User reviews

I didn't expect much from this....just an action flick to keep me busy for 90 minutes. I did get that, but I got even more.

I won't oversell it. The story is about as original as buttered toast. The actors however, played it with as much heart as they could (while trying to look tough). I'm not saying that there are Oscar-worthy performances here, but they didn't sleep walk through it, either.

There's a group of high school guys. They were friends, once upon a time. They grew up, and they drifted apart. One of them moved to Seoul and became a police officer. One day he gets a call summoning him home; it seems one of his boyhood friends has been killed. He goes home for the funeral, then with another boyhood chum, decides to investigate...because something just doesn't feel right. Tragedy and betrayal...and of course *violence* ensues.

The action scenes were certainly effective, with plenty of stylized Tae Kwon Do all over the place. Only one gun in the movie (in a police station)! There are some people on the site saying the action is under-choreographed and infrequent. I felt like the movie had a good deal of action: Plenty of short action scenes to keep it interesting, and two long b*lls-to-the-wall scenes, the second of which is something like "Kill Bill" meets "Lethal Weapon." A buddy martial arts flick, there just aren't enough of those! Oh, and people talk about the homage to "Kill Bill"....check out the homage to "The Warriors." What can I say....I laughed.

The bottom line is, this film is nothing groundbreaking. The drama won't make you cry. The action won't make you cheer out loud. The story won't make you think too much. In spite of this, it is a heck of a lot of fun. In the end, that's what entertainment is supposed to be...."fun." It's mindless action with a bit of soul....and I would recommend it to everyone....just set it aside for a night where you want a fun fix, and you don't want to think too much. And hey, we all have those some time.

"The City of Violence" had gotten some fairly great reviews on Amazon, that is one of the main motives for why I bought it, that and also because I enjoy Asian cinema.

And now having seen "The City of Violence", I must say that I was thoroughly entertained and somewhat surprised by the movie. Initially, I found the story to be a little bit jumpy and not all that easy to grasp at first, as there is a lot of jumping to and fro and a heap of characters thrown into your face all at once. But once the dust settles and the movie trots on, it becomes really great. The story really isn't the main issue to carry the movie; the action and fighting is.

The action and fighting scenes and sequences were really nicely choreographed and executed. Lots of adrenaline and in-your-face fighting here. It is not the type of action as seen in many Chinese action movies, with wires and crazy jumping going on, no! This is done very realistic and believable. Though I do wonder how one manages to stay afoot after receiving such a beating as the two main characters did towards the end and final showdown (I guess they just had that Jean Claude Van Damme gene in them, eh?).

The people cast for the various roles were doing really great jobs with their roles, and I think it was nice to see so many unfamiliar faces on the cast list, which for me, means there are no associations to prior movies and roles hanging in the air. I enjoyed the performances by all people in "The City of Violence".

"The City of Violence" is a movie that you just have to watch if you are a fan of Asian action movies, it is an amazing Korean movie that is well worthy up along side some of the 'classic' Hong Kong action movies. And "The City of Violence" goes to prove that action doesn't have to come from Hollywood. And speaking of action, then the final showdown at the restaurant was one of the best fighting scenes I have ever witnessed in a movie, it just went on and on (but in a good way) and it was done so nicely.

Thumbs up for this movie, way up!

As with most action films: forget about the plot - this one holds very little surprises and the villain is obvious from his very first scene, thus eliminating any suspense from the first 45 minutes.

But again: this is an action film, so who cares?

Actually, this is a very stylish action film, bringing some pretty neat photography and music along to boot.

It's also a rare tae kwon do mayhem-fest, so sit back and watch all those fighters leap into the air, pulling off unbelievable moves for your entertainment.

Overall: cool fights and a finale almost (repeat: ALMOST) on a par with the legendary finale of A Better Tomorrow 2.

Watch this film and - if you like martial arts action - you'll enjoy this immensely.

THE CITY OF VIOLENCE is a solid action film with an engaging, gangster-focused storyline and plenty of interesting characters to keep the viewer's attention. Things kick off with a brutal murder in the street, which leads to the victim's childhood friends reuniting to reminisce about the old days. We learn that each character has gone his own way: one's now a small-time gangster, another a cop. The gradual pursuit and uncovery of the truth eventually leads to violent recriminations for one and all.

