New Movies?

[seven stars]

Hello Everyone,

I've been checking out some movies and I was wondering if anyone has seen any of them. If so, are there opinions/critiques out there that you'd be willing to share?

One of the movies that I looked at over the weekend was "Fighter in the Wind". The cinematography looked good, and I liked the fact that it highlighted Tae Kwon Do, as opposed to the more common Gong Fu styles that we often see in films of this type.

Has any one heard of this or seen it?

[kinoeugene]

hey....if that is a korean movie, i think i've seen that movie.
That movie is a story about a fighter, who had a real life, named 'Choi Bae Dal'.
When the colonial period (early 20th century) in korea by japaneses, he went to japan for living, and then he learned karade for surviving. He wandered the whole of japan to fight with masters of every kind of karade, fencing and so on.
He defeated almost every masters in japan and some other countries and then he founded 'Keuk Jin Karade' in japan(I'm not sure how to pronounce it in japanese).

This movie was filmed mainly in japan with japanese staffs, actors ans actresses.
Yang Dong Keun was starring in that movie as 'Choi Bae Dal'. He's young and very expected actor in korea in these days. I like his acting.
Anyway, for me, this movie was not bad but also not excellent.

[Heather]

I rather enjoyed Fighter in the Wind and found it a worthy Korean telling of a man who, for all other purposes, was more Japanese. It's loosely based on real life martial artist Oyama Masutatsu (he changed his name from Choi Bae Dal) the founder of Kyokushin Karate - which a lot of martial artists I've read liken to a sort of "smack-down" karate, very brutal. Oyama also trained Japanese actors like Chiba Sonny (who starred as Oyama in a Japanese film based on his life).

Most of the film is fictional as it is primarly based off a comic book of the same name. So a lot about the man is hyped up, and some of the extra characters never existed. However, it is this secondary cast that makes the film very fun!

It is filmed in Japan (note the gorgeous structional backdrops, such as Himeji Castle) but many of the leading cast are Korean actors, save for Hirayama Aya as geisha Youko, and my all-time favorite Japanese actor Kato Masaya as Kato Harada.

This is the first film that made me take notice of The Immortal Yi Soon Shin actor Lee Han Garl as he has a small role as the fighter Miwa at Himeji (Lee is a mid-level Tae Kwon Do artist himself). Oh, he was so amazing and cute! I also liked Park Seong Min, who portrayed Ryoma (he didn't have to learn much Japanese as the character barely speaks).

Another interesting tidbit that I was unaware of when I saw the film: lead actor Yang Dong Keun is originally a rap singer! I heard too that they had originally wanted singer Rain (Bi) for the role of Bae Dal, and that I couldn't imagine!!

Although I am slowly building a movie review site, I haven't constructed the page for Fighter. But you can read my original review at a Live Journal community I co-moderate here:

www.livejournal.com/community/korean_cinema/41519.html

I agree with the above comment: it's a good film, but not exceptional. Did you watch the film yet? What did you think of it?

[seven stars]

Thanks for the reviews guys.

No, I haven't seen it yet. I do plan to see it soon.

My dilemma is whether or not I should buy it or rent it. I can't seem to find the movie for rent. Hence the conundrum (spelling?).

[Heather]

It hasn't been domestically licensed yet, so you won't find it to rent unless you have a really cool local place that deals with foreign import films (or the no-no bootlegs). But I do recommend buying it. I found I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around, and have re-watched it multiple times since. The Korean edition has an awesome special features disc, too!

~ Heather
www.isotype-newtype.com/

[seven stars]

Thanks Heather, that is very helpful!

You have made up my mind. I will be purchasing the Korean version of the film this week. I'll check back with my own impressions after viewing it.

[Skinz UL]

Speaking of Korean movies, have anyone seen the movie Rikidozan?

Its about a Korean pro wrestler who went to Japan and established Japanese professional wrestling.

[Heather]

I have not seen Rikidozan yet, but along the same lines, I would definitely recommend Gwak Gyeong Taek’s 2002 film Champion. It stars Yu Oh Seong as real-life lightweight boxing legend Kim Deuk Ku, who died on November 13, 1982, three days after collapsing at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas against Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini. I'm not really a fan of boxing films (like Rocky) but this was a very well done movie and quite inspirational! And Yu is a masterful actor in dramatic roles, as he proved in director Taek’s other emotional film, Friend.

~ Heather
www.isotype-newtype.com/

[hachiue]

Hey -

Has anyone heard anything about Save the Green Planet? It's apparently out in Chicago, and the Trib gives it 3 stars. Anyone seen it? I want to know if it's worth it.

[Heather]

Yet another one I have yet to see, but here is a review at the LJ community I help to moderate where several other folks share their thoughts on Save the Green Planet. Hope it helps!

~ Heather
www.isotype-newtype.com/

[Heather]

Oh, and back to Fighter in the Wind, I did manage to put up a web review for it at my own site. For anyone interested, it can be found here. The review site is only offered as a "sneak peak" so none of the other links work except 9 other reviews and the index page. It takes me like two days just to write up a review and then create the webpage. But I just thought you guys might like to see the 'prototype'.

~ Heather

[Jieun]

www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm04.html