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Reviews28
simonize-1's rating
Cast: KANG-HO SONG is YOON TAE-GOO aka The Weird formerly ELI WALLACH aka the Ugly
BYUNG-HUN LEE is PARK CHANG-YI aka The Bad, formerly LEE VAN CLEEF aka The Bad
WOO-SUNG JUNG is PARK DO-WON aka The Good, formerly CLINT EASTWOOD aka The Good
Why can't Quentin Tarantino makes movies like this? The Korean creators of this film have made a very acceptable homage to the similarly titled film THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. While American born writer and director Tarantino draws inspiration from earlier films, now considered to be cult favourites, and not the critical failures they were initially regarded as, his films always seem to have a spirit of meanness I find thankfully absent in this Korean actioner.
Veteran lead actor Kang-ho Song is a versatile enough actor to approximate the role of Tuco, and indeed, at time looks like ELI WALLACH. Woo-sung Jung updates the CLINT EASTWOOD character of the bounty hunter supreme, and is just as as taciturn as Clint except for the short interlude when he and the Weird share sleeping quarters. mistrust the other.
LEE VAN CLEEF is reincarnated in style by Byung-hun Lee, suitably dressed in funereal black and sporting the scars of his livelihood. He is utterly ruthless from start to finish; he doesn't allow his own men to challenge or to question him, and is totally focused on what he wants to achieve.
This film certainly comes close to wearing out its welcome but the concluding scenes will make it worth your while. Before that conclusion you will be treated to an incredible visual feast of fascinating characters in varied and outrageous costume; landscapes so alien and so vast as to be overwhelming in their novelty, and fanciful and exotic locations chosen as stunning backdrops to the expertly choreographed gunfights that fill this film.
Writer-director Ji-woon Kim certainly has succeeded in creating a distinctive and memorable ORIENTAL WESTERN with this film, that hopefully will see if not a North American theatrical release, then at least a special edition DVD release.
The Icon Blu Ray out of the UK is the international version running 130 minutes and not the 124 minutes shown on the packaging. This release offers a lossless 5.1 digital audio track; the English subtitles are not burnt in, and available at a very competitive price!
Yes, I have watched both Tarantino's INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and its inspiration directed by ENZO CASTELLARI, and would not care to watch the former again, or to recommend it for others to view.
BYUNG-HUN LEE is PARK CHANG-YI aka The Bad, formerly LEE VAN CLEEF aka The Bad
WOO-SUNG JUNG is PARK DO-WON aka The Good, formerly CLINT EASTWOOD aka The Good
Why can't Quentin Tarantino makes movies like this? The Korean creators of this film have made a very acceptable homage to the similarly titled film THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. While American born writer and director Tarantino draws inspiration from earlier films, now considered to be cult favourites, and not the critical failures they were initially regarded as, his films always seem to have a spirit of meanness I find thankfully absent in this Korean actioner.
Veteran lead actor Kang-ho Song is a versatile enough actor to approximate the role of Tuco, and indeed, at time looks like ELI WALLACH. Woo-sung Jung updates the CLINT EASTWOOD character of the bounty hunter supreme, and is just as as taciturn as Clint except for the short interlude when he and the Weird share sleeping quarters. mistrust the other.
LEE VAN CLEEF is reincarnated in style by Byung-hun Lee, suitably dressed in funereal black and sporting the scars of his livelihood. He is utterly ruthless from start to finish; he doesn't allow his own men to challenge or to question him, and is totally focused on what he wants to achieve.
This film certainly comes close to wearing out its welcome but the concluding scenes will make it worth your while. Before that conclusion you will be treated to an incredible visual feast of fascinating characters in varied and outrageous costume; landscapes so alien and so vast as to be overwhelming in their novelty, and fanciful and exotic locations chosen as stunning backdrops to the expertly choreographed gunfights that fill this film.
Writer-director Ji-woon Kim certainly has succeeded in creating a distinctive and memorable ORIENTAL WESTERN with this film, that hopefully will see if not a North American theatrical release, then at least a special edition DVD release.
The Icon Blu Ray out of the UK is the international version running 130 minutes and not the 124 minutes shown on the packaging. This release offers a lossless 5.1 digital audio track; the English subtitles are not burnt in, and available at a very competitive price!
Yes, I have watched both Tarantino's INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and its inspiration directed by ENZO CASTELLARI, and would not care to watch the former again, or to recommend it for others to view.
