Shiri (1999) User Reviews

Some plot holes but generally a really good thriller

[bob the moo · 18 May 2003]

Against the background of political tensions between north and south Korea, an elite group of soldiers (the 8th Special Forces) infiltrate the South with the aim of carrying out terrorist attacks. Most worrying of all is the reappearance of deadly assassin Hee in South Korea. Special agents Ryu and Lee are assigned to bring down Hee, however when the group get hold of a hi-tech new explosive they hold Seoul to ransom for $10million. Meanwhile Ryu and Lee realise that there is a mole inside their agency that keeps Hee one step ahead of them.

Other reviewers have said that this film is a good addition to the `heroic bloodshed' genre of Hong Kong cinema, with it's gory bloodshed and bullet ballets. However I personally feel that this is to do the film a disservice – the film doesn't just lift that style but rather delivers a solid thriller story line with plenty of well directed action. The plot is a detective story with the added boost of the terrorist attacks. It has a couple of nice twists along the way that work pretty well. The downside is that the plot occasionally makes minor jumps that are hard to follow, for example an action scene is immediately followed by a scene where the same characters are in a different situation, this happens twice and threw me a little. But these are minor problems. The political arguments are not too complex – one reviewed said to go and read up on Korean history before seeing Shiri, this is far from necessary. It is quite simple but doesn't get in the way of the bigger thriller story line.

The action is not of the slow-mo OTT type seen in The Killer or Hard Boiled but is more like the extended gun battles seen in Heat. Yes, they are a bit OTT but they aren't as heavily stylised as in many HK movies. Instead the tension comes from the excellent direction. Using a handheld camera really makes the gun battles feel intense and very close to where you're sitting. The action does have some HK clichés but these are still well delivered.

The cast are all well Han Suk-Kyu (Ryu) does well with the action as well as the romance subplot with Kim Yoon-jin. The rest of the cast are good – even the comedy odd-ball is good value, compared to the occasional Hollywood comedy character that can be grating.

I haven't seen too many Korean films but this was a particularly good thriller with intense action. Overall I enjoyed this film and fully expect America to pick up on the fact that it has action AND a workable story and commission a remake pretty soon. Wouldn't you rather see the original first?

Misunderstood

[hwarangdo · 10/10 · 13 May 2002]

This is not a romance, nor an action film. Despite the tragic love scenes and the overrated action scenes -- At the heart of this movie is a desperate cry for peace.

I don't know if the subtitles were flawed or the international audience just don't see the cultural implications, but the movie's final scene brought tears to my eyes. When I read the other comments, all I see is "Hollywood wannabe" and "overrated action scenes" pasted everywhere. Sure the movie dosen't have an incredible impact in its action scenes but the underlying themes and the awesome acting and chemistry between the main actors make this film a must-see.

If you enjoyed this movie, Also see: Joint Security Area, Friend, 2009 Lost Memories

Excellent action and violent Korean film

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 20 July 2004]

It's a cool movie . From the beginning until the end the action is unstoppable .

The flick talks upon a counter-terrorism outfit that has to fight against a murderous terrorist group who creates terror by means of an explosive liquid with the aim to blow up a soccer stadium and getting the unification Korea .

The movie has a John Woo style , there are amount of shoot-outs, frenetic action and running men while they are shooting .

The film blends action-packed , rip-roaring , a love story , betrayal , drama , violence and is quite entertaining .

The movie will appeal to action lovers and Hong Kong films buffs , it's very spectacular , it's an exciting film for adrenaline lovers .

Rating : 7/10 , good .

Solid thriller

[mighty_pickman · 7/10 · 9 June 2003]

A solid thriller from South Korea, focusing on the tensions on the Korean peninsula. In this case, a rogue military outfit from the north plans a terrorist attack at a North Korea - South Korea soccer game, aimed at improving relations between the two Korea's. Despite being South Korean & criticises the current situation in the North, this film does not totally demonise North Korea. The bad guys in this film are a rogue element planning to rise up against the North Korean government. Solid action, though special effects at times are not great. 7/10

Surprisingly good movie. Worth watching.

