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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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 Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:38 am Post subject: The Last Legion |
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Several years ago I was contacted by Oliver Stone's production company to provide 195 Korean bows for his production of Alexander and a Korean bowyer made them. Many people wondered what would happen to the bows when the movie was finished, but I had no idea. It was guessed that they would either be sold off or used in another production. Well, it seems as though the latter guess was correct.
While watching the 2007 move, The Last Legion, I noticed at around 46 minutes a bow that was definitely Korean-made and, I was sure, was the same type ordered from me for Alexander. Indeed there were bows throughout the movie after that. I decided to wait all the way through the credits afterwards and, sure enough, the guy who ordered the bows for Alexander was the same one who provided them for this movie. Mystery evidently solved...  |
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Arthur Dent
Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Location: Kochu whirld
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:14 am Post subject: |
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At first I thought you were referring to the King Arthur film with Clive Owen. I quite enjoyed that one. I had only seen it on Korean TV so did not know what it was called.
A quick search and I discovered this new (relatively) film.
How was it?
195 bows! These were handmade? How long did it take to make them?
Interesting.... |
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Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:38 am Post subject: |
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Questions! :
Aren't Koreans annoyed that you made so many Korean bows? You probably made more bows than the entire Korean nation since the Joseon dynasty!
How many people know how to make proper Korean bows in the world apart from you? I bet the number is in the double digits or fewer. You should be running a bow-making hagwon! And I don't even mean this in a snarky way; seriously, are there many (any?) other people on the peninsula who know how to make Korean traditional bows properly? Are you passing the skill on? |
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ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:55 pm Post subject: Re: The Last Legion |
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| bluelake wrote: |
Several years ago I was contacted by Oliver Stone's production company to provide 195 Korean bows for his production of Alexander and a Korean bowyer made them. Many people wondered what would happen to the bows when the movie was finished, but I had no idea. It was guessed that they would either be sold off or used in another production. Well, it seems as though the latter guess was correct.
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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Hyeon Een wrote: |
Questions! :
Aren't Koreans annoyed that you made so many Korean bows? You probably made more bows than the entire Korean nation since the Joseon dynasty!
How many people know how to make proper Korean bows in the world apart from you? I bet the number is in the double digits or fewer. You should be running a bow-making hagwon! And I don't even mean this in a snarky way; seriously, are there many (any?) other people on the peninsula who know how to make Korean traditional bows properly? Are you passing the skill on? |
As ajgeddes noted, it was a Korean bowyer who made the bows. I wish I had that kind of talent, but I don't (not even close). I'm just a middle-man between the bowyers and the rest of the world.
Those bows were made rather bare bones, so that the production company's props people could dress them up to fit their movie(s). Still, they were great shooting pieces; the bowyer gave me some samples and I used them in an archery class I taught at my last university. |
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manlyboy
Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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| I must say I'm at quite a loss to get my head around this. Do you mean to tell me that you actually made it 46 minutes long into that stinkfest of a movie? |
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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Arthur Dent wrote: |
At first I thought you were referring to the King Arthur film with Clive Owen. I quite enjoyed that one. I had only seen it on Korean TV so did not know what it was called.
A quick search and I discovered this new (relatively) film.
How was it?
195 bows! These were handmade? How long did it take to make them?
Interesting.... |
Although flawed, the movie wasn't bad as a fictional tale. Aishwarya Rai and Ben Kingsley made it worth watching (although they should have played up Ben's role a bit more). There was a lack of character build-up, but you find that in many movies nowadays. Still, if you just sit back to watch and leave your Siskel and Ebert mind at the door, it was a fairly entertaining movie. Plus, it had great bows 
The bows were hand-crafted. They are laminated versions of the Korean horn bow, which is one of the finest recurves in the world. You can read more about them at http://www.koreanarchery.org
It took several months for the bowyer and apprentices to make the 195 bows. I doubt he would ever want to do it again, as it put a lot of his domestic business on hold. However, in comparison, it takes one year to make a true Korean horn bow. |
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Arthur Dent
Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Location: Kochu whirld
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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There is a bow/ bow joke here somewhere but I'll be damned if I'll bend over to pick it up....
Archery is an interest I have had since high school days, but it remained un-pursued. I had a try with my brother-in-laws compound bow this summer while at home. It was too small for me (he is quite short) and so, difficult for me to use effectively.
It was fun though. He will be interested to read the Korean archery site as will I. Thanks for the site, bluelake.
Before I went home this summer I browsed some sites (not this one) which described bow making for survival purposes, but when I got home I was too busy fishing to actually try making a crude bow from scratch. Maybe next time.
(I was just describing the use of 'yer' to a student the other day as I was referring to Twain's Tom Sawyer - a somewhat obscure term today - but also used in lawyer. I discovered it is simply a variant of 'er'. I hadn't known the use of it with reference to archery) |
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