The Good, the Bad, the Weird

THE GOOD THE BAD THE WEIRDI have to say that this may be one of my favorite movies in recent memory. I have had this film since its release and first heard about it from Young William of Woopak the Great. I have been meaning to write this review since the film's release but I could never do the movie justice. Now if you have yet to see this movie I highly recommend it. Some people may not like it as much as me but I have not heard anybody hate on this.Two outlaws, a bounty hunter, the Japanese army, Chinese bandits, and just about everyone in Manchuria are after one thing, a treasure map. Yoon Tae-Goo aka The Weird is first to get his hands on the map unintentionally aboard a train, stealing it from the Japanese army. Hot on his heals aboard the train is Park Chang-Yi aka The Bad a hit man hired to retrieve the map. Looking for both men is Park Do-Won aka The Good a bounty hunter looking t cash in. As The Weird makes his way across the desert with the map all parties involved follow suit and the war begins for the map. The quest to whatever treasure may at the end of the map is one wild and violent ride, but a fun one.Director Kim Jee-Woon who you may remember from his films like "A Tale of Two Sisters", "I Saw the Devil" and of course "A Bittersweet Life" really delivers here. Visually this is one of the best films I have ever watched. The camera keeps moving and the visuals are stunning, from sets to props to just everything on screen. It is no wonder that the film has won numerous awards including for the acting. Song Kang-Ho is excellent as the weird and adds so much to this film, he and the character are very charismatic. Lee Byung-hun is absolutely brilliant as The Bad in my opinion and just comes off as the perfect villain. Then of course there is Jung Woo-sung who plays The Good with an almost outlaw like coolness to him. That of course makes him feel a bit more like the people he chases and that adds a little edge to him.These three guys mesh so well together and make for a perfect on screen team of actors. Add in the over the top action and comedy and you have a really good time. This really is one of the most fun films I own and I can honestly say I have watched it multiple times. In fact I can say that both versions or should I say cuts of the film are really good, although they end rather differently. Also the entire cast here was great as was all involved because the finished product is very well done.You know it feels like I am over praising this film but I really do enjoy this flick. Everyone that I have shown this to have loved the flick. In fact people that I convinced to watch this on Netflix ending up liking it so much they went out to buy it. The DVD/Blu-Ray comes with all kinds of great special features so I really do recommend buying this. So with all that said I say check this flick out right now, you may not love it like I do but I am sure you will like it.

I wasn't sure about this when I ordered it, but I'm glad that I did. It's awesome! I was raised on westerns as a kid, watching them on Saturday afternoons with my dad. If he were still alive, he would have loved this one. No special effects. It's all the actors doing the work, not stunt people. They even had to take horse riding lessons in advance. It was filmed in China and the weather was brutal. Kudos to the actors and entire film crew for a job well done.The Good: Played by Jung Woo-Sung. He did an excellent job as the bounty hunter. I was totally impressed with his horse riding skills while shooting a rifle that he cocked while spinning it. At a full gallop, while standing in the stirrups. He has the classic cowboy look and it looked great on him.The Bad: Played by Lee Byung-hun. He made a fantastic bad guy that was slightly psychotic and totally driven to be the best bad guy ever. He likes playing with knives and is a quick draw dead shot with a gun. Dresses in a pin stripe blue suit and is a bit fussy about his hair. Antagonist to The Weird.The Weird: Played by Sung Kang-ho. He was definitely weird, but there's layers of stuff going on behind all of that that weirdness. He drives the vintage side car motorcycle, dresses like a cross between a nomad and a steam punk. Antagonist to The Bad.Throw in random other bad guys, the Chinese Army, vintage side car motorcycles, gangs, drugs, train robberies, double dealing, horses, guns, huge chase scenes with panoramic views along with a bunch of other stuff and it totals up to AWESOME. It was a well acted, well directed and well produced movie. I've already watched it twice and will be watching it again real soon after I get a recliner to park in front of my big screen TV. I totally loved this movie and highly recommend it.

