The Good, the Bad, and the Weird

Fun flick! More style than substance. I didn't feel that the story really gave anything new to the genre; it was the same old shit, and it wasn't very interesting. You're right, though: there was some hilarious character work by Kang-ho Song. In fact, his was the only character of the three that I enjoyed watching, which was sad considering how much I loved the original trio in Leone's classic. The action scenes were great for the most part, and I was surprised at how I couldn't take my eyes off the screen during a very lengthy chase scene near the end of the movie. However, at times I felt that the film wasn't sure if it wanted to parody the genre, or pay homage to it (I'm sorry, I couldn't handle the ludicrous Mexican standoff.) Regardless, I enjoyed myself. I'll definitely revisit it when it's released on DVD.

The wait for this thing is so painful.. I need to watch it yesterday.

My most anticipated film for the forseeable future.

I saw it last night, it was a total blast, Song Kang Ho steals the movie, Kim Byung-Hun has seriously been putting some time in at the gym, the man is fucking ripped. There were some obvious nods to the good, the bad and the ugly, the ending being the obvious one but it didn't detract from the film, I thought the action was good in some scenes but in others it was hard to see what the hell was happening. The best comic moments come from Song.

Any movie with Song Kang Ho is a movie worth seeing, because the man is genius through and through. Not to overshadow the rest of the cast because Jung's good stuff and Lee is on track to a really impressive and watchable filmography.

I also really, really love Kim Jee-woon's work; the guy doesn't work in any one genre, and he nails every genre he dips his fingers in. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with the Western.

This is one of those occasions when I come to CHUD and wonder if I wrote this on my last visit... but of course I didn't, I just found a place where I nod in agreement. Often!

And this is one of those occasions when I come to CHUD and drool over a movie that I won't be able to see for at least a year.

...dammit!

reading alot of good things about this movie , wonder if dev is going to review this?

Dug it quite a bit, but a part of me wishes I'd waited to see this in theaters, for the full vista. It was great to see Kim work w/ his DP from TALE OF TWO SISTERS again. During some of the action scenes my eyes didn't know where to focus on.

Yeah, it's a movie that works wonderfully on a big screen.

The DVD-R copy I watched was anamorphic, but cropped to 1:85 from its original 2.35+ after the opening credits. I probably missed a good quarter of the explosions when the Japanese army blow the shit out of the desert.

It's playing at AFI in LA. I may have tickets to give away.

So excited for this film; very anticipated, and would like to hear more in detail what you thought Devin, if possible.

It sold out so fast on Saturday for AFI that I was frowning hard. Naturally, the other screening is during work hours, so that leaves it out of the equation.

I didn't even know about this film until i checked this thread,just watched the trailer for it on Youtube and it looked a lot of fun.I hold Song Kang-ho in very high regard after his performance in "Memories of Murder"(one of my faves) so i'll definitely be checking it out.Cheers chaps.

Song Kang-ho is so fucking good in this, but praise has to be given to Lee Byung-hun who is actually kind of great as the bad. It's a very twitchy performance but something about it really worked for me, especially his insane eyes towards the end of the film.

It's a weird film in that it takes about forty minutes to actually pull itself together, the opening sequence on the train has cool little moments and never really gels together. In fact it's only when we get to the knife fight and extended gun fight in Market Town that the film hits its stride. But that sequence and the chase sequence at the end are so good it sort of makes up for its lacklustre opening.

It's a surprisingly funny film but it does that patented Korean thing of having one scene which completely fucks the tone, in this case the Bad stopping to chop off some fingers. But when it's in action-comedy mode the film is near faultless and that final chase scene, whilst derirative as all hell, gave me visions of what a modern, big budget Indiana Jones setpiece should look like.

Is there any word on a limited US theatrical run for this?

I just love Song's entrance in the train carriage, how he just looks down at some guy and fires his gun. I couldn't tell what the fuck was going on in that action scene in the market thanks to the editing.

I enjoyed Sukiyaki Western Django, but for me this completely blows it away.. and then takes a finger.

Song might steal the movie (and rightfully so, he's fantastic in it), but Byung-hun was my favorite of the trio. I now officially am looking forward to one aspect of the GI JOE movie. Jung Woo-sung's Good was solid, though his character didn't really get any of the fun, quirky little beats that the other two do, but makes up for it with some awesome gunfighting/stunts (zip lining around the Ghost Market was a blast).

I wouldn't call the opening lackluster - Song's 'introduction' on the train is classic and there are some really great bits of action (thug barreling down the train only to be blasted straight back out a doorway by Woo-sung, the impact rocking the camera, his little rifle twirl on top of the train before nailing the guy on horseback, spear tosser), but kind of agree with Spike that the movie doesn't hit it's full stride until the knife fight. And completely agree about the Indiana Jones thing, that was in the back of my mind during the entire chase sequence.

Also - everything after Song is drugged and wakes up with the kids is brilliant. Perhaps he's a pervert?

It might not have reinvented the genre, but did it need to? Love this one up and down, start to finish. Any idea when/if this will see a proper dvd, or dare I wish.. blu-ray, release?

Yes, the word is apparently "fantasy", if its continued absence from US distributor IFC Films' website is any indication. This is the sort of treatment I'd expect from the Weinsteins, but I had slightly more faith in IFC not totally burying this film. How naive of me.

Son of a bitch. I now regret not hauling my ass to the AFI Film Fest a few months ago to see this.

If you're in the UK you get this film on 06 Feb 2009. Dirty bastards. Y'all even get a trailer for it. In the US we just get the bozack.

This is turning into a pretty excrutiating wait, even by foreign film standards. This and Ponyo are killing me.

I watched this movie on You Tube today. Great film, a nice throwback to 60's westerns loaded with action and some incredible chase scenes. Kim Ji-woon has done it again. I'll definatly see this a second time if it gets a Stateside release.

very fun movie. Great cinematography. The chase near the end was pretty brilliant.

There were quite a few slow spots near the beginning and middle of the movie, but overall pretty awesome.

www.anotherheaven.biz (i get most of my asian market stuff from them) has it in Region 0

Edit:

yes its probably bootlegged from a burned korean DVD but whatever, the quality is good and I actually get to see movies in a reasonable time rather than waiting for 2 years for them to get DVD releases stateside.

Seriously fun, well-paced flick. The chase scene near the end was killer and I loved the melding of oriental and western music. My only problem was with the handling of "The Good." He's a bit of a cipher throughout. I think with more character development and clearer motivation the film could've been a classic.

The prices seem very high for a place that sells bootlegs. Good variety of movies though.

Saw this movie months ago in the theater and I loved it. It was awesome. South Koreans make excellent films for some reason.

Astonishingly, IFC Films has un-abandoned this film and, a day late and countless fistfuls of dollars short, seem to be nearly ready to half-assedly unleash it upon US audiences (in select markets). Never mind the fact that they can't manage to spell the director's name right at the top of their webpage for the film, and they can't be bothered to have a trailer ready to go for something they've had on the shelf since THE DARK KNIGHT was dominating a multiplex near you - there is, at last, perceptible movement towards some sort of US release.

In a few months.

If they actually follow through.

About fucking time.

Pointless speculation: If Criterion has a good working relationship with IFC, could this title wind up being their absurdly belated token acknowledgement of the existence of the Korean film industry?

 The first half of the film had me on the edge of my, coach going " OMFG this is the sickest movie ever" then the plot slowed down a bit. Nevertheless I enjoyed it immensely.