Guest Tosh Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I keep meaning to check this Korean flick out, as I've seen some good reviews, anyone watch it here and care to comment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 12, 2014 Member Share Posted December 12, 2014 Just saw this movie yesterday and this is one heck of a movie! Why aren’t more people talking about it? Let’s discuss this utterly bleak film that was mismarketed as a comedy. The trailer got one thing right, this is unlike most other films. It has some funny parts mostly towards the beginning and bits throughout, but this movie is an emotional social commentary about the conditions of the world and the sanity of its residents. The emotional parts of the movie are done extremely well. Instead of thinking that our main character is simply insane, we take a look into his head and its a depressing place. Out of all of the terrible things he does, it's hard to hate him because you really feel bad for him. The sad thing is that we understand each of the characters’ motives. If any of these characters are hurt, we feel it. We don't know who to root for, but that was probably done on purpose. The movie is especially sad towards the end. It certainly isn’t satisfying, but it definitely wasn’t supposed to be and it fit the movie pretty well. Definitely not a Hollywood-type ending and it feels almost like a Ringo Lam movie. That is until the twist ending. The very, very bleak twist ending. It just goes to show that this movie is wickedly unpredictable. I was actually expecting something different out of this movie (you know, a comedy), but I think the thing that messed me up while watching it was the reviews. I’ll tell you this: It’s not as funny as some reviews say and it’s not as gory as the reviews say. That isn’t to say that this ruined my experience watching the movie. It was just as good (if not better) than I thought it would be, but for different reasons. Just go into it not expecting anything and you will be (un)pleasantly surprised by this very thoughtful movie. Now, I know some of you have seen this film. What are your thoughts? I'm interested in seeing what you guys have to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted December 14, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 14, 2014 Hey Ken, this movie has its fair share of fans on the forum, I know Kung Fu Bob is one of its ambassadors. Director Jang Joon-hwan actually studied together with Bong Joon-ho, but as you mention, due to the movie being painfully mis-marketed as a comedy (most notably in its native soil of Korea at the time of its original release) it ended up bombing, and it took a whole decade for him to make another feature, eventually making 'Hwayi' in 2013 which was discussed here - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20643 I posted my thoughts on 'Save the Green Planet' in the 4th post of that thread, but now that we have a dedicated thread for the movie I'll copy them here - Despite some fellow forum members who I usually have pretty similar tastes with recommending it to me, I ended up coming away from it feeling it was a pretty uneven mess. The first half plays the black comedy angle perfectly, eliciting several laugh out loud moments, but the shift into more serious territory in the second half with the whole tourture of the 'alien', and the flashbacks of Ah-kyung's bullied childhood, simply didn't sit well for me with all that had come before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 14, 2014 Member Share Posted December 14, 2014 Hey Ken, this movie has its fair share of fans on the forum, I know Kung Fu Bob is one of its ambassadors. Director Jang Joon-hwan actually studied together with Bong Joon-ho, but as you mention, due to the movie being painfully mis-marketed as a comedy (most notably in its native soil of Korea at the time of its original release) it ended up bombing, and it took a whole decade for him to make another feature, eventually making 'Hwayi' in 2013 which was discussed here - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20643 I posted my thoughts on 'Save the Green Planet' in the 4th post of that thread, but now that we have a dedicated thread for the movie I'll copy them here - I listened to the Podcast On Fire Episode when they talked about this movie and I agree with a lot of what they had to say. They mentioned how this movie is uneven and a big mix of genres but I feel like the filmmakers pulled off each genre so well. This movie works as a drama, as a crime film, as a thriller, and sometimes as a comedy. The very abrupt switches between genres, IMO, made the movie feel unique. I think the US trailer did a better job of marketing it (better ≠ good) saying that it's not a comedy, it's not a horror movie, but it's something you've never seen before which I thought was smart. I still think it's a terrific movie with terrific acting but the movie can be sometimes overly melodramatic, especially towards the end which is extremely shocking, funny, and depressing at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted December 14, 2014 Administrator Share Posted December 14, 2014 I love this film. It's refusal to play within the boundaries of any specific genre, and to instead (like life) just flow in it's own bizarre way are refreshing. I found it romantic, sad, curious, horrifying, darkly funny, and compelling in every way. I say the best way to go into it is without reading reviews, the synopsis, nor watching the trailer. All you need to know is- it's a good movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member yojimbo Posted December 19, 2014 Member Share Posted December 19, 2014 I also enjoyed this film. Mish mash of genres and not well balanced. However, I enjoyed it and the ending was unexpected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member whitesnake Posted May 10, 2020 Member Share Posted May 10, 2020 CJ Entertainment studio (Parasite) plans to make an English-language version of Save the Green Planet. Jang Joon-Hwan, director of the original movie, will direct the remake, "from an English-language adapted script by Will Tracy (HBO's 'Succession')." The remake's co-producer Fred Lee, CJ Entertainment's L.A.-based director of development, said, "One thing we learned from our success with 'Parasite" is that audiences globally are excited to see genre-bending films with big themes." The remake will aim to "translate what made the original so special to an English language version that feels relevant to what's going on today." The project is described as "swinging with youthful abandon between white-knuckle suspense, absurd slapstick, grim horror and a deeply felt (and earned) sense of tragedy." The article is here - https://variety.com/2020/film/asia/cj-entertainment-save-the-green-planet-remake-1234600432/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted May 11, 2020 Member Share Posted May 11, 2020 How does this fantastic movie not have a blu ray release anywhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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