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The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Started by alan nagsworth, September 23, 2010, 09:40:13 AM

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alan nagsworth



The Good, The Bad, & The Weird - Official Trailer

Okay, so this is one seriously outstanding film! A Korean western that tells the tale of three men - a gang boss, a bounty hunter and a thief - all hell-bent on getting their hands on the prize, at any cost.

It's the coolest fuckin' action movie I've ever seen and rivals Kung Fu Hustle in its sheer audacity. The action is utterly superb and constantly breath-taking; I found myself more than a few times lunging forward and gasping at the unpredictability of the fight scenes, and exclaiming "PHWOAR!" at the very painful-looking violence. This, coupled with an excellent stunt crew, makes the action explosive as hell and more enjoyable than anything most big Hollywood blockbusters could even dream of. There is the occasional predictable 'oh, well that guy's taking his time to shoot him so he's obviously gonna get himself killed right at the crucial moment' but in all honesty, that happens maybe twice, and the rest of the action is pure broad-grinning mayhem.

The cinematography is also beautiful and most of the shots (let alone the locations, set designs and costumes) are visually stunning. The snappy cut scenes of horses falling and people getting thrown about/trampled under hoof are so well done, I more than once found myself questioning if they had actually run over a horse with an all-terrain buggy just to make the scene look good. It's bloody amazing. Other physical elements such as dudes getting mad flipped off of bikes and Chang-yi shooting the butt of a knife embedded into a wall so that it pushes the blade further in are also nice touches, and this film is literally jam-packed with such instances. They are just verging on the absurd but this movie is very much a serious affair with the occasional laugh (much like 'Indiana Jones', really, which has also been mentioned in reviews) and this doesn't encroach on the style of bonkers violence that directors such as Takashi Miike pride themselves on.

Add to that a few wonderful comical moments such as, in the above trailer, Tae-goo doing some bizarre zig-zag run to avoid enemy fire, and also poking a big muscle-bound guy in the eyes and shoving a spike up his arse, and you have one seriously explosive piece of film. I'd recommend this to pretty much any fan of action/adventure movies, as any dedicated fan would be hard-pushed to find much in the way of flaws with this film. It's just superb, and as one reviewer rightly said, "everything the latest Indiana Jones flick should have been".

Any fans?

Looks good; I've, uh, got it on order right now. Loved Kung Fu Hustle (and Shaolin Soccer, which kinda does a similar over-the-top-martial-arts-comedy thing) so looking forward to seeing it.

As an aside, you know the noise around 6 seconds in when the bird appears? It's a stock effect that turns up everywhere, anyone know if it's a Wilhelm-style inside joke?

alan nagsworth

Incidentally enough, that bird cry is also used in Kung Fu Hustle when Chow's character Sing is launched skyward and steps gracefully on the back of the eagle.

...God, I fucking love that film so much. Shaolin Soccer is great too, but seems to imply too many of the OTT cliches of martial arts parodies in places and ends up going a little overboard. KFH has just the right amount of emotonal storyline, slapstick comedy and awesome CGI stunts to make it totally spot-on.

kittens

Yeah, that film is totally ace. that's all i have to say.

hamble

Loved it.
Really enjoyable film.I have to say I took a chance on this after seeing the trailer and Im glad I did so.

CaledonianGonzo

Kim Ji-woon's new movie I Saw The Devil should be out later this year:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/46717

Barberism

Saw it at the cinema without subtitles. Sign of a really good action movie when even though I understood 10% of what they were saying I still knew exactly what was going on and could follow the action.

Koreans are slightly unsung as film makers go. But I think Korean movies are starting to make more noise in the west.

sirhenry

Quote from: waste of chops on September 23, 2010, 11:56:29 AM
As an aside, you know the noise around 6 seconds in when the bird appears? It's a stock effect that turns up everywhere, anyone know if it's a Wilhelm-style inside joke?
Not sure about it being an inside joke, but it's a stock sound that's been around for at least 5 decades.
QuoteEvery time a film introduces a desolate landscape, or an especially high cliff or mountain, you'll hear the shriek of the red-tailed hawk. It's sometimes also used to build tension during climactic scenes in westerns or adventure films. Some people believe they're hearing a bald eagle; others a buzzard or vulture. The simple reason the red-tailed hawk got to be the definitive movie 'bird of prey' is that its call is high, clear and easy to record.
Quote*    Red-tailed hawk screeching - [Listen to and read about Red-tailed hawks!]

          o Whenever we see a hawk or a bald eagle, the sound is always that same red-tailed hawk screeching sound that's been around since the 50's!

          o Always just before/or after some dramatic part of an adventure flick, you will here the screeching of a red-tailed hawk.

          o Whenever a cliff or mountain is shown, especially if it's high, the Red-tailed hawk will screech.

          o The Red-Tailed Hawk scree signifies outdoors and a big, lonely place