The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)
"Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom" (original title)

The story of two outlaws and a bounty hunter in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.

Director:

Jee-woon Kim

Writers:

Jee-woon Kim (screenplay), Min-suk Kim (screenplay)

Stars:

Kang-ho Song, Byung-hun Lee, Woo-sung Jung

9 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kang-ho Song	...	Yoon Tae-goo / The Weird
Byung-hun Lee	...	Park Chang-yi / The Bad
Woo-sung Jung	...	Park Do-won / The Good
Je-mun Yun	...	Byung-choon (as Jae-moon Yoon)
Seung-su Ryu	...	Man-gil (as Seung-soo Ryu)
Young-chang Song	...	Kim Pan-joo
Byung-ho Son	...	Seo Jae-sik
Dal-su Oh	...	Messenger for Kim Pan-joo (as Dai-soo Oh)
Cheong-a Lee	...	Song-yi (as Chung-ah Lee)
Kwang-il Kim	...	Two Blades
Dong-seok Ma	...	Bear (as Don Lee)
Kyeong-hun Jo	...	Doo-chao (as Kyung-hoon Cho)
Hang-soo Lee	...	Kanemaru
Hyun Joong Kang	...	Ghost Market Gang Leader
Sung-min Lee	...	Chef

Storyline

A guksu western. Three Korean gunslingers are in Manchuria circa World War II: Do-wan, an upright bounty hunter, Chang-yi, a thin-skinned and ruthless killer, and Tae-goo, a train robber with nine lives. Tae-goo finds a map he's convinced leads to buried treasure; Chang-yi wants it as well for less clear reasons. Do-wan tracks the map knowing it will bring him to Chang-yi, Tae-goo, and reward money. Occupying Japanese forces and their Manchurian collaborators also want the map, as does the Ghost Market Gang who hangs out at a thieves' bazaar. These enemies cross paths frequently and dead bodies pile up. Will anyone find the map's destination and survive to tell the tale?

---

Plot Keywords:

map | manchuria | bounty hunter | treasure | treasure map | 

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for nonstop violence and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp] Official site [kr]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean Mandarin Japanese

Release Date:

17 July 2008 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Nom Nom Nom

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,775 (USA) (23 April 2010)

Gross:

$128,486 (USA) (25 June 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barunson, CJ Entertainment, Cineclick Asia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min 120 min 130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Jee-woon Kim says he'd like this to be called a "kimchee western", after the Korean food made with fermented cabbages. He says he thinks the plot and film are spicy and vibrant, like the Korean culture and people.

---

Goofs

When Park Chang-yi spins a supposedly 78-rpm record in Kim Pan-joo's office, the record he play is a 33 1/3 rpm Angel record. Angel records were not around in the 1940's (the record label is from the 1970's). Furthermore, Angel records specialize in classical music and would not release a record of Glenn Miller music even if they had been around at the time of this movie.

---

Quotes

Park Chang-yi: I'll play a game with you two. A way to get rid of both of you at once. A fun game. A game to decide who is best, where no one knows who will shoot whom. Where only one man survives. Right here, right now. I'll kill both of you.
Park Do-won: That'll never happen. I'll shoot you down first.
Park Chang-yi: We'll see about that.

---

Connections

References The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

---

Soundtracks

"Moonlight Serenade"
Composed by Glenn Miller
Published by EMI Music Publishing
Courtesy of Sony BMG

User Reviews

barely deeper than a footprint, but so much fun you'll forget you care

This movie is fantastic, exhilarating and fun. High dramatic art it is not.

It's a movie about a chase for treasure, and it holds onto that and never forgets. In the pursuit of creating a chase, everything is crafted carefully. The cinematography is breathtaking, with huge elaborate sets that are used to their fullest. Most of the stunts and effects are real, CGI being kept to a minimum. It is an action movie with actual action instead of pixels, a rarity in movies from the past 10 years. Stunning candy for all the senses, it gets your adrenaline pumping! As far as acting goes, it is excellent. Korean comic actor Song Kang-Ho fills the "Weird" role of Tae-Goo, pulling off a combination of humanity and quirkiness. Lee Byung-Hun is the 'bad' character, brutal and insane as gangster Chang-Yi. Filling out the main three is Jung Woo-Son as the cool, collected and more than a little arrogant bounty hunter Do-Won. While Jung is eclipsed by the other two, his character ultimately became my favorite during the climax. The supporting cast is none-too-shabby either, playing everything from military dropouts to ninjas, all well. Particularly entertaining are the leaders of a group of Manchurian gangsters, who watch insanity take place and calmly discuss it from horseback.

Now, while the acting is good...there is not a lot of it. I don't think anyone is going to try to pretend this is a character-driven piece. It could have been, maybe, but it wasn't try to be. It was trying to be fun. There is enough character development so that when the climax rolls around after two madcap hours of amazing action, you care that the characters lives are being threatened. That's...all.

But the action is extremely well done, with a heart-pounding score that makes it all the well fun. For entertainment, you aren't going to get much more well-done for this. Supremely fun, with scenes shot with people, horses, cars and real pyrotechnics in the middle of the Gobi desert (too much CGI and spectacle just becomes yawn-worthy, I often fun). So get the DVD, get some popcorn, turn the sound WAY up and prepare for a beautifully-crafted action movie. Not for a complex character-driven masterpiece.