The Good, The Bad and The Weird (2008) - Korean Comedy / Action

Korea’s reply to western “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” and what a movie it was – I must say. Although no ways – it can be compared with Sergio Leone’s original but it stands out on its own in being a damn good entertainer. Like all the other Korean movies are – over the top and fully loaded with mind blowing action, comedy, drama and lots of blood / gore too. This movie’s USP big time is its cinematography – I mean – I must have seen close to 250 movies this year and none comes close to this one’s camera work – totally OUTSTANDING. You’ve got to see it to believe it and if you have already seen it – I am sure you will agree with me. Right from the very first shot till the very end – it’s an amazing visual treat, almost 2 hours and a little longer – it’s a total treat. If you know what Korean movies stand for – you can’t miss this one at any cost. I am going with a good 3 thumbs up for this one. It’s certainly a great one time watch at least.

The Good

The Movie: As I mentioned earlier and if you have seen the original – you exactly know where this movie is going and how it all is going to end. But the question is again how? And that’s the best part about this movie – the way they have shot the whole story with so many characters thrown in between all fighting first for the same map and then to locate the treasure and dig it out. Visually it’s a stunning movie right from the very start – we were hooked to its cinematography right from the first aerial shot of a flying eagle picking up a dead bird from a train track as the train passes by – totally awesome shot. Then the camera shifts first to the left then to the right of the track before entering inside with a train robbery by two different groups being attempted. Here we are introduced to the good (Jung Woo-sung) and the weird (Song Kang-ho) followed by the final and the best character of the movie the bad (Lee Byung-hun). The fighting sequences and the robbery is shot in such a fiery pace that its just amazing to see so much going in such a short span of time. Before even you realize where it’s going and how its going to end the bad guy takes over.

The Bad

The fighting sequences are done so well and are so stunning that I have not seen something like that this year. So many laugh out loud moments with the weird guy doing all kinds of weird stuff as he is famous for. Even the guy that they picked up I guess is a master of comedy in Korean movies – I remember I saw another movie with him in lead couple of weeks back and there too – he did a commendable job of making us laugh big time with his histrionics. Although the good guy never comes close to our own Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone’s movie but still he holds it pretty good. As per me – the full credit goes to the guy who plays “The Bad” – he is damn good, in his facial expressions, fighting sequences, his hair style, the way he does all his stunts etc. His best movie to date will be “I Saw the Devil” and he was excellent in that one. Initial one hour the fight is for the Map between the good, bad and the weird. Once the map is set with good and weird joining hands for a joint operation followed by bad, we are up for a thrilling chase between all the gangs.

And The Weird

The Finale: Between The Good, The Weird, followed by further more Manchurian Bandits, Japanese army and The Bad man’s gang – is an awesome watch, totally hooking stuff with so much of going on that too in such a style that its hard to keep a track yet its simply outstanding job on screen. The ending as we already know is classic too with the treasure and final fights between all of them. That’s one movie which deserves a proper Blue Ray viewing with a good home theater to say the least. I am up for a damn good print and couple of more future viewings for sure.