Shiri

Rating:
Summary: Great action flick from South Korea
Review: A few quick points:
* Good action, good drama, good plot, good acting.
* The opening sequence is quite brutal; not for the squeamish.
* What's with the seductive cover of the U.S. release? This image is not an accurate representation of the film. (Haha to anybody who buys it because of the cover--but buy it anyway.)
* If you liked Shiri, and you like comedy, the parody "Fun Movie" is strongly recommended (currently only available as the Region 3 Korean edition)!

Rating:
Summary: This movie was off the hook.. get it!
Review: dang! this movie was hella tite. everybody needs to go watch this movie. after that they will love it! and then they will be like me...buying one off of amazon.com. it has action and the romance part is the besT!...watch it everyone!

Rating:
Summary: Hollywood needs to pay attention to this movie!!
Review: Explosions and car chases...check. Intrigue and espionage...check. Romance...check. Requires a brain to watch...check. This is quite possibly the smartest and most well-rounded action movie in the history of action movies. I loved it. The plot is interesting and makes you see the North Korea/South Korea conflict from a different perspective. (I told you it's smart.) The action leaves you breathless. Normally, I don't like romance in my action movies because it's usually just a cheap attempt to get a woman's top off and a few seconds of sex. The romance in this movie, however, is understated and appropriate. (I never thought I would write something like that in a review of an ACTION movie.) I do have one piece of advice for viewing Shiri: watch it in its native language with English subtitles. Under no circumstances should you listen to the dubbed English soundtrack. It is disappointing and disgusting to see the actors on screen giving it their all while their voices sound like they're watching paint dry. There are several extras, but the music video "When I dream" is the best of them. The song is absolutely beautiful, not to mention heartbreaking. (I even bought a CD by the singer, Carol Kidd, after watching this movie.) For anyone who thinks action movies can't be entertaining and brainy or who still think Godzilla is the true measure of foreign films, watch Shiri. You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Rave reviews do not equal a hit, or even a great movie.
Review: First of all I will say I liked this movie. However, I do not feel it lives up to the hype that the other columnists are stating. I do think this is a movie worth watching, once. The first thing I will do with this movie now htat I have it, is sell it. Any bidders?

Rating:
Summary: chicks n guns
Review: First off, I agree with a previous reviewer that the cover is very deceptive and has absolutly nothing to do with this movie. It's just a selling ploy. Which is actually not a bad idea considering it may reach a larger audience. This movie has some extreme violence in it (excessive blood splatering, an exploding chick), but overall it is a great guy movie. There is some lovey-dovey stuff in it too. Nothing new or origional, but still fun, suspenseful and entertaining. Rent it before you buy it. The DVD has some nice extras.

Rating:
Summary: america ruins asian films
Review: first the cover for the US version has nothing to do with the movie at all, everytime a asian film is released in america they ruin it with either stupied dubbing and name changes or something to that effect. People who think it didnt't live up to the hype are stupied. the story is very good and highly evolved for asian cinema. Maybe if people who wrote these review had any knowledge of korean history or korea's current state would find this film more to their liking, simple thinking people who have no life but to sit home and bash good movies should just keep their comments to them selves and not ruin a great movie for others. shiri is excellent to say the least that has a great plot and love story that alot of action packed movies do not have these days. i love action movies and my girlfriend is more of a romance movie goer and both of us agree this film is worth owning.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, awful cover
Review: First, let me say that the cover on the U.S. release is just awful. I realize they are trying for the whole "Bond Girl" thing, but if you don't know the movie and go by the cover, you will probably not rent it or, if you do, be sorely disappointed because the movie is NOTHING like the U.S. cover. OK, now that that rant is over... The movie is really quite good, particularly if you are familiar with the tensions that can exist only in a divided nation. This is one of three "must see" Korean movies made in the past few years that shows a remarkable shift in how South Koreans portray North Korean spies and soldiers. Rather than maintaining the old stereotypes of North Koreans being unfeeling wolves out to slaughter South Koreans, these movies leave the audience feeling sympathetic to the North Koreans, even when they are doing horrible things. The other two are Spy Lee Chul Jin (AKA super pig) and JSA (Joint Security Agency). If you can't buy them online, at least go to your local Korean grocery store and rent them.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive
Review: For a Korean movie with a much smaller budget than Hollywood, this is an impressive action movie. Shiri is during its time the top grossing film in South Korea, beating off such competitors as Titanic. Lee and Ryu are two South Korean intelligence agents who go hunting for the elusive North Korean female sniper-assassin Hee, while in the meanwhile the 8th special force of North Korea, a paramilitary organization, hijacks a special liquid explosive CTX, which is capable of blowing apart the city in small quantities. Intelligently paced and with a little twist in the middle, Shiri proves Hollywood and Hong Kong are not the only big fish in the international pond of action thrillers. Good acting, fine script - in short, an impressive film.