This lengthy film will likely disappoint North American readers who have yet to read the fifth in the Antonio Perez-Reverte historical series chronicling the life and death of one Captain Diego Alatriste. Then again very few will be aware that a film has been made, and that it stars VIGGO MORTENSON, best known here for his on-going role in the hugely successful adaption of J. R. R. TOLKIEN's THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy.
This film attempts to compact the first five novels into one epic yet personal picture about Spain at the height of its powers. Unfortunately the fourth work in the series THE KING'S GOLD has only just become available in hardcover, AND it may be another two years before the fifth arrives! Significantly, I feel that American readers could find many parallels to this Spain and their own country. One memorable piece of verse says something like, Spain plundered the whole world alone, But now the whole world waits to plunder Spain alone.
That said, I give this film low marks because of the difficulties my girlfriend and I had in viewing it. The film begins in Flanders and sets up the lifelong relationship between the fiercely independent Alatriste and Inigo, the son of a deceased comrade in arms. This situation which makes up most of the first novel is over and done with very quickly. So too is the introduction of the masterful Italian swordsman MALATESTA who is commissioned along with ALATRISTE to assassinate two visiting English members of the royalty.
Somehow within the first hour we get to book four, THE KING'S GOLD. This is especially poorly done, as Alatriste's motivation for taking on the suicidal task is not properly explained and neither is his recruiting of the team. In the film a very moving celebration of life - for a condemned man - is somehow dismissed, and shown only because Alatriste approaches the man for help.
So when the late night/early morning assault on the ship carrying gold from the Americas takes place we know of the men, and worse, the dutiful accountant - OLMEDILLA, if I remember correctly - written in such detail is invisible.
As to the one great love in Alatriste's life, I do not recall the woman MARIA in any of the books, and she is really given short shrift in the film, though it is obvious that the Captain makes great sacrifices for her.
Two other major concerns: no one ever addresses anyone else by name and so you have no idea who is who, and the girl Angelica is dark haired and not blonde with ringlets and green eyes! The running time of this film is frequently listed as 147 minutes but my copy courtesy of Xploited Video only runs 138 minutes (the credits are lengthy and accompanied by music that adds nothing).
The first four books in the series probably total a 1000 pages, and sadly it shows. Thank you for your patience in reading this lengthy discourse.
This film attempts to compact the first five novels into one epic yet personal picture about Spain at the height of its powers. Unfortunately the fourth work in the series THE KING'S GOLD has only just become available in hardcover, AND it may be another two years before the fifth arrives! Significantly, I feel that American readers could find many parallels to this Spain and their own country. One memorable piece of verse says something like, Spain plundered the whole world alone, But now the whole world waits to plunder Spain alone.
That said, I give this film low marks because of the difficulties my girlfriend and I had in viewing it. The film begins in Flanders and sets up the lifelong relationship between the fiercely independent Alatriste and Inigo, the son of a deceased comrade in arms. This situation which makes up most of the first novel is over and done with very quickly. So too is the introduction of the masterful Italian swordsman MALATESTA who is commissioned along with ALATRISTE to assassinate two visiting English members of the royalty.
Somehow within the first hour we get to book four, THE KING'S GOLD. This is especially poorly done, as Alatriste's motivation for taking on the suicidal task is not properly explained and neither is his recruiting of the team. In the film a very moving celebration of life - for a condemned man - is somehow dismissed, and shown only because Alatriste approaches the man for help.
So when the late night/early morning assault on the ship carrying gold from the Americas takes place we know of the men, and worse, the dutiful accountant - OLMEDILLA, if I remember correctly - written in such detail is invisible.
As to the one great love in Alatriste's life, I do not recall the woman MARIA in any of the books, and she is really given short shrift in the film, though it is obvious that the Captain makes great sacrifices for her.
Two other major concerns: no one ever addresses anyone else by name and so you have no idea who is who, and the girl Angelica is dark haired and not blonde with ringlets and green eyes! The running time of this film is frequently listed as 147 minutes but my copy courtesy of Xploited Video only runs 138 minutes (the credits are lengthy and accompanied by music that adds nothing).
The first four books in the series probably total a 1000 pages, and sadly it shows. Thank you for your patience in reading this lengthy discourse.
THE DEADLY BREAKING SWORD stands apart from other Shaw Bros. productions starring TI LUNG in making him an unsympathetic, even an unlikeable character. The more SB films one sees, the more rewarding it can be as you see how the filmmakers would attempt to move beyond the genre formulas, even though they used the same actors and production crews.
