“The Good, The Bad, The Weird”, starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hyun, and Jung Woo-sung, and directed by Kim Jee-woon. It’s scheduled to premiere sometime next year. Since the title is based on “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” one of the well known “Spaghetti Westerns“, one wonders whether this movie is the beginning for a series of “Kimchi Westerns”.
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49 Comments
I will watch it…could be pretty cool!
What are they going to ride? Those pathetic little things from Jeju that once upon an ancestor were Mongolian ponies? If Clint got up on one, his feet would drag on the ground. Oh right, Koreans are shorter.
Jesus Christ…
Oh you mean they’re going to be riding donkeys backwards?
If Korean film needs to diversify, it had better look to diversify on its own terms and not engage in a whole new genre of Me-too.
Although I’m not with Sperwer on the subject of horses and donkeys, he does have a point in that the Korean movie industry needs to be more original and not engage in a “whole new genre of Me-too.”
On the other hand if the movie itself is fun to watch, no complaints there.
Should be interesting.
Isn’t it a bit rash to begin pondering the direction that the Korean film industry ought to take based on the production of one film? After all, there’s no indication that this represents some sort of trend.
Whatever the breed that’s to pull it, let’s not put the cart before the horse. (sorry - couldn’t resist
)
Now I’m beginning to wonder whether or not I ought to have posted that last comment, when I have no real feelings about the topic of this thread. Guys, please believe me: I don’t have a horse in this race.
Oh, I’m not saying we will see a flood of soju westerns, just noting the propensity of the Korean film industry,like some many other Korean institutions, do blatantly copy things. I’ve seen a lot of Korean movies and about 50% of the time it’s a like a pre-cogntion experience, until I realize the name of the American or European film the plot of which, and often a lot of the actual dialogue from which, has simply been ripped off.
Now I guess I can hold my breath since it won’t be long before one of the usual suspects attempts to justify this with that old tu quoque “Hollywood does remakes and revivals too”, to which in addition to noting the logical fallacy, the answer is “and comparatively what percentage of Western films fall into that category.”
I love how the discussion that usually goes towards arguing against/for a remake turns into “f*ck Korea” statement in Sperwer’s hand. Of course, the notion that increasing frequency of remakes and copies of movies is a global rather than Korean phenomenon is utterly and falsely ridiculed as ‘tu quoque’. Classic case of 하나는 알고 둘은 모른다.
Oh, and the movie’s set in Manchuria… might want to actually know something about the movie before trying to make wisecracks about it. You know… otherwise, you’re just talking out of your ass.
FYI: Here’s an irony for ya. Kim Ji Woon, the director of ‘The Good, The Bad, and the Weird’, also made ‘Tale of Two Sisters’ which are being remade in Hollywood as we speak.
I, quite franlky, am actually looking forward to seeing the movie.
I’ve heard many a Korean talk about the “tired old Hollywood format” for quite a few years now.
Americans or others have the right to say such things about Korean flicks as long as it’s accurate. When in Rome…
I for one I’m looking forward to seeing this movie. It’s got three great actors and the director who did “Bitter Sweet Life” and “Tale of Two Sisters” both movies being remade by American film companies. Actually, “Tale of Two Sisters” is in post-production.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815245/
Korean “Spaghetti Westerns” have been around since the 70’s, when the first “Spaghetti Westerns” came out in America. They were of course copies of the American originals. However, let it be remembered that it was an Italian that put back the edge into Westerns and reinvigorated a tired genre that propelled Clint Eastwood to stardom. Let is also be remembered that American Westerns AND American Sci-Fi borrowed much from Akira Kurosawa movies. It can actually be argued that Star Wars is just merely a screen play copy of Kurosawa’s “Hidden Fortress.”
I’m not sure whether this pathetic, bathetic or just hilarious. Now the new answer is not just that it happens in the US, it happens everywhere - as if the even greater multiplication of the meretricious makes it any more likely to overcome the logical objection.
