ThiefHott Too much of everything

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

benthelazar 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.

Jackson Booth-Millard I saw a short trailer for this Korean film at the time it was released, and then I heard it was formerly an entry in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it was certainly a Chinese film I was intrigued to see, from director Kim Jee-Woon (The Last Stand). Basically set in the 1930's in the desert wilderness of Manchuria, bandit and hit-man Park Chang-Yi aka The Bad (Byung-Hun Lee) is hired to board a train and steal a treasure map a Japanese official travelling on it, but before he can thief Yoon Tae-goo aka The Weird (Kang-Ho Song) steals it and gets away during the derailment of the train. Eagle-eyed bounty hunter Park Do-won aka The Good (Woo-Sung Jung) shows up the scene to claim the bounty on The Bad, but after the action he catches up with The Weird and they form a near partnership, Machurian bandits will also want the map to sell on the Ghost Market, The Weird meanwhile hopes to follow it and find what could be gold and riches gathered before the collapse of the government buried by the Qing Dynasty. The map possession becomes a battle as the various characters try to reclaim it, with bounties placed on heads and the Imperial Japanese Army apparently wanting "save the Japanese Empire", and following many chases and shoot-outs, the final battle takes place the army, the Manchurian bandits, The Good, The Bad and The Weird all gathered all at once. Most of the bandits are killed by the Japanese army, many of the troops of the army are killed by The Good and an explosion drives the rest away, and the gang members of The Bad are slowly killed off while the leader himself kills the rest who try to get away, and after all this only The Good, The Bad and The Weird remain to find the "treasure", which turns out to be nothing more than a boarded over hole in the desert. The Weird is recognised by The Bad and the "Finger Chopper" who cut off his finger off five years ago, The Good assumed The Bad was this criminal, in a final act of vengeance on each other for their slights the three characters turn on each other in a prolonged Mexican standoff, and other their guns fire they all lie in the sand dying, after a few moments this "useless" erupts with valuable crude oil, The Good and The Weird survive, but a new bounty is put on The Weird and a new chase is on. Also starring Seung-Su Ryu as Man-Gil, Zhang Qi as Deligeer, Yun Jae-Mun as Byeong-Chun, Sohn Byung-Ho as Suh Jae-Sik and Song Young-Chang as Kim Pan-Joo. The three actors playing the title characters were all chosen well and look the parts, the story is perhaps a little less thought out as the fight and chase sequences, but it doesn't matter, this works as a really cool and amusing homage to the classic Sergio Leone Spaghetti western trilogy, put in a new scenario and culture, with more explosions and stunts, and the finale obviously works best, overall it's a fun period action adventure. Good!

Maleplatypus Great movie. Of course, with plenty of violence and gore but also fun. I've seen many Korean movies and this one is near the top (nothing can top the "Old Boy", ever). Great cast, almost perfect direction, editing, camera...anything. You can even disregard some accidental blood spray on the camera lens here and there. You even forget that you don't understand the language (not being Korean, and occasionally Japanese or Chinese, of course). So, if you want to spend a bit more that two hours really enjoying the art of making movies, go for this one. It doesn't matter if it is some sort of an eastern western or... something. It's that good and even better. Hollywood can really learn from Koreans (although there are a lot of references here to the Hollywood classics and even Italian "spaghetti westerns"). The mix-up of almost everything you've seen in other movies here functions perfectly. The only thing that's missing is SF genre, but Koreans do not sleep. Can't wait for their next project, whatever it may be. Absolutely recommended.

TheMaster01 If a movie has the title 'The Good, The Bad, The Weird', it seems almost doomed to fail right? Wrong. This "spaghetti eastern" is one of the most outrageously, consistently entertaining foreign films ever made. Set in the 1940's (during World War II) in Manchuria, three men (a bounty hunter, an outlaw and an idiot) attempt to gain the possession of a treasure map. A Simple plot, very similar to the idea that Sergio Leone's classic western takes, but with a completely different feel to it. Unlike 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly' neither the Good or the Weird (stepping in for the ugly) work with the Bad at any stage. Of course The Good and The Weird are bound to form some sort of alliance, but no bond is met with the Bad. As well as this, all of the events are different, its an eastern crossed with a western, and the fight sequences are closer to Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' crossed with Rodriguez's 'Desperado'; then they are with Leone's original. The entire experience is Ridiculously Entertaining! Woo-sung Jung's 'Park Do Wan' (The Good) isn't the focal point of the story, like Clint Eastwood's 'Blondie'. Although he is entertaining as the stern faced gun-slinging bounty hunter, the real focus of this story is on Kang Ho Song, who plays 'The Weird' (or specifically Yoon Tae-Goo). Whilst the other characters convey the usual action/adventure tone in a film like this, Ho Song's character adds the most outrageous comedic aspect to it. Playing what I will characterise 'An Idiot', Ho Song's character gains possession of the map near the beginning when he is robbing a train. A train which also seems to be stopped by 'The Bad' himself (played by a very evil and destructive Byung Hun Lee) as well as his crew. In this near-opening scene, the three meet, and the excitement straight away kicks off.Costume design is another aspect that really stands out. The Weird has the goofiest-dumbest-best costume composed of a long-eared hat, life-jacket material coat and at one point, a diver's helmet. The Bad spends most of his time kicking ass in a suit and the Good remains true to the western genre. The confliction between the 'Western' and 'Eastern' aspects are often considered to be a put off with this film, but the confliction is more like a collaboration! It really works! Camera work, and cinematography, is always awesome (Korean cinematographer's are usually a standout, look no further than Oldboy's cinematography). In terms of directorial style, Kim Jee Woon appears to be paying homage to other directors (Tarantino and Leone) more than creating his own original style. But then again, 2013's 'The Last Stand' proved that maybe his original style isn't the very best (Arnie's comeback was a bit of a disappointment). The shoot-out scenes are constructed with fine tracking scenes, editing and camera shots that zoom in and out (which seems to occur throughout the film). Finger chopping, physics flying, Dynamite blowing and Bamboo Flinging. This film is Korean action heaven.It's surprising just how lovable this film is. The screenplay never holds up and the storyline always flows along, brimming with continuous action as well as comedy. The frequent action may get to some people, but if you are an action/adventure junkie (i.e. Indiana Jones fans) this film will not disappoint. It should receive more attention then it has and should be seen by everyone to get their opinion out. <8 out of 10> A spaghetti-eastern that holds its own genre, with three decent performances and not one boring moment! The best foreign film of 2008.