[muckiduck · 10 June 2002]

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.

Disappointed in this film

[evilasahobby · 5/10 · 21 November 2005]

I'd heard a lot about "Shiri" (aka "Swiri") and how this Korean action film compared favourably (or perhaps even exceeded) recent US action films. So it was with high hopes I sat down to watch this movie.

Perhaps it was a result of the hype, but I came away feeling very disappointed in this film. There are some very strong scenes in this film, don't get me wrong - the training sequence at the start, the suddenness of the assassinations, for example - which help add something different to this movie, and the technical aspects of "Shiri" are definitely better than average, but in many ways this film falls short.

The big issue for me was the disconnect between the 'realistic' political aspect that provided the motivation for the movie and the over-the-top gun play in the action sequences. At the very start, the training sequence makes the movie look like it will have a more realistic portrayal of violence, but this dissipates in a hail of bullets during the shoot-outs. Apparently the South Korean Special Forces suck, because they put thousands of rounds from MP5s in the direction of their heavily outnumbered North Korean adversaries and continually miss, while the North Koreans just need hand guns (Berettas, possibly) and one shot to gun down large numbers of armoured opponents.

I don't mind cartoon-ish violence in live action films, but it has to be kept consistent. The ability of the North Koreans to avoid large numbers of South Korean bullets exceeded my suspension of disbelief and undermined my acceptance of the political motivation. I can handle the plot holes and the bad science, but just can't reconcile the supposed realistic political themes with the absurd action sequences.

As for the love story aspect - well, it was something a bit different for this genre of movie (especially the phone message at the very end of the film - that would have been heartbreaking for the characters involved), but not enough to make this film any more than a curiosity for those who want to see what Korean action films are capable of.

Slick, action-packed Korean political thriller

[dave13-1 · 7/10 · 9 February 2008]

Security agent Ryu stumbles upon a plot by North Korean fanatics (led by terrorist Park and assassin Hee) to disrupt peace and re-unification efforts by North and South politicians using high tech explosives and the hunt is on to stop them. Much gun play follows, as well as much talk about the politics and sociology of possible Korean re-unification. Given North Korea's history of selling weaponry to anyone with hard currency and South Korea's position as an important diplomatic and military ally of the U.S., such discussions are actually of worldwide interest. Since emerging in the mid-90s as a distinct cinematic power, South Korea has become filmdom's leading edge for cult actioners and this movie shows why. It is fast paced, uberviolent, with a polished look, tightly crafted plot line and strong performances by its ensemble cast.

Okay, but nothing close to "genius"

[yojimbo999 · 2 December 2001]

This is certainly an okay action movie. But after reading all the reviews using every hyperbole in the dictionary to call this movie "great" and "genius," I just have to put in my 2 cents.

"Shiri" is a good action movie, but some of the action scenes are just too long and seems to go on and on forever without ending. The movie itself is covered end to end in cliches. There's nothing here that hasn't been done before, and been done better. The love story was probably the only decent thing in the entire movie. After all, how many times do you have to see guys in commando uniforms storming buildings or pursuing criminals? I counted at least 6 separate SWAT-like incidents in this movie.

In interviews, the director claimed "Shiri" was supposed to overthrow Hollywood's dominance in the South Korean market. If by "overthrowing" he means to copy and be just like them, then he's achieved his purpose.

So, in summation: good movie, but definitely not as ground-breaking as everyone seems to think. How can you possibly call this movie "better" than a standard Hollywood summer event film when it's an exact duplicate of those same summer event films? It doesn't make sense, and I question if those who gives this movie such a glowing review isn't doing it because of some bias towards all things Hollywood. For those of you who fits in this category, just remember that "Citizen Kane" and "the Godfather" came out of Hollywood, too, so get off your high horse.

Asian cinema at its peak

[abettertomorrow · 10/10 · 17 April 2000]

Mixing Hong Kong-style action and Hollywood-style narrative with an old-fashioned yet refreshing story and a cast headed by the Korean equivalents to Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, it is not much of a surprise this ingeniously original action-drama-romance outgrossed Titanic in Korean domestic box office ticket sales.