If this film turns out to be of Kurosawa - who first copied US westerns for his samurai films - quality, I’ll be the first to applaud. Pardon me if I don’t hold my breath, though.
I like the old John Wayne stuff. The stuff made in the 30’s. I don’t know why I do, but I do.
Sperwer,
Regardless of what “Good, Bad, Weird” becomes, Hollywood has already copied Ji-woon Kim.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815245/
And how many non Hollywood directors have copied Hollywood?
Who cares? From the title I sense there will be moments of humor. And won’t that be refreshing on the heels of “D-Wars”?
@#13
Logic really does seem to evade you, Sperwer. What I’ve said is not a justification of remakes (personally got nothing against remakes as long as there’s good reason to do it), but pointing out the false causation you seem to imply in your comments ‘Korean cinema’ + ‘Korean institutions’ –> imitations, copies, etc.
Besides, I’m not the one making idiotic statements like “I’ve seen a lot of Korean movies and about 50% of the time it’s a like a pre-cogntion experience, until I realize the name of the American or European film the plot of which, and often a lot of the actual dialogue from which, has simply been ripped off.”
@#17
The irony is that while some people here are complaining about how Kim Ji-Woon is remaking The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, his movie ‘Tale of Two Sisters’ are being remade in Hollywood as we speak.
But oh, no. That’s just tu quoque. F*ck Korean cinema.
Another under-educated moron speaks. Causation isn’t the issue, deepthinker. It’s an empirical claim. And, so sorry, you can’t just dismiss it as “idiotic”. That’s your emotion-addled thought process.
Say what you will about those little Korean ponies - but the early Westerners respected and feared them. They were known for their foul tempers and tendencies to bite and lash out with their hooves. They were even displayed in the United States’ circuses as devil horses.
Sperwer–”The Magnificent Seven” is a direct remake of “The Seven Samurai.” However, pretty much every Kurosawa flick is based on a work of Shakespeare.
Anyway, the Greeks covered all the good plots by 300 B.C. Everything since is derivative.
Wow… so much hostility towards the Korean entertainment industry. I had no idea.
I guess my point is that no one really has exclusive intellectual license on non-copyrighted (or expired copyrighted) cultural materials. I mean, it would be a sad place in this world if one culture couldn’t learn from and adapt from another.
Wedge,
I know, and it’s dreadful by comparison.
Roger than, the operative words being “learn” and “adapt” = npt “rip-off” and “whine” about cultural imperialism
Set in Manchuria? Is it going to be about how Koreans colonized the place, running to the Japanese police for help whenever the locals got uppity? Ooh goody.
“Another under-educated moron speaks. Causation isn’t the issue, deepthinker. It’s an empirical claim. And, so sorry, you can’t just dismiss it as “idiotic”. That’s your emotion-addled thought process.”
Your primary intent does not excuse you of implying causation, Sperwer. In addition, ‘empirical’ now implies that you have based what you’ve said based upon facts - that, apparently, 50% of the Korean movies are rip-offs.
You once again try to use The Angry Korean™ image to denounce opinions opposite of you, but that’s called ad hominem… you know, logical fallacy. Your comment was idiotic because you were either using ridiculous hyperbole (then claiming that it was empirical) or making up baseless statistics.
As someone wise once said - “75% of the percentages we use are made up.”
There is a difference between being REMADE and COPIED.
Having parts ripped off (or out of?) Hollywood movies, and then denying it, seems to be quite prolific.
Copying may seem like a way of honoring someone or something in Korea, but many other places consider it to be wrong and unoriginal.
There are no excuses for it no matter how you slice it.
I didn’t imply causation in my original statement and, in response to your attempt to read a causal claim into it, I specifically disclaimed it. Since your persistence in maintaining that I’ve made a causal argument is not based on any evidentiary basis, it apparently only has one source - your prejudices, misconceptions and/or stupidity, and your pathetic attempt to reduce the issue to one of personal animosity. Pointing out your personal shortomings instead of addressing your arguments would be an impertinent ad hominem argument if it were done to distarct attention from them, but you don’t make any coherent arguments or any arguments at all on the issue; you simply throw around ad hominem assumptions and imagined implication. Hence the only source of your blubbering is irrational. I never said that your particular manifestation of stupdity has anything to do with your being Korean. I don’t even know that you are. You’re the one who’s created that little trope all on your own, including the cute little trademark. If you want to wear it be my guest, just don’t try to make yourself into a victim by saying anyone forced you into the costume. You put it on all by yourself.
