The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)

Nope, it’s not a typo, this movie is really called The Good The Bad The Weird. It’s got nothing to do with Sergio Leone and you won’t see Clint Eastwood acting in it. Despite this it is very clear that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly has had a big influence on this Korean Western. South Korea has a big movie industry and manages to deliver some great quality film like Old Boy. Is this western just as good?

In 2009 this movie was still the most expensive Korean movie ever made, with a budget of 17 million dollar. It’s something that becomes clear when you watch it as the movie has large sets and a big number of action scenes.
The story is about a treasure map that various groups, the Japanese army and Chinese bandits, are trying to get their hands on. Although the movie is mainly about the map, it’s enough reason for more than 2 hours of action, drama and humour.
The action is spectacular thanks to the fantastic camera work. There is a big shootout at a market in which one of the characters is almost flying around using a rope while he’s shooting, which was just a joy to watch.

Just like in Sergio Leone’s classic film the title of the movie references the main characters. The Good (played by Park Do-won) is the one that is looking for the thieves, The Bad (Park Chang-yi) is the leader of the Chinese gang and The Weird (Yoon Tae-goo) is the funny man in the movie, who is constantly hunted down. They are all interesting characters who all have their strengths, which result is some tense scenes.

There are various versions of the movie. There is an international version and a Korean one (a comparison between the two can be found here). I watched the Korean version.
Fans of action and westerns (with some modern elements) are in for a treat with The Good The Bad The Weird. The movie is not a classic like Old Boy, but worth watching.

Score: 8