Korean Cowboys?

I'm beginning to really love foreign language films. Here is a film that took a famous western and put it in South Korea.

The Good The Bad The Weird pays tribute to the classic, The Good The Bad And The Ugly. Plenty of little in jokes for fans of the western to pick up on as well as little character traits. (The weird/The ugly both brush their teeth with their fingers.) The plot is far simpler than the original. Set in the 1940's, two outlaws and a bounty hunter go on the search of treasure due to a map. Following them are Chinese gangs and the Japanese army. Far less side plots. Not that side plots are a bad thing... But if you have a short attention span like a lot of young people nowadays, this film is easier to watch. Unless you dislike subtitles.

"Check out this backwards shooting!"

Firstly, I noticed straight away how awesome the camera work was. I mean.. It's really incredible at some points. The chase at the end... WOW. So there's not that much of a score (Though during the chase listen for the background tribute to The Good The Bad & The Ugly's score.) but the other technical aspects make up for that. The action sequences are suburb and wonderful to watch. Not only are they full of action but they're also cool and fun. The cast are wonderful. Some may think Byung-hun Lee was the wrong choice for Park Chang-yi / The Bad, but they're wrong. His 'pretty boy' exterior may seem odd for a crazy killer type person but it just makes it all the more effective when he whips out his knife and starts madly slashing people up. Kang-ho Song (Yoon Tae-goo / The Weird) fits his role perfectly. He is weird. There is very few other ways of describing it. But he was brilliant. Woo-sung Jung (Park Do-won / The Good) is just plain cool. From the moment we first see him shooting at The Bad and The Weird plus henchmen, till the very last second. Especially his part in the chase scene.... Wow.

 

Guess Who is Who

Some fun facts about the film... Woo-sung Jung, The Good, broke his arm during filming... This was the most expensive South Korean Film to be made (as of 2009)... And something that made me chuckle: Director Woo-sung Jung claimed he would like this to be called a 'kimchee western' after the Korean food made with fermented cabbages. He says he thinks the plot and film are spicy and vibrant, like the Korean culture and people. Of course, The Good The Bad And The Ugly was a 'Spaghetti western' due to it being a western made by Italians. Really worth a watch if you can be bothered to read subtitles. I dislike it when films aren't given a fair chance because people won't read a little.

 

Best Bit? The Chase Scene. It's awesome. Armies, gangs, outlaws, weirdos, cars, horses, moterbikes... It has everything.

The Good The Bad And The Okay Looking.

Poor old Eli Wallach... Being classed as 'The Ugly.' He's not that bad... Could be worse.

The Good The Bad And The Ugly. 9.0 on IMBD... Number 25 on Empire's top 500... One of the best films ever?? It is very good. I'm just stuck on how good.... Lets review it first.

FYI (For your information.) Blondie is The Good, Tuco is The Ugly and Angel Eyes is The Bad

The plot is brilliant. Blondie (Clint Eastwood) and Tuco (Wallach) have a little (illeagal) buisness going but when Blondie leaves Tuco in the desert, revenge is called for. When the pair stumble across a wagon full of dead soldiers they discover there is $200,000 buried somewhere. The twist? Blondie and Tuco hear different halves of the secret. Neither of them can get their hands on the money alone. Through out twist and turns, Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) discovers Tuco's half of the secret and the race is on.

Tuco was a bit tied up with the race for the money.

Eastwood is the coolest man from the 60's simply from this film. (Paul Newman comes a close second.) Wallach was Oscar worthy and Van Cleef was... Great. These guys really put their lives into this film. I mean it! Eastwood and Wallach could have died! Imagine it! The last 40 years without Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby or any other Clint Eastwood film! You see, during an explosion, Eastwood is taking cover in some sand bags with Wallach and some wreckage slammed inches away from his head. Wallach on the other hand, was almost decapitated by a train while lying along side the rails. (These are parts of the film but the threats were real.)

"Looking hot today Eastwood"

The cinematography was excellent. The soundtrack is iconic. Sure the film is only just shy of three hours but still is shorter than The Godfather Part II. The drama doesn't stop and due to the sassy one liners from Tuco and simple coolness of Blondie every second is watchable. The pair are enjoyable to watch and Van Cleef is a brilliant villain. The rough nature of the west is thrilling and exciting.

Overall this film is brilliant. This review has helped me make a decision on the rating. If you have three free hours, watch this. You won't regret it.


Best Bit? The last half an hour. Pure brilliance.