Sometimes you highfalutin’ types make me feel so good about myself.
Hey, if you’ve got a Harvard education, you gotta use it.
#28,
Bah, narratives and plots are all based on the same basic elements.
http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emc.....ements.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_(narrative)
I’ve read that most movies follow the same 4 or 5 basic narratives, which is why so many of them look alike.
Oh, and look at this while you’re at it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure
PS. Watch some of the Star Trek series to see an example of how dramatic structure can be a bit too obvious in some TV shows, especially for those who dedicate an equal amount of time to each act from episode to episode.
“I didn’t imply causation in my original statement and, in response to your attempt to read a causal claim into it, I specifically disclaimed it.”
Really? “…just noting the propensity of the Korean film industry,like some many other Korean institutions, do blatantly copy things.” (#9)
Not to mention the fact that you disqualifying the so-called tu quoque arguments also promotes the idea. Of course, unless you want to denounce your own wordings as anything worthy of evidence.
“but you don’t make any coherent arguments or any arguments at all on the issue”
The argument is that your initial assessment (#9) on this issue is faulty because surge of remakes from past movies, foreign movies, or past & foreign movies is a global phenomenon rather than one exclusive to Korea. It’s like if I said “Black people like watermelons.” The statement would by faulty because there is an inherent implication that ‘being Black –> liking watermelons’ - people just like watermelons regardless of race. Or how about “Mexicans rob people”? Yes, I’m sure there are Mexicans out there who robs people, but that statement is still at fault because it implies ‘being Mexican –> robbing people’. By ignoring the inherent implication in your statement, you’re either being very cowardly by saying ‘well, I didn’t mean that’ or very inarticulate.
“I never said that your particular manifestation of stupdity has anything to do with your being Korean. I don’t even know that you are. You’re the one who’s created that little trope all on your own, including the cute little trademark.”
First of all, I got the idea from Brendon Carr’s The Expat™ so credits go there. (Loved the idea, btw)
Second of all -
“Another under-educated moron speaks. Causation isn’t the issue, deepthinker. It’s an empirical claim. And, so sorry, you can’t just dismiss it as “idiotic”. That’s your emotion-addled thought process.” (#20)
It seems you do know me quite well, since you’re comfortable labeling me as an under-educated moron and someone who has an emotion-addled thought process.
In addition,
“I’m not sure whether this pathetic, bathetic or just hilarious. Now the new answer is not just that it happens in the US, it happens everywhere - as if the even greater multiplication of the meretricious makes it any more likely to overcome the logical objection.” (#13)
Combined with your comment in #9, I made the conclusion that you have grouped me with what you call “usual suspects”. Hence my comment w/ The Angry Korean™
I’m done with you. Giving you yet another opportunity to demonstrate your intellectual fecklessness would be a waste of time.
I’m here to collect my royalties.
Good luck with that! Maybe you could ask KIPO to intervene - ROTFLMAO.
Looks like someone didn’t get what they wanted for Christmas.
Pah! No original film plots left for Koreans to do?
How about this:
There’s these two Korean cops, see? One’s kinda laid back, freewheeling, another’s kinda uptight. They hate each other - but the commish assigns them to work together. Together they catch this drug-dealing English teacher, but his fancy lawyer “Brendan” springs him out of jail on a technicality. That’s when it all gets personal…
“I’ve seen a lot of Korean movies and about 50% of the time it’s a like a pre-cogntion experience, until I realize the name of the American or European film the plot of which, and often a lot of the actual dialogue from which, has simply been ripped off.”
