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Strong and Moving!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Yet another outstanding film from director Kim Jee-woon! An all-star cast, awesome photography, great cinematography and full-on action, adventure and excitement - what more could you possibly ask for in one movie? This action packed western is fast-paced and insanely entertaining. The music was just stunning and effectively propelled some scenes forward. The entire production was simply brilliant.Although not always realistic, this is the most fun I've ever had with a movie. Some of the action scenes are just jaw-dropping! Byung-Hun Lee in particular was very convincing as The Bad. It is impossible not to be entertained!

Let's get straight to the point: in using the title "The Good the Bad the Weird", director Kim Jee-woon is asking us to make comparisons to the Sergio Leone classic upon which it is based. I saw "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" on the big screen when it first came out, and it and Leone's other works have always been high on my list of favorites.In an unabashedly gleeful manner, Kim Jee-woon borrows heavily from Leone, in some cases shot-for-shot and scene-for-scene: the watch from "For a Few Dollars More"; the close-up shots of eyes darting back and forth in the final shoot-out from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly"; the opium den from "Once Upon a Time in America". He goes a step farther using the same font from "Once Upon a Time in the West" for the closing credits, and a score which echoes (at one point almost note-for-note) the compositions of Ennio Morricone.But where Leone succeeded in his portrayal of a gritty, dusty, rough-and-tumble Wild West, Kim Jee-woon falls short by his use of actors who are only marginally credible in their roles. Lee Byung-hung's young buffed-out sadistic psychopath pales in comparison to Lee Van Cleef's ruthless child-murdering woman-beating "bad guy" - he's simply too good-looking for us to hate him and cheer when he's finally gunned down like Karl Malden in "One Eyed Jacks" or Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time in the West" or Gian Maria Volante in "For a Few Dollars More". Jung Woo-Sung's youth disqualifies him as a believable seasoned crack-shot bounty-hunter. As one reviewer noted, "I had a better moustache at 13!" The redeeming quality is Song Kang-ho's "weird", who might more accurately have been called "the goofy", who pulls it off in a way that makes up for what the other two lack in gravitas.While the overly-indulgent shoot-out and chase scenes are at points excessive in gore and length, they are nonetheless not lacking in excitement and imagination, and refreshingly absent are the tawdry CGI graphics which have become ubiquitous in modern-day American films. For that alone I have to give it high marks.It's clear that Kim Jee-woon was heavily influenced by and borrowed from Leone and George Miller's "The Road Warrior" and some of Quentin Tarantino's works. Not that he is to be faulted for doing so: if it works, it works. Although it could have been just as good were it 20 minutes shorter in length, it does make for an entertaining non-stop action-adventure-chase film. But where Leone excelled, Kim Jee-woon fell short in pacing: the "non-stop-action-adventure-chase" thing only works when it doesn't become tiresome, wearing the viewer out with too-much-too-fast-too-long.Overall, I'll give it a 7 out of 10, and add that it would be a reasonable assumption that Leone himself would be entertained and flattered. I watched a 131-minute English-subtitled version on "Netflix", and will probably watch it again.After all, it isn't every day you get to see a gunfight where a deep-sea diving helmet is used as a gag device.

Let's face it, when you read the back of a DVD, you don't really read it. You skim it. Words jump out at you. Words that jump out at me include "Japanese Army" "1930's Manchuria" "Ancient treasure map." These are all parts of Ki Ji-woon's excellent movie The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008). The movie plays as an homage to the Spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone. Notice the similarities between this and The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1967). It also stands by itself as a ultra enjoyable adventure story.It's plot is far from original. It features three men searching for a treasure map, stolen in the opening scene. The thief (Kang-ho Song) is the Weird. He is the comic relief. He's a very strange man who cares more about his grandma and aviator goggles than he does about angering everybody. But the fact that he is actually a cold, competent criminal adds depth to his character, making him an enigma. A very funny one, yes, but an enigma. Traveling with him is a stoic, honorable bounty hunter named the Good (Park Do-won). He's searching for a serial finger chopper. Yes, a serial finger chopper. His lead suspect is the Bad (Byung-hun Lee), a ruthless bandit who happens to also be chasing the Weird for the treasure map. Also in pursuit of the map is a gang of bandits and the Japanese army. Yes, the main characters have names that do more than describe their personalities, but I'll be damned if I remember them. Usually this angers me but with something as brilliantly goofy as this, I didn't mind.The movie also shows how much music can enhance the quality of an action scene. Near the end of the movie there is legendary chase involving the Japanese army and all the main characters. Many Japanese soldiers are slaughtered with a machine gun, almost on accident. Much blood. Usually this is cause for disgust or pursed lips but the fast paced, energetic score makes you bound along with the characters.The music and the humor are the two things that make you excuse the completely excessive violence. Like in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), it is so fun that we allow moral belief to be suspended for two hours. If that doesn't bode well with you, just remember Arnold Schwarzenegger's immortal line about action movie killing in True Lies (1994): "They were all bad!" There aren't a lot of good guys in this movie, but we are totally captivated by their incredible abilities while they do bad things. The stunts are incredible. There are gunfights in which the Good is literally jumping from roof to roof while shooting at bad guys. And you know what? I think it was real. Either South Korea has great CGI artists or (gasp!) the director was concerned with authenticity and grit. The stunts swept me up so I was not questioning how they did it as much as rubbing my eyes to make sure I had seen right. The script is full of humor and homage. It allows the actors to have fun with their characters, while filling it with hilarious dialogue. "The bounty on you is 300 won." "What? I'm only worth a piano?" "A used piano at that." Plus, it tips its hat to the Western tradition that you have to show that the world is shrinking around our outlaws of the west. The most obvious show of this theme is actually poignant, original and funny. Put simply, The Good, the Bad, the Weird invokes something greater than any Great movie. It, like Pulp Fiction and the Indiana Jones series, makes you remember how much fun you had watching a movie. And, at the end of the day, isn't this the only reason we watch movies? Most movies, no matter how much fun they try to invoke, always end up being a little too dark. Not this one. I could not have had more fun.

This is one of my all time favourite films. I was walking around the London underground and saw the posters for this film and new it was going to be good. I have always said that Korea produces some of the greatest films to come out of the east and this film just goes to prove me right. The new setting for the classic story is perfect and I loved all the characters. The three stars all put in great performances the Good has the perfect look for a Korean Cowboy but the show is definitely stolen by Kang Ho Song. The cinematography in this film is just astounding. The action is slick and pleasing to the eye and contrasts perfectly with the humour and tone of the film. The sets are delightful and the pacing and story telling is packaged so well that I think this film will be appreciated by fans of Spaghetti westerns and Asian cinema alike.