Yu Jong Won, A super-slick government field agent (played by superstar Han Seok Kyu) is on the trail of a mysterious and powerful North Korean military terrorist group headed by a frighteningly dedicated soldier (Choi Min Sik) and a mysterious woman assassin which has planted a bomb in a stadium in Seoul set to hold the first North/South Korea soccer match only days away. An extraordinary job for Jong Won turns extremely personal when he finds out his long-time girlfriend Myung-Hyun (Kim Yoon Jin) is the mysterious assassin who will kill both country's leaders if Plan A backfires...

Any other film would have shown the terrorists as one-dimensional stereotypes but this film dives deep into their minds, showing they were typically driven by their government and poverty to do their deeds. At core, Swiri is more of a romantic drama than a pure action film, but people unaware of the North-South Korean situation may not fully see the drama. The romantic department however is amazing to see no matter what, not only because of the material it is brought into but the effectiveness of it. If the ending does not bring a tear to your eye, it is pretty clear nothing else will.

Split into Two Nations, Two Realities

[tedg · 4 September 2006]

Is it possible to make a Bruckheimer movie and not be stupidly loud and ugly?

Maybe. At least there are some parts of this that make it seem so. But they are surrounded by parts that are so automatic and banal it seems that different directors were involved. Or there was a sort of Jekyll and Hyde swapping of personalities.

For example, there is the required Bruckheimer shot of two guys (sometimes it is a guy and a girl) running away from a car (or house) that they know will explode, then they lunge forward, pretending to be pushed by the shock of the fireball behind that fills the screen. Groan. I hope never to see that again. Ever. Each assassination causes our heroes to get blood splashed on their faces. There's a shootout with fishtanks... yeah, you've seen it before. At least there were no helicopter jumps onto speeding trains. There's an odd, odd choice in soundtrack; the severest action scenes have a sedate fifties action track behind them, obviously copied -- perhaps literally -- from that era.

But in between there are some elements that are uniquely styled. There's an opening sequence that is energetic, and essential to introducing us to a kickass female killer. There are some scenes with a "Mr and Mrs Smith" flavor where the mundane domestic love is allowed to breath and seem real. And deep.

Two guys directing, I think. Or one guy, two nations.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Man, This Movie Didn't Even TRY...

[DrSmooth · 5/10 · 8 March 2002]

I went to see this movie after a friend of my, who had purchased Failan, decided that he wanted to go and check out this movie, which he'd also heard about. Well, I didn't watch Failan (hey, just what I need on a Friday night...a depressing movie, woo hoo!) but if this is any indication of the best Korea's film industry can offer, I'll pass.

I was surprised to see this movie in one of the "non-art" movie theaters in the area, and watching it, I know why. This isn't artsy, this has about as much art in it as Terminator 2. There is just so, so much utterly bad action in the movie, it's not even funny. I've seen more accurate gunfire in a Jackie Chan movie.

Here's just one example of what the film had to offer. Three N.K. agents come in to take out an informant. They can see the informant from where they are, but choose to walk up on them, so they can all be engaged in a gun standoff. But it gets better! There are S.K. agents with automatic weapons in perfect perches waiting to shoot. And they do, but they can't hit ANYTHING!

After the fourth or fifth time this happens, you just ignore the movie. If Korea wanted to imitate an American movie to make a blockbuster out of, they really should have picked something better than an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. If you're into this, you'll really love Fox's "World's Greatest Explosions Where Nobody Gets Hurt."

Firepower and fish.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 31 October 2016]

Yunjin Kim (Sun from TV's Lost) stars as tropical fish seller Myung-hyun Lee, who, unbeknownst to her counter-terrorist fiancé Jong Won Yu (Suk-kyu Han), is actually undercover assassin Hee, member of a special forces group that has hijacked some high-tech explosives as part of a desperate plot to re-unify North and South Korea.

