Geochilmaru (거칠마루, The Showdown) Review

The plot, such as it goes, works like this: Geochilmaru is the legendary head of a popular martial arts website. He writes passionately about the fighting arts and has near-legendary skills but nobody has ever actually seen him. This is set to change when he poses a challenge. Geochilmaru will take on challengers from the site, taking applications for a tournament with himself. The applicants are weeded down to eight – a street fighter, a western style boxer, a judo wrestler, a tae kwon do master, a muay thai boxer, a multi-discipline stunt man, and two kung fu fighters – and those eight ferried off to a remote mountain village where they must fight each other for the right to face off with Geochilmaru himself.

Let’s be clear: the film is rife with clichés and clumsily written. However, it does have one thing that you seldom, if ever, see put on the screen: actual fighters in matches that pay close attention to accuracy. There are no wires, no CGI, no trickery beyond the occasional bit of editing. Geochilmaru is less a film than it is an exhibition reel of different fight styles showcasing the strengths and weaknesses of each while paying attention to the importance of terrain, and physical factors such as height and weight. Want to see what happens if you pair a judo wrestler with a tae kwon do fighter? A highly skilled kung fu fighter against a muay thai boxer? This will show you and it does it without flash and glamour, opting for a hyper-realistic approach that leaves you wondering from time to time just how much was staged and how much improvised. The up side is a refreshingly gritty feel, the downside that the less skilled fighters are exposed early and badly.

The DVD release is surprisingly poor, one of the weakest I’ve ever seen out of Korea. The translation is clear enough but the subtitles are littered with spelling errors and grammatical mistakes and, most importantly, this is a letterboxed release rather than anamorphic which is virtually unforgivable in this day and age.

In the final analysis Geochilmaru isn’t without its high points but the flaws are enough that it will likely be of interest only to serious martial arts fans. It should, however, prove to be a launching point for a small handful of talented performers.