Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

While Spaghetti Westerns were made by Italians but set in the American West, The Good, The Bad, and the Weird is a Korean western set in Korea, with cowboy-hatted Korean men on horses robbing trains. The movie has the classic western look down cold, with vast deserts and gorgeous sunsets and plenty of guns. It even has one group of colorfully-dressed bad guys that, when you see them from a distance, give the vague impression of being Indians.While the movie captures the look and sound of classic westerns, the movie has the pace and high style of an Eastern action flick. This is why I like this movie much better than most of the westerns I've seen, which tend to be slower and, for me, dramatically flat (excepting a view brilliant westerns like Shane and the Unforgiven). In American terms, this is the Western early Spielberg would have made if he'd been fonder of amorality and constant violence. It's funny, fast- moving, and full of beautifully shot set pieces.Overall, this movie is a blast, but it's an overlong and somewhat confusing blast. The story doesn't always bring the audience along with it, and the movie doesn't seem to know when it's time to bring things to an end, insisting on a final showdown that feels forced and is irretrievably stupid.

I don't want to compare it to "The good, the bad and the ugly" but movie's English title is asking for it. A quick summary on IMDb show similar premise. If you add some high praise from friends and good ratings; there seem to be no reason to not watch the eastern take on one of the greatest western movie.No reason, except, the movie is mostly boring and frustrating on several occasions.Let's first cover the good things. I liked the acting of the "weird" character. End.Now, many people like the action and praised it for being exciting and funny. I found it annoying because you'll soon learn that gods were always on good guys' side, so all the shooting was pointless as they won't let any harm happen to the protagonists. So much was the luck of good guys that only antagonist's guns was out of bullets.With such odds, where is the excitement? Then there was length of fight/chase scenes, they were long and repetitive like wagons of freight train. They added nothing to story or created any kind of tension,they just added to length of movie and boredom.Finally, there were some unnecessary complications.The background of Korea Independence struggle didn't helped the story, it seem to me that it was only added to mimic the backdrop of original movie. Some other spoiler worthy complications at the end were too unnecessary to care.In summary, this movie is like a bad video game with, unoriginal plot repetitive stages,bad enemy AI and forced complexity which may leave you unsatisfied.

A western from the eastern side of the world, The Good, the Bad, the Weird is a slick, stylish & rousing adventure of gunshots, violence & vengeance from director Kim Ji-woon (A Bittersweet Life & I Saw the Devil) and, as perceivable from its name, is hugely inspired from Sergio Leone's spaghetti western classic, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly but pays homage to not just that film but Leone's entire Dollars trilogy & Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark as well.Set in Manchuria at the time of World War II, this South Korean western tells the story of three gunslingers whose paths cross each other in pursuit of a treasure map. The Good is a bounty hunter who's hired by the Chinese rebels to possess the map. The Bad is a ruthless bandit who's also looking for the map. And the weird is a robber who gets to the map first without knowing its significance, thus bringing unwanted attention from the other two as well as Japanese army & Manchurian bandits.Honestly, this film surprised me greatly. I'm a big fan of how Leone masterfully redefined the western genre with his take on the Wild West and the source of this film's inspiration ranks amongst my top 5 favourite films of all time, so the bar was raised pretty high but this film still manages to effortlessly exceed it. What Kim Ji-woon has done here is an absolute treat to watch. Engaging from its opening moments, the film boasts quality action at short intervals throughout its runtime & is entirely encapsulated with rib-tickling humour, thus making it a roller-coaster ride of emotions & entertainment which culminates with an unexpected twist in the end.Written with clear imagination with an original plot build over an adapted story, the narration feels very smooth with not a single moment of dullness, the cinematography brings a nostalgic feeling of its genre by wonderfully capturing the desert wilderness, editing is near-perfect, the music is another milestone and the performances by the trio is simply brilliant, with Song Kang-ho & Lee Byung-hun turning out to be best as the Weird Yoon Tae-goo & the Bad Park Chang-yi, respectively. While Kang-ho provides the maximum comic relief, Byung-hun puts up one of the most stylish villains on-screen in a long time & stole every moment he appeared in.On an overall scale & in my opinion, there hasn't been a western as amazing, exciting & entertaining as this in the 21st century at least and I have no shadow of a doubt in admitting that The Good, the Bad, the Weird is not only the finest western of the past decade but also one of the greatest films of its genre. Every moment of homage is treated with respect, every moment of action is inventive & intense and every sequence feels fresh, re-imagined & brimming with expert use of humour. One of the best films of its year, Kim Ji-woon's salute to spaghetti western classics is destined to bring smile, joy & laughter on the faces of fans of its genre. In short, Sergio Leone would've been proud.Full review at: cinemaclown.wordpress.com

Great movie. Of course, with plenty of violence and gore but also fun. I've seen many Korean movies and this one is near the top (nothing can top the "Old Boy", ever). Great cast, almost perfect direction, editing, camera...anything. You can even disregard some accidental blood spray on the camera lens here and there. You even forget that you don't understand the language (not being Korean, and occasionally Japanese or Chinese, of course). So, if you want to spend a bit more that two hours really enjoying the art of making movies, go for this one. It doesn't matter if it is some sort of an eastern western or... something. It's that good and even better. Hollywood can really learn from Koreans (although there are a lot of references here to the Hollywood classics and even Italian "spaghetti westerns"). The mix-up of almost everything you've seen in other movies here functions perfectly. The only thing that's missing is SF genre, but Koreans do not sleep. Can't wait for their next project, whatever it may be. Absolutely recommended.