His role as TUAN CHANGQING, the Deadly Breaking Sword, puts him at odds with the rest of the martial world. He is an aberration of his famous heroic roles, eg. THE SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN cycle: he is no longer a protector of the weak, and the old, nor is he a defender of helpless women (though one might argue, there are no so called helpless women in this story).
He looks ahead to the likes of FRANKIE CHAN's nobleman in THE PRODIGAL SON and Donnie Yen's General in the superior ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II. A superior fighter who provokes less fighters into mortal combat; a sadist who not only provides his quarry a coffin but who also relishes detailing his deadly breaking sword technique.
The film cleverly begins with a duel with LIAN SAN (WAI-MAN CHAN) whose own reputation rests with his Throat-Piercing Halberd. The two fighters are well matched, and both sustain serious wounds. The contest ends with LIAN's flight to safety.
LIAN's miraculous recovery is brought about by GUO TIANSHENG (KU FENG). GUO hides behind a facade he has skilfully created in which he is a warm, compassionate and peace loving man. He has an ulterior motive for saving LIAN's life.
The catalyst for the ensuing action is LIU JINHUA, a successful prostitute who comes to town, and hopes to enlist TUAN's services to kill GUO, whom she believes betrayed her brother years ago.
Add to this potentially confusing mix, FU SHENG playing his patented scoundrel, except this time, he is too blind to comprehend that the beautiful LUO JINHUA (LILY LI) is totally in love with him. XIAO DAO (FU) spends most of the film trying to get out of his indentured status. His need for quick, ready cash sets him on a collision course with both TUAN and GUO (aka THE KILLER DOCTOR).
There are several scenes where the key characters confront one another: in one, the smooth, sly GUO easily deceives TUAN; in another, TUAN accuses LIU of lying to him; in others, TUAN, still fooled by the KILLER DOCTOR, attempts to stop XIAO (FU SHENG) from taking on the mission of eliminating the Doctor - for money, and then there is the drastic course of action that FU SHENG takes when he fathoms what LILY LI has been doing.
There is a lot of action, well up to the usual house standards, and well staged too. But what stayed with me was TI LUNG's character TUAN CHANGQING, who is every bit the hypocrite that the good DOCTOR GUO is. It's a great scene when TUAN sitting down with XIAO tells him how wonderful he is as a fighter, and if he only had principles...
His role as TUAN CHANGQING, the Deadly Breaking Sword, puts him at odds with the rest of the martial world. He is an aberration of his famous heroic roles, eg. THE SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN cycle: he is no longer a protector of the weak, and the old, nor is he a defender of helpless women (though one might argue, there are no so called helpless women in this story).
He looks ahead to the likes of FRANKIE CHAN's nobleman in THE PRODIGAL SON and Donnie Yen's General in the superior ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II. A superior fighter who provokes less fighters into mortal combat; a sadist who not only provides his quarry a coffin but who also relishes detailing his deadly breaking sword technique.
The film cleverly begins with a duel with LIAN SAN (WAI-MAN CHAN) whose own reputation rests with his Throat-Piercing Halberd. The two fighters are well matched, and both sustain serious wounds. The contest ends with LIAN's flight to safety.
LIAN's miraculous recovery is brought about by GUO TIANSHENG (KU FENG). GUO hides behind a facade he has skilfully created in which he is a warm, compassionate and peace loving man. He has an ulterior motive for saving LIAN's life.
The catalyst for the ensuing action is LIU JINHUA, a successful prostitute who comes to town, and hopes to enlist TUAN's services to kill GUO, whom she believes betrayed her brother years ago.
Add to this potentially confusing mix, FU SHENG playing his patented scoundrel, except this time, he is too blind to comprehend that the beautiful LUO JINHUA (LILY LI) is totally in love with him. XIAO DAO (FU) spends most of the film trying to get out of his indentured status. His need for quick, ready cash sets him on a collision course with both TUAN and GUO (aka THE KILLER DOCTOR).
There are several scenes where the key characters confront one another: in one, the smooth, sly GUO easily deceives TUAN; in another, TUAN accuses LIU of lying to him; in others, TUAN, still fooled by the KILLER DOCTOR, attempts to stop XIAO (FU SHENG) from taking on the mission of eliminating the Doctor - for money, and then there is the drastic course of action that FU SHENG takes when he fathoms what LILY LI has been doing.
There is a lot of action, well up to the usual house standards, and well staged too. But what stayed with me was TI LUNG's character TUAN CHANGQING, who is every bit the hypocrite that the good DOCTOR GUO is. It's a great scene when TUAN sitting down with XIAO tells him how wonderful he is as a fighter, and if he only had principles...