Rating:
Summary: RED HOT ACTION THRILLER
Review: Heard of "SHIRI"? Thought not. This razzle dazzle action flick from South Korea out grossed "Titanic" on its home turf. Hard to believe? You'' find out why when you check out this hyperstylish, super realistic action thriller about a phantom sniper who is assassinating key figures in a South Korean intelligence investigation. Special agents Ryu and Lee figure it's North Korea's most lethal female operative, Hee. A South Korean security breech reveals missing CTX, an undetectable explosive of tremendous power that been placed all over Seoul. Ryu and Lee realize there's a mole in their ranks and time is running out to save the city and themselves.

This movie is red hot and tackles ideas that were only recently forbidden in Asian -- and western -- cinema.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible Opening Segment - Well Worth Watching
Review: I consider this a good action movie. It does have quite a number of cliches. Some of the plot is predictable, perhaps even annoyingly so at times. However, there are few action movies from any country that avoid having some level of predictability and cliche.

It may help to understand that many Koreans are enthusiastic to the point of yearning to reunite the north and the south. The depth of this need is much greater than The United States' desire to end the cold war, and at least as great as the desire of the Germanys to reunite their country. The story of the Shiri, a fish, was an element that aided in understanding the motivations of the North Korean agents and their fervor.

The movie itself can be divided into three segments. The first segment shows how members of the North Korean 8th Special Forces Unit were trained, focusing particularly on the training of beautiful female agent Hee. The second segment builds suspense regarding whether super agent Hee is actually active in South Korea, and what her goal is. The final segment pulls all the parts together into a race to prevent the two countries from falling into chaos and war.

The first segment is violent and bloody, and can put off some viewers. However, historically Asians have had a reputation for ruthlessness that this first segment exploits with perhaps excessive blood, but to some extent the violence is necessary to provide the contrast needed for the rest of the movie. To provide many details about this segment would be to take away the surprise. Let's just say that the training for North Korean agents as depicted in this movie is very realistic and ruthless. This portion of the movie was incredible and very different from any movie I can recall having seen.

The second segment falls more into a classic spy movie, with the two lead South Korean agents trying to understand how all the pieces fit together. A significant portion of this segment went into building up the characters and their relationships. Unfortunately a lot of the cliche also went into this portion of the movie, as well as some of the predictability. My biggest annoyance was that every time the North Korean agents got into a gun fight, they lost no one, and the South Koreans had numerous casualties. The North Korean agents were well trained, but eventually the bullets will catch up with you. They do in this movie, but it seems to take a long time.

The third segment reveals the goals of the North Korean super agents, and from that point it's a race to see whether the South Koreans are going to save the day. By this point the movie has fallen somewhat into a groove that we recognize from countless other spy movies, and it is perhaps this portion that detracts from the rest of the movie. However, there were still a few surprises left, and for the viewer who truly gets into the movie, it is sad and can cause you to shed a tear.

As a South Korean movie, this DVD gets 5 stars. I think it's likely the best I've seen. As a spy movie, I give it 4 stars, particularly for the incredible beginning and the basic plot concept. I fall short of giving the movie 5 stars overall because of excessive predictability near the end. However, I still recommend this movie. I found a lot to like about it, and I think it compares well with some James Bond movies. The acting was generally pretty good. If South Korea continues to make movies with this movie as the ground floor of quality, we may be seeing South Korean movies in theater release in the future.

Oh, and the cover is misleading...