Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

teafico ...but my gosh, it works. This is quite literally one of the best disaster movies I've ever watched, and I've seen most American-made ones of the last 45 years. For once, a movie actually had characters and development I genuinely cared about, which made it all the more somber once the wave actually impacted. A lot of people complained about the build-up, the character development, which takes up probably 90% of the film. Honestly, I loved it. I felt I was watching a romantic comedy at times (until drama slipped in, but still), and it worked beautifully. I've come to the conclusion you can't approach this movie from the "disaster movie" angle, you have to approach it from the "drama surrounding a disaster" kind of movie. It's about the lives and relations of the people on the coast who are going to be effected by this, not necessarily pawns just to be written off by the story later. If you're looking purely for a disaster film with little plot and emotion, don't go for this.... watch The Day After Tomorrow or Earthquake or 2012, but if you want your disaster mixed in with an emotional story about a tight-knit community on the coast with a storm looming in on them, then this is your film. Highly, highly recommended.

KineticSeoul I remember watching this in theaters because it was a really hyped movie and the theater was jam packed. Unfortunately the movie really didn't live up to it's hype, the characters were just obnoxious and the story just wasn't all that great. I think the biggest hype was because it's a disaster movie that isn't made by Hollywood, but besides that this movie was actually very dull from beginning to end. The movie lacked the budget so the CGI was pretty terrible, especially the scene when the mountain crumbles. And the disaster parts are used very sparingly as possible to the point it all becomes predictable and stupid. I really wanted to like this movie, but it's very difficult because the characters aren't really likable and you don't really get attached to them or anything, plus some of them make the most stupid decisions. I thought Sol Kyung-Gu was a good actor and for the most part he is, but I found him annoying in this movie as well. It seemed like this movie lacked the budget and resources to make a good or at least decent disaster movie. On a positive note few of the humor in this was alright.4.7/10

BA_Harrison I experienced quite a range of emotions whilst watching Haeundae (AKA Tidal Wave): the first hour, which is spent introducing its various clichéd two dimensional characters, was tedious in the extreme and I found myself impatiently urging the cataclysmic forces of nature to get a move on and wreak some havoc, thus putting an end to my misery; however, when the mega-tsunami finally hit, I felt rather guilty for having been so keen to see some death and destruction, the horrific sight of the massive wave crashing down on the helpless people of Korea immediately bringing to mind the very real scenes of destruction from the tsunami disaster of Christmas 2004.So I'm sitting there feeling morose, reflecting on the real-life horror of such a phenomenon—how terrifying it must be to be confronted by an unstoppable wall of water—when the film slips into cheesy post-tsunami mode, and I'm presented with umpteen tried-and-tested disaster movie clichés as the survivors face further danger amidst the floods. These include the obligatory 'electrical cable in the water' routine, a well executed scene with a little girl being swept out of the window of a high rise building, and an awful slapstick moment that sees the film's comedy relief dodging metal containers as they fall from an upended freight ship. I'm now feeling much better, having a blast with what I realise is cornball blockbuster material of the purest kind.And then a second wave hits the city, killing even more people, including the little girl's parents, and it's lump-in-throat time again!Although Haeundae doesn't qualify as an essential disaster flick in my book, the build up being overlong, the characters not all that memorable, and the formula predictable, the special effects are much better than I expected and the mayhem is spectacular enough to make this film worth a go if you get the chance.5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

petra-59 This wasn't so much a Disaster Movie as a disaster of a movie. It promised much and delivered little. The first 60 minutes was devoted to silly stories of silly people, for whom it was impossible to have any feelings other than boredom and irritation. Most of the characters were obviously stock characters rather than people. Perhaps we were expected to sympathise with them in their daily lives, but in effect I found I couldn't care at all. In fact I was on the side of the tsunami. If they all got wiped out, it really wouldn't have affected me at all. Not build-up to the expected tsunami. No suspense. No excitement. And then we got to the special effects. Except that there weren't any. 100 minutes just to prove that the Koreans cannot make a film. But let's be generous and award it 3 out of 10. And not watch any more Korean movies.