The quote on the front of my DVD claims that Shiri is 'a mix of Nikita and Die Hard', which, to be blunt, is a crock of s**t. Apart from one of the main characters being a female killer and an awful lot of gunfire, this Korean flick bears very little resemblance to and is nowhere near as good as either of the aforementioned films. What we actually get with Shiri is a fairly mundane bad guys versus good guys thriller in which lots of people get killed (although who is shooting at who and why is often hard to keep track of), with an overload of shaky camera-work and some nonsense about tropical fish thrown in for those icthyophile action fans in the audience.

Funniest part: when a cornered female terrorist kills herself by swallowing a small explosive that blows her head apart. Most ridiculous moment: an agent discovering a bugging device hidden inside one of the tropical fish in his office (not only are we expected to believe that successfully performing such an operation on a fish would be feasible, but we are also supposed to accept that such a device would pick up sound from inside the creature submersed in a full tank of water).

A milestone for Korean cinema

[phd_travel · 7/10 · 2 February 2020]

This is an exciting and groundbreaking action movie for Korea. The story is involving and quite well written. The direction is flawed in parts. The camera work is a bit jerky and nauseating at times and the action sequences are too crowded. Sometimes can't follow what is going on. The good points of this spy story outweigh the bad. Some of the cast have gone on to world wide fame. Yunjin Kim shows her star power in a great performance. It's good to see the early work of Song of Parasite. Worth a watch to see the start of big Budget Korean cinema.

The South Korean military needs better aim...

[Mulliga · 15 June 2003]

Good Lord, with a dozen guys shooting MP5s, you'd think you could kill off one guy with a pistol! If all the South Korean soldiers were THAT incompetent, North Korea would've flattened them long ago...

That's the sort of silliness that pervades the action in Swiri. While the Woo-style HK blood opera is silly, as well, at least it's realistically silly (i.e., the hero wins against dozens of mooks because he is agile and avoids confronting too many at a time).

"Swiri" is a decent movie, with the best bits in the beginning in North Korea. It's emotional, and Hee is well-acted, but ultimately, it's just an above-average actioner/thriller/romance/political flick.

Shiri Lee Got Me

[rooprect · 2 December 2012]

(Yeah I know the song is "You Really Got Me" but I couldn't think of a witty title)

The posters and DVD cover are deceptive. Contrary to the image of a hot chick in a sexy slit dress holding a gun, this is not a sexy femspy flick. In fact you never get a good look at the female assassin until the very end; the story is completely from the point-of- view of two investigative agents trying to catch her, with very little info.

So you'd think this is a whodunnit mystery, right? Not really that either. What you get is sortofa action love story with some nice political themes. When I say it's a love story, it's not just a standard boy-meets-girl thing, but it's actually an interesting triangle which is 1 part romance (a detective and a fish store girl) and 1 part "bromance" (detective and his buddy).

All of this is set against the backdrop of a terrorist plot to blow up things & kill people, and that itself is set against the backdrop of political unrest between North & South Korea. There's a lot going on, and the 2 hr movie flies by without a boring moment. In fact it could've easily been an epic miniseries with all its interesting subplots, themes & messages.

As an uninformed American, I thought it was a pretty good flick. But I feel like in order to get the full power, you'd need to be more familiar with the whole division between N & S Korea, why it happened, and how culturally & economically different the two countries are. Sorta like a non-American would have to learn up on the US Civil War before truly appreciating "Gone with the Wind". But in "Shiri" they do a pretty decent job of covering the backstory so I'm not complaining.

The title "Shiri" is not the name of the assassin, as you might imagine, but actually it's the name of a type of fish that supposedly spawns in a different stream before returning to its "homeland". Throughout the movie we get similar metaphors aimed at the reunification of Korea, and indeed the whole plot centers around that idea.

So with that in mind, the movie takes an interesting viewpoint showing both sides of the story (good guys & bad guys), and although the audience's sympathy is mostly with the "good guys", the point is that the 2 sides are not so different as you'd think.

Symbolism, in particular fish symbolism, is very prominent. In between action scenes, there's a lot to think about. And of course I imagine the original Korean language version packs even more meaning. The subtitles seem a little inadequate sometimes.