Interestingly enough, the mystery-style plotting and gangster window-dressing eventually wear off until by the end the film becomes a riotous, ass-kicking extravaganza that bears more than a passing resemble to the infamous 'Crazy 88' action scene in KILL BILL: VOLUME 1. It works: the director contributes plenty of stylish flourishes and the action is well-filmed through, from huge, sprawling street fights early on to the epic bad-assery of the climax. It truly is an excellent ending, lifting what's come before and proving itself a film more than capable of holding its own against bigger productions.

A must see for any fans of Asian extreme cinema. This is all that Kill Bill was unable to be and shows that Tarantino is but a poor imitator of the best Asia has to offer.

20 years after 5 childhood best friends close a bottle of alcohol with a serpent inside one of the five, Wang-Jae (Kil-Kang Ahn) is murdered by a bunch of young hooligans. Before his death Wang-Jae was an ex-mafioso boss, that settled down and opened a bar, still remaining an influential figure in the neighbourhood. Tae-su is a Seul cop, the best on the force and a real terror for everyone that has to do with crime. Dong-hwan (Seok-yong Jeong), a geeky teacher and Seok-hwan (Seung-wan Ryoo), a small-time crook, are brothers jointly caring for their 60-year old mother. Pil-ho (Beom-su Lee) is the crime lord of the city after Wang-Jae's retirement.

After the funeral Tae-Su in search of the killers of Wang-Jae decides to stay for a bit longer in the city. It quickly turns out that the case will force brother to go against brother and for the best friends to fight each other...

The movie lost a couple of points for not being able to properly balance the comedic with the dramatic with certain fragments standing out as if from a totally different movie. Also some of the fight sequences were too long and tiresome. There are better Asian movies out there, but still a recommended, if flawed movie. And no Tarantino hack can capture the strengths of the Asian revenge flick.

As of 12:02am I finally saw this movie and i must say...it was a fantastic movie. The Cinematography was well done to a point it reminded me of Running Scared yet kept its own originality. The overhead views were nicely done and there was no shortage of action. I loved the editing on the movie and wasn't bored at all reading the subs as it was a fantastic story of loyalty an broken friendships. The action in its own right was brutal an fun as i craved to see what technique our heroes would use to take down there opponents. The ending was well played as the payoff was great and the final showdown was intense in action and drama. I don't have any real complaints about this movie as everything gelled together real well right down to the soundtrack (intresting they played western themes at the end when in the beginning Columbo was mention) its a great movie that should not be missed, it really shows how well Korea is coming along with its movies

This movie sucked so-o-o-o-o bad. Forget that is was subtitled, the dialogue was worthless. Forget the plot, it was pretty convoluted. Forget the acting, the characters relied on their looks more than their skills. Forget tai kwon do, that martial art will get you no where in a real fight.

Martial arts movies should be about quality, believable martial arts. The fight scenes were just horrible. The good guys could fight for extremely long periods of time against uncountable fresh rivals, do dramatic flips, complicated acrobatics, while bleeding from all extremities and never run out of energy to do more technical moves and leave their rivals in a heap--probably because they consumed their special stamina drink.

The only positives about the movie were the sets. Glimpses of cool camera angles and good use of backdrops against character costumes. I need more story or more action in this type of film.

City of violence is an action movie. And when it comes to action movies the plot isn't that important. At least as long as it never forgets to be in function of the action and not the other way around. But I was surprised to see that, (although not very original) the plot was quite interesting. The actors also did a great job in carrying this plot. They were believable as childhood friends who reunite after the death of one them. Doo-hong Jung (Arahan) who has the lead as the friend who is a cop also is the martial arts director for this movie. And it shows. He choreographed some excellent fighting scenes. Especially at the ending you will be in for a treat. One of the highlights of the movie is one big action scene in he middle of the city where Doo-hong Jung has to fight several gangs of kids on his own. He does gets assistance of a friend, Seok-hwan played Seung-wan Ryoo who is the director of this film. Not to be confused with his brother (actor Seung-beom Ryu from Arahan) who looks very similar to him! When these two get together the fun really begins. I don't know if it was meant as a parody or tribute to The Warriors, but it was sure a spectacular sight to see the Korean hoodlums dressed as the gangs from that movie. They were just as dangerous and menacing. The good mix of comedy, drama and action makes this a movie that has to be seen. It's one big and fun ride!

