Over at Salon, Andrew Leonard (always a good read) posts on “D-War” and globalization:
After all, if New Zealand’s Peter Jackson can conquer the world, why not South Korea’s Shim Hyung-rae? Globalization gets a bad rap, but when you consider that in addition to rising income inequality, poison toothpaste, and Mexican trucks it also means that any auteur with his own CGI studio and access to $70 million can make his horrible dreams come true for anyone, anywhere who has 10 bucks to spend, then really, what are we complaining about? Dragons are cool. Giant South Korean dragons rending each other by the throat as part of an eternal battle between good and evil, while reincarnated Korean heroes trapped in the bodies of Hollywood B-movie actors run for cover — all I can say is, I’m not asking for a refund.
Mr. Leonard was kind enough to link to your’s truly, too. Thanks.
Noticed through the Salon post was the New York Times review of “D-War.” Critic Andy Webster actually seemed to like it:
If you’ve been missing Japanese monster movies, take heart. “Dragon Wars: D-War” (from South Korea actually) proves the genre quite alive. It is such a breathless, delirious stew, it’s impossible not to be entertained, provided — this is crucial — you have a sense of humor.
Jeez, first the MoveOn.org ad. Now this.
PS: If anyone is interested in good Korean film, Park Chan-wook’s “Vengeance Trilogy” is out in box set. A highly recommended purchase, if you don’t mind me saying so.
9 Comments
The NY Times: “All the news that fits our stuck-in-the-60s point of view.”
Because Jackson is an enormously talented director and artistic genius with a track record of excellent films, and Shim is a deluded, talentless hack of a laughingstock who can’t sell tickets without groveling for nationalistic pity.
So, Webster praises D-War, but also unintentionally implies that the Korean product is a rehash of something already done by the Japanese.
kekeke epic 금시초문 maneuver
Trilogy set, eh? Now I know what I want for Christmas… Lady Vengeance is my personal favorite movie of all time, thanks to my humanities professor spending hours analyzing it (and no, she’s not Korean. She’s actually a Hasidic Jew…)
@ the reviews
That’s the thing. Maybe in the pure eye-candy wise D-War was an okay movie (maybe), but that’s only a portion of what makes a movie. Personally, I really don’t give a flying f*ck as to what the graphics look like - If I wanted to look at cool graphics that look real, I’d play my PS3 (that is… if I had a PS3… ugh..).
Everything else except graphics (and I don’t say visuals because that includes camerawork, color scheme, etc.) of that movie was sub-par (and that’s the nicest way of putting it). There were absolutely no redeeming qualities… hell, even Bad Boy 2 redeemed itself in my mind because of its humor and good characterization…
@ iheartblueballs
Speaking of Peter Jackson… have you seen Clerks 2? *devilish grin*
Apparently you missed an earlier reference to it in this comment on your blog:
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2007/.....ent-108182
You’re absolutely right. Bad Taste is absolutely the greatest film I hope never to have to sit through again.
Dudes,
It is suppose to be an homage to all those B-movies from yester year. That’s the point!
The only real criticism would be to say it fails because it was too self-conscious about achieving those aims.
You gotta remember that this was the director/producer that brought us Yongari.
He seems to cherish hammy B-monster flicks, God bless him for it, too^^
Park Chan Wook is great… but Darcy Paquet needs to visit him and smack him on his head for his choice for English titles.
@ virtual wonderer
Haha… I actually like the quirky English titles of his movies. I sound so avant-garde and post-modern when I say “A good movie I watched recently? Why, it’s called ‘I’m a Cyborg, but That’s Ok.’”… in my mind, at least…