Like all Korean movies I've seen, this is really violent. But it's actually one of the tamer ones, with most of the violence being gunfire, no gross-out torture scenes or anything. Although we do see someone's head explode in lovely splattervision. Haha, that one was totally unnecessary too... but really awesome just the same!

There's not much comedy in this film. It pretty much sticks to the point with minimal diversions.

"Shiri" is a well-justified use of your time. Imagine "Die Hard" (action) with a dash of "In the Line of Fire" (detective thriller) combined with "Black Sunday" (political intrigue) and a dash of romance & bromance, there you have it.

Korean movie out HK's Hong Kong!

[loz-17 · 2 April 2000]

Awesome, but violent film. I've only got it in the original Korean with Chinese subtitles, so I didn't get much of the plot, but it surpasses typical Hong Kong Action Flick genre stuff. Special effects are more than realistic, and it keeps interest going even if you don't understand it. The intro is one of the most violent I've ever seen, more action and death in the first 30 seconds than most other movies combined.

In summation, if you're a fan of Hong Kong action genre, this takes it to a whole new level.

As for the Shiri, there are plenty of them in the film. Fishtank's are featured heavily in the early part of the movie.

So promising, yet such a disappointment.

[shockers · 13 July 2002]

I bought this and watched this a couple of years ago and just watched it again. It was the first Korean movie I had seen. Since then, I've enjoyed VERY MUCH Joint Security Area and My Sassy Girl. I don't know why there was so much excitement about Shiri. Was it the first modern-day action movie there? Now, as well as 2 years ago, I still have a bad taste in my mouth after watching it. Despite the overdramatics of spy camp at the beginning, the plot was developing very nicely throughout most of the movie. The everyday scenes in and around Korea was very beautiful. Noticed them eating at Marche, which I do now in Singapore. But by the big shootout near the end, everything crumbles to standard paint-by-numbers HK action flik sequences: good guys outnumber bad 50-to-1 (or 150-to-1) but can only manage to hit kitchen appliances, the bad guys can't miss killing good guys, pistols have 100-shot clips (where do I get one of those?), and personal relationships end tragically (sob sob). Well, happily, the Korean movies I've seen since then are NOT HK-style good-guys-die/crooks-get-away movies. Looking forward to watching more.

Violence, action, good storytelling!

[gregsrants · 8/10 · 13 April 2002]

Swiri finally comes to DVD this week since it's successful foreign run in 1999. The movie has enough bullets, action and blood to make even the biggest John Woo fan stand up and clap with admiration.

The story is set in modern day South Korea and follows two cops on the trail of a female assassin known only to them as Hee. On the trail, they always find themselves two steps behind, and the blood and body count continue to grow.

The opening scenes of Hee in training is a scene that I am sure Paul Anderson III wanted to duplicate with Kurt Russell in the 1998 flop Soldier. Yoon-jin Kim plays her role perfectly as the assassin who later becomes torn between her mission and her love interest (who is one of the cops on her trail).

Throughout the story, director Je-gyu Kang uses a fish backdrop (you will have to see the movie to understand) and a unification soccer game between both South and North Korea, to keep the audience guessing as to their symbolic reference.

Plot details aside, the movie is about violence. And boy does it deliver. It has a shoot out scene that would remind movie watchers of Michael Mann's Heat, and a climax that would be a cross between Bruce Willis' The Last Boy Scout and John Woo's Hard Boiled.

Bullet for bullet, this is one of the best action films you are likely to see out of a foreign market. It's one of those rare Die Hard type movies that you can even turn the subtitles off and sit and watch the corpses pile up.

Quite large in Korea back in 1999 and searched for relentlessly by movie enthusiasts, the transfer to DVD is sharp and should not be missed!

Big surprise!

[TexRogers · 3 August 2002]

When I first saw that movie I didn't know anything about the korean movie industry and I was in for a big surprise! "Wow, they can make big budget action movies in other countries besides the US!" Was one of the first thoughts that came to my mind. The beginning with training the north korean spies was very "fascinating" to watch. I have seldomly seen such gory scenes that left the impression of "hell, they are mean" despite the usual: "cool, that blood spilling is really funny". I admit that I only understand very little korean and I saw that one without subtitles and the whole story was translated to me while watching. Still I thought it was a superb action movie with great actors. I can only recommend it to anyone who would like to see a non comic and also Asian action film for a change. It's really worth it!

