Review: The story of Choi Baedal (Masutatsu Oyama) is told in FIGHTER IN THE WIND, as a young man from Korea who stows away on a steamer to Japan to become an aviator. During World War II and the years of occupation in postwar Japan, Choi faces many hardships as a Korean in a foreign land. Following the war, Choi's martial arts teacher is killed by local yakuza, which resolves him to take the path to mastering karate. Choi leaves civilization and goes off to train in the mountains. After completing his training, he leaves the mountains to challenge all dojos to become the supreme martial artist in Japan.

In FIGHTER IN THE WIND, Choi's life-history details have been glossed over in favor of a popcorn movie, full of romance, action, and melodrama. The story of Choi Baedal is told using the Hong Kong action movie template: A young man is humiliated by his enemies; his teacher is killed, forcing the young Choi to make a life-altering decision to train to be one of the greatest fighters to ever live, using Miyamoto Musashi's (Japan's legendary swordsman) philosohy as his guide. He completes his grueling training to avenge the death of his teacher. FIGHTER IN THE WIND is an excellent blend of Hong Kong type action with the overly soapy melodramatic Korean filmmaking style. The combination proves to be potent entertainment.

The film takes dramatic license in telling the karate master's tale. Dong-kun Yang does a very fine job in portraying Choi Baedal. And Masaya Kato turns in a nice performance as Choi's life-long enemy, from the war years up to the point where Choi must face Kato to determine who is the best in Japan. While FIGHTER IN THE WIND is not history by the books, it is full of sentimentality that makes the story bigger than life, and perfectly fitting for a man who must physically battle other men, while fighting oppression and racial discrimination.

While the movie isn't a true biography, per se, it does capture Choi's spirit and reenacts his achievements in martial arts with filmmaking aplomb. The direction by Yun-ho Yang is up to the task of tempering the sentiment with hard-hitting karate action. Some people may not like the staccato like editing or changing camera speeds or the use of slow motion, but they effectively keep the movie breezing along at a nice clip. The fights are not long and drawn out but fitting the description of Choi, as noted in the preface above. The film contains some excellent martial arts choreography and cinematography, reminiscent of work by Sammo Hung and Masaki Kobayashi.

The film's main conceit is the use of reporters and a pair of comic radio announcers to act as a Greek chorus, providing insight and updates to Choi's progress as he takes on one master after another. Director Yang does a superb job in pulling everything together. This popcorn movie doesn't let facts get in the way of good storytelling. Ok-hyun Shin's cinematography also stands out. FIGHTER IN THE WIND is one of the best martial arts movies to come out in a while, at least since Ong Bak, but with better acting and plotting overall. FIGHTER IN THE WIND is dramatic without getting too sappy; sentimental without being too corny; and it has some terrific choreography that matches the melodrama needed to tell the story of a man who challenges the world and wins. FIGHTER IN THE WIND is grand filmmaking and entertainment without shame! You'll laugh and cry and be dumbstruck by some awesome martial arts.