pieces involving crowds of sword-fighters, fighters chasing through markets and dye factories, barroom brawls, and over the top humor. And swordplay as foreplay. Not likely to get a US release, but a lot of fun. Modern Korean cinema, in my opinion, is leading the world in terms of set and scenic design, and innovative cinematography. Catch this film to see what I mean.