(2006) The City of Violence (In South Korean with English subtitles) CRIME DRAMA

Detective Jung Tae SooJung finds out that one of his childhood friends Wangja was stabbed to death so he decides to return to the neighborhood he used to grow in meeting 3 others, after an investigation, he finds out that it was not just an ordinary random stabbing but that one of his childhood friends, Pil-ho (Lee Beom-soo) is somehow responsible for it. In terms of action is concerned , I have to say is not very good and the reason is that although I'm not accustomed to Korean laws and culture it lacks credibility action-wise! Consider this scene where one of the snitches is held up in jail for protection, a guy holding a water cooler comes up to the cell and starts dousing it on the person that was locked up. The policemen see this and tries to prevent this from happening by kicking the living crap out of him- he beats and kills everybody in the room, trained police officers with one trying to load up a gun and he ends up getting killed as well. How is this possible, even if this guy is an assassin. They're lots of scenes such as the one I mentioned where logic is not really applied but to showcase the assassin getting away burning his victim in a cell. They're some fighting and on the early stages are quite entertaining but as the film progresses you tend to ask yourself why are there anybody carrying any guns especially the cop whose supposed to be seeking for revenge on his murdered school chum. The fighting scenes began to annoy me 3/4 of the way starting to feel pointless since some of the bad guys or another would be knocked out unconscious and would still be alive and sometimes could barely make anything out when they're fighting. In the end, I just didn't care what happened and turned on a Jackie Chan Chinese film or a Donnie Yen film instead which this film was intending to do, but by comparison this film is quite weak in terms of action films goes.

I just cant quite put my finger on the great work of this director and these actors...it just kicks @$$! The action packed fight sequences in this film have so much tooth and nail intensity that i can almost feel the pain...esp. the sequence of the hall of gangsters with knives.

This is an entertaining enough modern-day martial arts action thriller which is, it has to be said, entirely unoriginal in almost every respect. The plot concerns a city cop returning to his hometown for the funeral of a childhood friend, victim of a back-alley knifing while chasing thugs from his bar. Together with a second childhood friend, our hero suspects something amiss and begins his own investigation into the murder. This decision is the cue for a succession of unlikely encounters and a particularly bloody and fatal encounter with yet another childhood friend.

There are some people whose personalities are so under-developed that they have a tendency to adopt the characteristics of those they are close to (accent, mannerisms, etc), and this film reminded me a lot of people like that. Watching it, I got the impression that the writer/director was mimicking every film he wished he'd made. There are a number of obvious 'homages', and a flashback to a juvenile fight that is as (hopefully deliberately) cheesy as any 70s chop-socky sequence. One of the 'homages' is to Quentin Tarantino's (himself the king of the 'homage') over-rated Kill Bill so if, like me, you were bored by Tarantino's self-indulgence, you might consider thinking twice about watching a film whose writer obviously thinks so highly of it. Having said that, there is something ironic about an Asian film so clearly referencing a film which blatantly ripped off so many of the staple devices of its national genre.

The action is as frenetic and professional as you'd expect, and the storyline is reasonably engaging but, when all is said and done, this is really nothing more than a decent time-filler.

Policeman Tae-su (Doo-hong Jung) returns to his hometown for the funeral of murdered childhood friend Wang-jae, where he is reunited with old pals Pil-ho (Beom-su Lee), Dong-hwan (Seok-yong Jeong) and Seok-hwan (Seung-wan Ryoo). Upon investigating Wang-jae's murder, Tae-su discovers that it was one of his own circle of friends who committed the crime.

The Koreans have given us some damn fine cinema in recent years, and having heard good things about The City of Violence, my expectations were running extremely high.

Which is probably where I went wrong.