If One Dies, the Other One Dies as Well

[Meganeguard · 8/10 · 18 October 2006]

In the year 1999 the film that dominated most East Asian film markets was James Cameron's Titanic which would go on to be the highest grossing film of all time. However, in South Korea the film that was number one at the box office was Shiri, an action-packed film that would go on to set South Korean box office records and force the Hollywood juggernaut to take notice that films produced in other countries could compete with the likes of Titanic. In the end 1/7 of South Korea's entire population would go to the theater to watch Shiri and it also received accolades in other Asian countries and helped revitalize the South Korean film industry whose government imposed that South Korean films had to be shown at least 106 days a year so that it could compete with foreign films and it also put on the road to stardom Choi Min-sik and Han Suk-kyu.

Shiri opens with scene after scene of the brutal training endured by those who wish to become members of the 8th Division, an elite force of North Korean Commandos. Amongst these individuals is a young woman named Lee Bang-hee who not only surpasses her male counterparts in fighting skills, but who is unmatched in her marksmanship. With her weapon of choice she perfectly severs the spinal cord with one shot and obliterates the heart with the next. Surviving her training, Bang-hee is sent to South Korea and assassinates several important political figures until suddenly disappearing. However, one day she returns and seems to be up to her old tricks again. Two special agents are assigned to her case, Yu Jongwon and Lee Janggil; however, she continues to foil them time after time. While searching for Bang-hee who has recently assassinated an arms dealer and a scientist who were working together under the table, Yu and Lee soon learn that the 8th division led by their old nemesis Park Mu-young is plotting to steal a new weapon called CMX which is ten times stronger than an average bomb, liquid, and virtually undetectable and are unable to stop Park when he successfully does steal the CMX. Park calls the agency and informs them that ten sites in Seoul are set to be destroyed by the 8th Division. If this scenario wasn't bad enough, it is taking place right at the same time the leaders of both South and North Korea are planning to attend a soccer match in which the North and the South play each other.

Combining action, romance, and melodrama Shiri is quite an engaging film that can be appreciated on many different levels. Due to its success a number of clones were produced that did not quite live up to the original, but they helped revamp the slumping South Korean film industry to show the world that blockbusters do not only originate in Hollywood.

I don't understand the fuss...

[Wizard-8 · 11 February 2002]

Well, after hearing so many positive things about this movie before watching it myself, I'm glad that thanks to the IMDb I can find some other people and reviewers didn't think so much of this.

Okay, it's not the worst movie ever made. Certainly not the worst action movie ever made. But it just doesn't work. Why? Well, off the top of my head:

(1) Though I am impressed how much they managed to get out of a $2-3 million dollar budget, there are parts of the movie that look really cheap, with the quality in these parts making the movie look like a low budget Canadian TV show.

(2) The frenzied camera movement. Maybe this was a deliberate ploy to ape popular American blockbuster directors like Michael Bay. Though this is one American film "innovation" that foreign directors SHOULDN'T imitate. The camera shakes around so much at times, often it's impossible to figure out just what is exactly happening! Other times I couldn't help but notice that it seemed to be an attempt to liven up some dreary action.

(3) Speaking of action... not that much of it! No, I don't want wall-to-wall action, but the action was really sparse. (And what was surrounding the action was pretty slow-moving.)

(4) Most of the action sequences have some really idiotic elements to it. Are we supposed to believe that 20 or so South Korean cops or military members will have to die for every North Korean they take down? (Well, if they keep doing stupid things like running out in the open...) If the South Koreans are so incompetent, how have they been able to keep the North at bay for 50 years? It's one reason why I wonder this went down so well in South Korea - do the people of S.K. like seeing themselves portrayed as idiots?

(5) The action in general was just generic shooting. Yawn.

