War of the Arrows: Deadly targets | TV/Streaming
The first Manchu invasion of Korea was in 1627 during their Joseon Dynasty. Korea wasn't impressed with the newly declared Qing Dynasty. Huang Taiji led the second Manchu invasion of Korea. King Injo was forced to submit to the Qing Dynasty and break with the former Ming Dynasty. King Injo gave warships to the Manchu and paid tribute.
Huang Taiji's half-brother Dorgon, who would eventually rule through his nephew, is the heavy in "War of the Arrows." The movie actually begins with a father Choi Pyeong-ryung (Yoon Dong-hwan) fighting off King Injo's soldiers at his spacious upscale compound. Loyal to King Gwanghaegun, Pyueong-ryung is considered a traitor as Gwanghaegun had been forced to abdicate in 1623 and was in exile at Jeju Island. Under attack by soldiers and dogs, Pyeong-ryung sends his son Nam-yi (Park Hae-il) and daughter Ja-in to his old friend Kim Min-soon as he stays behind. Though his sister begs him to stay and help their father, Nam-yi having been charged with her safety, forces her to leave, looking back just in time to see his father beheaded.
There will be more bloodshed along the way, but not until 13 years later, in 1636. Min-soon's son, Seo-goon (Kim Mu-yeol) has fallen in love with Ja-in and they are to be married. Nam-yi, although a skilled archer like his father, feels there is no future for the son of a traitor and lives out in the forest. Although he gives Ja-in his approval, he doesn't even bother to stay for the duration his sister's wedding to Seo-goon, a rare comedic interlude.
Nam-yi just happens to be in the hills hunting when the noise of Prince Dorgon's great mounted army moving quickly into Korea alerts him. But he's on foot and can't return to the village in time to warn the wedding party and must fight off the Qing warriors that he meets. When he finally arrives at the village, Min-soon is dead and his sister and brother-in-law have been abducted into slavery.
Nam-yi finally finds his mission in life, not unlike John Wayne in "The Searchers." The captives are forced to walk through the mountains away from their homeland and not all survive. Seo-goon and Ja-in are separated. Nam-yi follows, picking off soldiers along the way with red arrows.
If Seo-goon comes off as a bit of a fop and callow youth, the movie is also about his becoming a warrior worthy of Ja-in. While he's never quite on the wrong side of the war, like Hawkeye in "The Avengers," he does experience an awakening of sorts. He's inspired to heroism by an ordinary person, believing if just one prisoner should escape that would be worth risking death. He incites the captives to rebel against the Manchu and he escapes. Eventually he joins Nam-yi.
