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The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, 2008
A trio of men---bounty hunter Park Do-won (Jung Woo-sung), eccentric thief Yoon Tae-goo (Song Kang-ho), and ruthless outlaw Park Chang-yi (Lee Byung-hun)--converge over a rare map leading the way to a lost treasure. As the men hunt each other and the map across the wilderness, uneasy alliances form and various other parties join in the chase.
This is a rollicking action adventure that loses a bit of steam in the last act.
There is something refreshingly nostalgic about the overall plot and character arcs of this movie, and it really sings when it embraces some of the more fun elements of a treasure hunting plot. There’s a scene in this movie, part of a longer setpiece, where Park grabs hold of dangling rope and swings himself around the tops of buildings, sharpshooting bad guys and it’s an engaging camera shot and just right at the edge of cartoonish.
The casting is also absolutely spot on. Jung sells the focus and borderline humorlessness of a lawman. For much of the film, his main job is to be the straight-man for Yoon’s wacky criminal, and he’s able to play that role without fading too much into dour sincerity. Lee is menacing and brings a tortured, troubled energy to his vicious outlaw. For me, this character felt like a nod to the troubled antagonist of For a Few Dollars More, a man who is undoubtedly evil, but also carrying around some heavy past trauma. Finally, the predictably entertaining Song brings plenty of physical comedy and bug-eyed reaction shots. His portrayal of a “weaving” run to avoid gunfire----taking like the tiniest little steps side to side---never fails to make me laugh.
I also really love the epic scope of the film, which confidently moves between multiple large and memorable setpieces. It all kicks off with a robbery on a train. From there, we get a complex shootout in a small town. On, then, to an extended chase across the desert. At last, we arrive at a familiar (in a nice way) Mexican standoff. Each section of the film has a distinct look and feel, and makes the most of its setting.
I had watched this film years ago, and I had the distinct memory of rating it a 7/10 on IMDb. For like the first half hour, I was kind of surprised that my rating wasn’t higher. But then, oof, the horse stuff. I’d forgotten about this, but boy are horses treated terribly in this film. One horse if brutally wire-tripped and rolls over its own neck. Another two horses are wire-tripped at the same time and one falls over the other. A third horse is forced up a collapsing ramp and falls from at least 6 feet. And after three incidents of this inhumane stuntwork, I was done. I kind of checked out for most of the race in the desert, because every time I looked up a horse was being dangerously mistreated.
Animal stuff aside, I also got action movie fatigue around the ⅔ point of the film. After the sequence in the small town, I sort of disconnected from the movie.
Despite the rough 20 or so minutes in the last act, the final 15 minutes of the movie are really great. There are plot and character developments at the end that are very interesting and shift the dynamics of the movie in unpredictable and delightful ways.
So much good stuff, but the animal mistreatment really dings it for me.
The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, 2008
A trio of men---bounty hunter Park Do-won (Jung Woo-sung), eccentric thief Yoon Tae-goo (Song Kang-ho), and ruthless outlaw Park Chang-yi (Lee Byung-hun)--converge over a rare map leading the way to a lost treasure. As the men hunt each other and the map across the wilderness, uneasy alliances form and various other parties join in the chase.
This is a rollicking action adventure that loses a bit of steam in the last act.
There is something refreshingly nostalgic about the overall plot and character arcs of this movie, and it really sings when it embraces some of the more fun elements of a treasure hunting plot. There’s a scene in this movie, part of a longer setpiece, where Park grabs hold of dangling rope and swings himself around the tops of buildings, sharpshooting bad guys and it’s an engaging camera shot and just right at the edge of cartoonish.
The casting is also absolutely spot on. Jung sells the focus and borderline humorlessness of a lawman. For much of the film, his main job is to be the straight-man for Yoon’s wacky criminal, and he’s able to play that role without fading too much into dour sincerity. Lee is menacing and brings a tortured, troubled energy to his vicious outlaw. For me, this character felt like a nod to the troubled antagonist of For a Few Dollars More, a man who is undoubtedly evil, but also carrying around some heavy past trauma. Finally, the predictably entertaining Song brings plenty of physical comedy and bug-eyed reaction shots. His portrayal of a “weaving” run to avoid gunfire----taking like the tiniest little steps side to side---never fails to make me laugh.
I also really love the epic scope of the film, which confidently moves between multiple large and memorable setpieces. It all kicks off with a robbery on a train. From there, we get a complex shootout in a small town. On, then, to an extended chase across the desert. At last, we arrive at a familiar (in a nice way) Mexican standoff. Each section of the film has a distinct look and feel, and makes the most of its setting.
I had watched this film years ago, and I had the distinct memory of rating it a 7/10 on IMDb. For like the first half hour, I was kind of surprised that my rating wasn’t higher. But then, oof, the horse stuff. I’d forgotten about this, but boy are horses treated terribly in this film. One horse if brutally wire-tripped and rolls over its own neck. Another two horses are wire-tripped at the same time and one falls over the other. A third horse is forced up a collapsing ramp and falls from at least 6 feet. And after three incidents of this inhumane stuntwork, I was done. I kind of checked out for most of the race in the desert, because every time I looked up a horse was being dangerously mistreated.
Animal stuff aside, I also got action movie fatigue around the ⅔ point of the film. After the sequence in the small town, I sort of disconnected from the movie.
Despite the rough 20 or so minutes in the last act, the final 15 minutes of the movie are really great. There are plot and character developments at the end that are very interesting and shift the dynamics of the movie in unpredictable and delightful ways.
So much good stuff, but the animal mistreatment really dings it for me.