Worth watching

If you don't count Spaghetti Westerns, this is definitely my favorite foreign Western. It takes place during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in the 1930's, right before the start of WWII. Despite the title, it is NOT a ripoff of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The plots are only slightly similar, as there is a good guy, a bad guy, and a guy who is somewhere in between, and they're all looking for treasure.Great action sequences, great cinematography, and a great cast. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The actor who plays the "bad" guy is very recognizable, as he shows up in a lot of American movies these days. A serious throwback to the Hollywood days of old; there are plenty of cool stunts and very real explosions, instead of it being all CG like most American movies today. There is limited use of CGI, such as the bird of prey at the beginning of the movie, which is really the only thing that bothered me. The big chase sequence toward the end of the movie is reminiscent of the final chase in The Road Warrior. Rival gangs, the main characters and the Japanese military all get in the mix.Overall I enjoyed this movie so much that I have watched it several times. I had it on DVD when it was first released and I recently bought the Bluray. I have seen this movie show up on more than one "Greatest 50 Westerns" lists. Don't miss this movie if you enjoy Westerns! I'm not sure if there is an English dub; I've only watched with subtitles.

Muy buena película pero no se ve tan bien como otros blurays, y nada de extras. Ojalá salga una mejor edición en el futuro.

Almost "plagiating" the good the bad and the ugly, that movie is a tribute to Leone works. Wildly entertaining, with shots that are original (see the bonus track). At the end of the movie there is one of the most bizzare mexican standoff, but you'll have to see it to believe it.

Ein koreanischer Western,klingt komisch, ist aber der absolute Hammer. Es geht um einen eher tollpatschigen Zugräuber, der eine Schatzkarte findet, einem supercoolen Bandit, der diese zurückholen will, und einem Kopfgeldjäger, der beide jagt. Alles artet in ein ultimatives Katz- und Maus-Spiel aus. Coole Sprüche, wilde Schießereien, bei denen der Brutalitätsfaktor auch nicht zu gering kommt, sowie jede Menge Potenzial zum Lachen machen diesen Film einfach einzigartig. Nach und nach will man natürlich herausfinden, wer denn nun der ultimative King von den drei Hauptpersonen ist...Wer sich jetzt aber fragt, warum in diesem Film Motorräder, Jeeps und LKWs benutzt werden (Motorräder - Western?! Western - Motorräder?!), dem kann ich nur sagen, dass die Handlung nicht im 19. Jahrhundert spielt, sondern irgendwann kurz vorm 2. Weltkrieg in der Mandschurei und in Korea (Korea war zu dieser Zeit von Japan besetzt; die Mandschurei war ein Satellitenstaat, der heute ein Teil der Volksrepublik China ist).Der einzige Filmfehler, der mir aufgefallen ist, ist der Willys Jeep, der von der Japanischen Armee benutzt wird :DIngsgesamt ein richtig guter, unterhaltsamer und auch einzigartiger Film, bei dem ich ohne Bedenken 5 Sterne geben kann. Ich schaue mir den Film auch gerne noch ein zweites oder drittes Mal an. :)

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

This is a whirlwind of a film. It's about two hours long, but a great deal of it goes at a furious pace. It's a kind of crazy homage to 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', grunty music and all, but set in Japanese-occupied Manchuria in the 1930s. It all centres on an antique map (we never really find out why this is so important, but it doesn't matter) stolen from a train, in the wonderful, prolonged opening sequence which is faintly reminiscent of a weird take on Indiana Jones, and then sought by various individuals and gangs. There's a (Korean) bounty-hunter, a very bad gangster whose stylish quiff always obscures his right eye, some puzzled natives on horseback who watch from the tops of hills and remind us of stereotypical Hollywood Native Americans, from time to time the Japanese army, the thugs of Ghost Market, and of course the initial thief, a maverick who wears a flying helmet (or, once, in a very funny sequence, a diving helmet - no, don't ask). Two hours long, it occasionally has quiet moments to allow the audience to draw breath, but mostly it rockets along, spectacular, exotic, violent, funny and sometimes all four at once. It is reputedly the most expensive film made in South Korea. There is a plot of a kind but I couldn't stay with it all the time. What I do know is that it is great to watch and mostly very entertaining. Recommended!P.S. (2nd. January 2010) - someone has kindly pointed out the significance of the treasure map (see Comments below) ; I imagine it is as Hollie says, though I haven't yet had a chance to look at the film again. Anyway, though I feel a little foolish at having missed this, I'm glad to have Hollie's explanation. The purpose of this P.S. is just to draw attention to it.