(6) A lot of stuff that's stupid and/or not explained. For example, in one scene two terrorists take a woman hostage, while a number of South Korean authorities are pointing their guns just a few feet away. It seems they board a bus when the scene ends. The next time we see them, they have escaped. HOW THE HECK DID THEY GET AWAY IN THIS SITUATION, IN THE MIDDLE OF DOWNTOWN SEOUL, A CROWDED METROPOLIS? Also, how the hell are the North Korean terrorists able to CONSTANTLY get new uniforms for whatever job they need, keep sneaking past various security setups, etc. etc.? Oh - I forgot that apparently everyone in South Korea is an idiot, so that explains part of this mystery.

(7) The "human drama" - nothing we haven't seen before. There's the older partner who has the inevitable fate of (guess), for one thing, the big clue that's right under the hero's nose, etc.

(8) The "love" subplot. The actor and actress have NO CHEMISTRY! Even in the bedroom scene, one of them keeps their clothes on!

If this is what Koreans consider top cinema, it's no wonder we have seen virtually nothing else come out of their country!

You must never cease to love me no matter what happens to me...

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 17 January 2010]

You want realistic military training? How about the first one to assemble their gun gets to shoot the competitor in the head? How about target practice with real soldiers interspersed between?

How about a film that out grossed Titanic in Korea?

How about a really hot secret agent (Yunjin Kim)?

Lots of action and exploding buildings. Not really up on the politics, so I am sure I missed something. As some have said, the film is a metaphor for those who want to see a united Korea. The two lovers represent that effort.

At the end, it is a rush to find the assassin at a futbol game between the two countries.

Over-rated

[Possum-13 · 28 August 2000]

This contains two or three minor spoilers. 'Shiri' was liked by so many movie enthusiasts simply on the grounds that it is not a Hollywood flick. If this were, say, the newest Steven Segal effort, and I can easily imagine him doing it, it would have been dismissed without any futher ado. So the action scenes are a tad more brutal than what we might be used to from your usual kill-everyone-in-sight H'wood outpourings of idiocy and the cross-cultural experience itself might be enough to make some people sit up and watch more closely, but all in all, this movie fails as a whole on account of its incoherent and weak storytelling. Plus, if the female lead is a former alcoholic slipping back into her old ways, she might at least consider learning how to pretend she is taking a swig out of the old bottle of something-or-other without everyone in the theater noticing she is faking it. The only amusing moment in this tiresome ordeal of a picture is the coroner saying:"You should catch these bad guys, so we can all go and get drunk." Now that's motivation for you!

Nice action movie,nothing special

[chrichtonsworld · 6/10 · 28 February 2007]

From the start you will get the idea that this movie is going to be a blast! Soon you will realize that this is not the case! I liked this movie but was expecting so much more! I don't know what the director was trying to achieve! An action movie with a message! Stop the conflict and reunite! Or he was trying to make a thriller with a lot of action in it! As a thriller it fails! From very early on it is obvious who the leak (traitor) is,since there are not many characters to blame! It is interesting to see however the traitor got the info! The story wasn't that bad. But it only function was to set up the surprise twist (which isn't a surprise at all)! The acting is solid! Yunjin Kim (from "Lost) gives a good performance! The action scenes were nice,a bit above average,but nothing really eye popping! The people who are responsible for marketing this movie earn praise. "Shiri or Swiri" got a lot of publicity for a movie that is nothing special!

Bruckheimer-style light

[ajy1 · 9/10 · 2 August 1999]

A surprisingly good thriller, "Swiri" follows Hollywood formula down to a science while providing an interesting twist on the increased tensions between North Korea and South Korea. The film resembles a hodge-podge of films, like the Bruckheimer-style flicks ("Con Air," "The Rock") with its slow-mo hero shots with a heavy dose of melodrama thrown into the mix. Ultra-violent and quite bloody (the first five minutes feature a montage sequence showing us dead bodies and identifying marks that point out who the individuals are), "Swiri" is a little weak in the action choreography department (a number of shots substitute jerky camera movement for well-placed actor placement). However, by equating the political tensions to post Cold War Hollywood flicks was a solid move. "Swiri" accomplishes on its $3 million budget what many Hollywood $70 million productions cannot: hold our interest.