I agree that trying to cash in on Halryu with second-rate movies can be dangerous. Problem is, most Koreans don’t understand that Halryu is not about the Koreanness of the movies. Simply put, Korean movie-makers have earned a much deserved reputation for making original works of art. That’s what foreign audiences expect to see when they go see a Korean movie, an alternative to the sometimes formulaic Hollywood movies. That’s their niche. I just hope that making this sort of movies isn’t a developing trend because it could really hurt the Korean movie industry.

Still, you market this the right way and you’ll have enough 12 to 15 year olds, their minds zoned out on Playstation and Nintendo, want to go see it.

Of course the argument never held water if you look at the budget/quality ratio of films coming from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, etc.

But that doesn’t follow because the world doesn’t quite watch UK, Germany, et al cinema on the level of Hollywood. If these countries had huge budget production scales the world would be hung up on their films too — and perhaps their blockbuster movies wouldn’t be as formulaic. (Has anyone seen that Fantastic Four flick lately?)

The point is, you went from box office domination to box office/quality (or “acclaim”) which are two different subjects.

As for Shim… well I’ve been dreading “D-War” ever since way back when I first read about it. I had little faith in Shim then and I basically detest him now. I don’t believe cranks like this guy ought to be making any movie - let alone one with a budget in excess of millions. But the trailers tell me this movie’s production veneer isn’t total shite — and not nearly as bad as I was expecting. That’s a point of relief for me. Plus, dialogue seems to be Konglish-free.

The acting is stilted, yes. The story is banal and ultra cheesy, but at least it looks totally sweet!

ps: I agree with BC. The fewer Americans go to see it, the better.

China and Iran are even better examples, for they make internationally acclaimed movies with low budgets and under strict censorship.

The Variety review: “D-War,” a feast of A-grade f/x married to a Z-grade, irony-free script.

http://www.variety.com/review/.....1&cs=1

http://www.apolloguide.com/mov.....p?CID=3449

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/reptilian/

I was involved in this production and I know firsthand that the producers were a bunch of ignorant, incompetent goofballs. This film needs intelligent, articulate fans to tell them where they went wrong.

According to Tony Young, it’s headed directly to the Sci-Fi Channel, without a US theatrical release. Later IMDB messages say there will be a theatrical release. The Sci-Fi Channel’s bread-and-butter is $1 million budget “Original Production” stinkers (plus the occasional Friday-night nerd bait of Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, and re-runs of Firefly) — which, if Tony Young is right about the release, means $69 million got wasted in the production of D-war. Sci-Fi really doesn’t pay much for its filler material.

There are better ways to spend $69 million on something nobody will watch. If only these Korean investors could have been conned into giving Joss Whedon that $69 million! We’d have another season of Firefly, possibly two.

Tony Young has a Chinese name, but his professional biography seems to link him to Korean productions — in particular Young-Man Kang. I wonder if Tony Young was a Chinese-Korean emigrant from the 1970s anti-Chinese pogroms. Given that he seems to haunt all the places where discussion of D-war takes place (leaving comments on both YouTube and IMDB), we have a chance to find out — if you read the Marmot’s Hole, Tony Young, say hello!

Anyway, from reviewing the IMDB commentary on Tony Young’s own work, it appears he really knows bad filmmaking. We should trust him on D-war.

I doubt it can dethrone Yongari as the reigning king of hilariously bad monster movies.