Swiri (1999)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Je-gyu Kang

Writer:

Je-gyu Kang (writer)

Release Date:

13 February 1999 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

North Korea's 8th Special Forces hijacks a shipment of CTX, a potent new liquid explosive, and threatens...

Plot Keywords:

Korea | Terrorist | Special Agent | Agent | North Korea

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Suk-kyu Han	...	Jong Won Yu
Min-sik Choi	...	Mu-young Park
Yunjin Kim	...	Myung-hyun Lee / Bang-hee Lee (as Yoon-jin Kim)
Kang-ho Song	...	Jang-gil Lee
Johnny Kim	...	Dae-Ho Jung (as Derek Kim)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeong-min Hwang
Hyeong-seong Jang
Su-ro Kim
Seung-Shin Lee
Yong-woo Park	...	Sik

Also Known As:

Shiri (Hong Kong: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and some language.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | South Korea:15 | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) (cut) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

"The Hill of Shiri", Joongmoon-Dong, Seogwipo, Cheju Island, South Korea

Company:

Kang Je-Kyu Film Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

German film fans were astonished when this film passed the ratings board FSK (known for its extensive dislike of excessive violence) uncut with a "Not under 16" rating. It was expected that the film would not get a rating at all and had to go for a JK approval from SPIO (Head organization of German film business).

Goofs:

Continuity: The CTX convoy is shown driving to the right, including throughout the tunnel just before the ambush, but then it suddenly switches to the left side of the stripe when stopping at the checkpoint.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Eodiseonga nugungae museunili saengkimyeon teulrimeobshi natananda Hong Ban-jang (2004)

Soundtrack:

Always You

Surprisingly good movie. Worth watching.

I found this movie at Blockbusters in the DVD section. Although I am of Korean background, I have not heard of this movie prior to finding it at Blockbusters. I rented it out of curiosity... the short description on the jacket seemed interesting enough. I only found out after watching the movie that it was such a big hit in Korea a few years ago. Watching the movie, it reminded me of "The Rock", "La Femme Nikita/Point of No Return", and "Heat".. All these were previously mentioned in other comments, and I agree that some of the scenes in Swiri (or Shiri) weren't very original in that regard. Still, the quality of the movie was surprisingly excellent. I also agree a lot of the action sequences in this movie weren't perfect, but then again, so are some of Hollywood's action movies. Some of the special effects were below par as well (the scene where a building blows up wasn't too convincing). Still, I've seen other Korean movies and I must say that Korean films have come a long way.. cinematography, plot, characterization were all done really well. I watched it twice.. once in Korean audio without subtitles, and again with English subtitles. The subtitles, although done very well, does leave out some of the subtleties. I'd say it is a difficult thing, translating dialog without losing something somewhere. Still the acting does fill in the blanks quite well I thought. I thought the acting was excellent.. Knowing a bit about the North/South Korean history would help understand the movie. Also knowing a bit about South Korean perception of the North Korea would also help understand the movie better as well. I thought that the love story in the movie, although it is a type that is very very often used (the tragic type) especially in Korean films, worked well. I thought it was far more convincing than the love between Anakin and Amidala in SW2 AOTC.

Overall, Swiri/Shiri isn't perfect. It isn't without holes. It doesn't compare to Heat (an excellent film). But unlike some of other "Hollywood" movies, that Blockbusters had many more copies of (Black Knight, Joy Ride, Thirteen Ghosts), I was glad to have paid $4.09 to rent it for 5 days. That reminds me. I'd better return my copy since they only had copy. If you can find a copy at your local Blockbusters or a DVD/Video rental place, rent it.