Rather than being absolutely blown away by all aspects of the film, as I had hoped, I was merely entertained on a superficial level: the chaotic fight scenes are fun but uninspired (a few original, well choreographed 'killer moves' would have seriously improved matters); the drama is OK, but kinda clichéd, with the 'inseparable childhood friends divided as adults' theme having been done many times before; and the stylish visual touches employed by the director, whilst admittedly cool, do little to help one follow the plot and are used a tad too liberally for my liking.

The film also has a tendency to flip rather uncomfortably between comic book action and more realistic violence, with the film's heroes emerging relatively unscathed from a battle against 'Warriors'-style gangs of teenagers one minute, but taking on knife wielding gangsters with suitably bloody results the next.

I rate The City of Violence a reasonable 6.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 7 for its particularly loathsome bad-guy, who finally gets his comeuppance after a prolonged battle inside a restaurant.

One element to City of Violence in which I'm not hearing many other reviewers talk about is the self-aware sense of humor the movie has towards the typical Asian crime and revenge flicks. There is a comedic undertone present in which both pays tribute and pokes fun at these two staple genres in Asian action cinema. This tongue-in-cheek attitude is expressed appropriately and is shown exclusively in action sequences. If such scenes of comic relief were not shown during the action sequences than the stunts would come across as just being ridiculous. Thankfully the subtle comedy allows the viewer to play along with the two male leads who are highly charismatic and easily capture interest. The other portions of the movie outside the action are taken very seriously and the drama is used well to both set the tone and advance the plot. My point is I believe many viewers are missing the dynamic of the comedy working alongside the drama here, as it is balanced to create the unique style of the film.

The plot is solid as well. Many questions arise within the first act which all resolve by the conclusion. The story is simple but there further elements to be discovered along the plot. Best friends, broken bonds, betrayal, and all the usual elements of an Asian revenge movie however the cinematography and direction by Seung-wan Ryoo gives everything it's own special flavor. I find City of Violence massively entertaining and am satisfied by it's strong martial arts presentation and interesting dynamic of the story-line. Definitely give it a watch. -8/10

Although the title suggests an epic action film, the story is more or less about corrupt internal politics of local thugs – which is not necessarily a bad thing because of the interesting story, good soundtrack, and visual appearance of the movie.

From start to finish, the cinematography projects a very classy appearance backed by the equally suitable music score; with both elements channeling retro aesthetics without appearing outdated. The film is also visually and auditory reminiscent to classics like Kill Bill and Lupin, while a nostalgic arch in the story makes you think about Stand By Me.

The story, as often is the case, focuses on an explosive derelict in search of his friend's killer, which somewhat sluggishly develops into a more complicated story about gang politics. Fortunately, the film benefits from a malevolent napoleon-complex driven villain who you truly love to hate because of his fear tactics and interrogation techniques.

There are times where the film tries to be comedic, but because of poor execution, it doesn't work very well. The action scenes were also pretty sparse and usually revolved around one or two guys managing to fend off a gang of 100 while over-using flying kicks the way you never see them used in real-life fights. The worst aspect of the battles was not their scarcity but their lack of distinct breath-taking choreography – no remarkable fights or memorable strikes. Although the fight scenes were non-intuitive, the visuals remained top notch through the whole film. The disappointing knife scene, which resembled interpretive dancing drivel with lots of flying kicks and people taking an unbelievable amount of punishment, none the less, still looked visually appealing.

The strong points: good music, great visuals/cinematography, well developed characters and a decent story. The weak points: somewhat sluggish plot development and forgettable fight scenes.

5 or 6/10

Korean movies have made a huge step forward in terms of quality after about 2010 or so. Not to say all movies before that are bad, but there are a lot of more unrefined works such as this one. It fluctuates between almost comically over the top fight scenes and trying to tell a serious story. This is where it falls apart a little bit. No matter how weighty the dialogues are and how grim the story is, you just can't take the characters seriously anymore. The action scenes feature a lot of stupid martial arts kicks and have a clear Chinese/Hong Kong influence (the places where the worst movies on earth come from).

But having said all of that, it's entertaining and it's fun so for a popcorn evening you could do worse.