I didn’t think it was as high as 50%. Can you give some recent examples?
“Now I guess I can hold my breath since it won’t be long before one of the usual suspects attempts to justify this with that old tu quoque “Hollywood does remakes and revivals too”, to which in addition to noting the logical fallacy, the answer is “and comparatively what percentage of Western films fall into that category.””
What percentage would you say it is?
If this film turns out to be of Kurosawa - who first copied US westerns for his samurai films…
This statement alone proves beyond doubt that Sperwer is an first-class idiot. I’m curious to know how he’d explain how the Kurosawa films, mostly made in the 1940-50s, are copies of the 1960s era spaghetti westerns.
BTW, you might find something a little bit more original to say, good or bad, about a Korean film than accusing it of copy-catism (like that’s never been said a zillion times already) if you’ve actually seen it first.
Takashi Mikke’s SUKIYAKI WESTERN:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S61ySyaJQSE
I hate it when humanities, knitting degree, shmucks start pontificating logic like they own it, and even more so when they pepper their posts with Latin, as if the shallow culture criticism and douchebag, Christmas-time, malignance weren’t bad enough.
Anyway, Kim Ji-woon is a terrific director. Not only is his “Tale of Two Sisters” being remade, but another film of his, “The Quiet Family,” was remade years ago by Takashi Miike.
Kim’s films don’t deserve the disservice of being associated with anything outside of his individual output. This principle may be very difficult for the nonentities ’stuck in Korea’™ to grasp, but oh how very important that principle is.
BTW, as I understand it, Kim’s upcoming film isn’t supposed to be a remake and it’s not a rip-off. I’m looking forward to it. I like its premise. Kim also directed “A Bittersweet Life,” which was nutritiously cool, if you ask me. A fine film.
regarding Toshiro Mifune from “Interesting Motherfuckers”
http://www.forbisthemighty.com.....mifune.htm
The Italian “spaghetti” Western A Fistful of Dollars, directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, was pirated from Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, starring Toshiro Mifune. In a letter to Leone, which the Italian director wrongly considered a compliment, Kurosawa wrote: “Signor Leone - I have just had the change to see your film. It’s a very fine film, but it is my film.” Yojimbo was remade in 1996 by Walter Hill as a gangster story Last Man Standing, starring Bruce Willis. Hill’s film, which was set in the 1930s, brought the story to the United States and in time close to Dashiell Hammett’s novel Red Harvest (1929), which perhaps had inspired Kurosawa. Sanjuro (1962), based on the story ‘Hibi Heian’ by Shugoro Yamamoto, was a lighweight sequel to Yojimbo, which made Stanley Kauffman ask in New York Herald-Tribune: “One wonders how the people who could make a film so superbly could be content to make one so shallow.”
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/kuros.htm
I guess you didn’t do too well on reading comprehenion tests, eh Nutizen Kim? I didn’t say Kurosawa copies 1960s spaghetti Westerns, but that he was inspired by Westerns. They predate the ’60s, moron.
Argh! You beat me to it!
In fact, the very name “spaghetti Western” hints at the possibility that the Italian films were inspired by some pre-existing art form. Can’t exactly place my finger on what it might be…
This is hillarious.
You wrote that Kurosawa “copies” Westerns. “Copies” denotes a much more particular relationship between two films than “inspired” does — especially in this thread. It’s proper for readers dealing with the context you provided - “copies”, “Kurosawa”, and “Westerns”- to restrict themselves to a particular set of films, ie, those films that made be said to be copies of each other, and Kurosawa’s films and all those 60s-era Spaghetti Western ripoffs would be it. Either way you’re wrong. Kurosawa may have been inspired by older Western, but he didn’t copy from them.
“I’m done with you. Giving you yet another opportunity to demonstrate your intellectual fecklessness would be a waste of time.”
Ah, dang it! And I was so excited about Sperwer giving me opportunity to demonstrate my, uh, ‘intellectual fecklessness’ one more time. I guess displaying one’s gigantic ego is one way of avoiding actually addressing other people’s point.