Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted February 15, 2014 Moderator Share Posted February 15, 2014 Directors Jo Eui-seok & Kim Byeong-seo give us something of a rarity in Korean cinema with 'Cold Eyes', in that it's a remake of the 2007 Johnnie To produced Hong Kong movie 'Eye in the Sky'. While that movie has veteran surveillance specialist Simon Yam, along with rookie Kate Tsui, on the tail of criminal mastermind Tony Leung Ka-Fai, the remake gives us Seol Kyeong-gu ('Public Enemy') in Yam's role, Han Hyo-joo ('Masquerade') standing in for Tsui, & Jeong Woo-seong ('The Good, The Bad, The Weird) filling in the shoes of Leung Ka-Fai. I have to admit to having not seen the Hong Kong original, but the Korean effort is a solid one, using the streets and different layers of Seoul to weave what for the most part is a gripping thriller. Kyeong-gu has done the seasoned veteran training a fresh faced rookie role before in 2009's 'No Mercy', and here he's able to bring the same gravitas to his performance, exuding authority and experience as he trains Hyo-joo in the art of surveillance. If anything the movie focuses so much on the relationship between the two of them, that the rest of Kyeong-gu's team barely register as anything more than cardboard cutouts, their only characterization being the animal nickname that they're all given. Woo-seong gives a menacing turn as the movies villain, both ruthlessly violent and coldly calculating, the scenes were the surveillance team begin to get a little too close to their target to remain invisible have a suitable degree of suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The only part were things really falter is when the team are trying to locate the getaway driver of a bank heist which opens the movie. The whole operation is obviously there to introduce us to the methods they use and to show how difficult it can be to find someone, as well as serving as training for Hyo-joo's character, however the process drags on for a little too long, especially as their target isn't even that pivotal to the plot. Thankfully once located things kick into gear and move at a steady pace, with some nice action to break the surveillance up, which includes a worthy nod to the hammer fight in 'OldBoy', when Woo-seong single handedly rips through a corridor of attackers in a single take. All in all 'Cold Eyes' is a solid thriller, and has definitely made me want to check out the original. If you have seen the HK version, no doubt you'll get a kick out of a cameo appearance that Simon Yam makes, briefly popping up in his second Korean movie in as many years after 2012's 'The Thieves'. SH15-Aj57fc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted February 15, 2014 Member Share Posted February 15, 2014 This sounds less impressive than the Hong Kong original. Can't compare them both yet but the character development in J. To's version seems more complete, based on your description. Plus that movie's first two acts make up arguably for the most consistent movie in recent years pacing-wise in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member mark187 Posted February 15, 2014 Member Share Posted February 15, 2014 overall, Eye in the Sky was the better film, but Cold Eyes was a good remake. I'd say the first 2/3 of EITS was stronger, but Cold Eyes had a stronger ending. the Maggie Siu role from the OG was hard to top, and the remake didn't even come close in that regard. by the way, I wonder why Yau Nai-hoi has yet to direct another film? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted February 15, 2014 Member Share Posted February 15, 2014 Guess he's too comfortable writing for To than directing. Last writing credit is Blind Detective, which was rather disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted February 16, 2014 Author Moderator Share Posted February 16, 2014 Plus that movie's first two acts make up arguably for the most consistent movie in recent years pacing-wise in my book. I'd say the first 2/3 of EITS was stronger I'll have to track down the original based on these comments. It seems that the HK version is definitely tighter in terms of pacing, clocking in at 90 minutes against the remakes 120, that's a whole extra half an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member QueMuchita Posted February 18, 2014 Member Share Posted February 18, 2014 I was able to get my hands on a copy so I think I might watch this on the weekend, looks pretty interesting and I've yet to see the original Hong Kong version which I wouldn't mind tracking down as it seems to have a great cast, actually I'm surprised the original has managed to slip through my fingers all these years because I've seen nearly all the Milkway Image films and never pass on the opportunity to watch one. I'll give my thoughts on the movie after I check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted February 18, 2014 Member Share Posted February 18, 2014 Shame on you, Q You'd better watch the original cause it's one of the best Milkyway movies in recent years. J. To put out great movies that year (2007). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member yojimbo Posted February 23, 2014 Member Share Posted February 23, 2014 Did see the original. Finished watching Cold Eyes today. Decent flick. Good acting by the cast. This is probably the 1st decent flick Sol Kyung Gu (The chief detective) has done in a while. He keeps on picking big budget projects and they have been mostly stinkers. Before this was The Tower, and after Cold Eyes it was Spy: Undercover Operation. Spy was essentially a copy of True Lies. Daniel Henney was the villain. Another actor who hasn't really proven himself they keep put into things because he looks good. Sol Kyung Gu was very good in Oasis, Peppermint Candy, and Public Enemy 1. I recommend those 3 movies. The bad guy is played by Jung Woo Sung. He seems to have had more box office flops than hits. He also gets a lot of parts for looking good. He starred in a movie titled Beat in 1997 that was good. It is out of print. Beat was pretty what catapulted his career. It has been reprinted at least once. I was surprised to see him The Reign of Assassins. Checked yesasia, It seems Beat has been printed a few more times, foreign version for about $10 and even a new Blu-ray release. Wish those Korean blu-rays were cheaper. The DVDs were pretty expensive but the blu's are even more so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted February 23, 2014 Administrator Share Posted February 23, 2014 Great info gents! I skipped EYE IN THE SKY because I heard it was lame. After reading the above posts, it sounds like that's not the case. I have COLD EYES sitting here... Would you guys recommending watching EYE IN THE SKY or COLD EYES first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted February 24, 2014 Member Share Posted February 24, 2014 I say go with the original first to see a tightly paced movie under a shorter run-time but without being rushed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted February 24, 2014 Author Moderator Share Posted February 24, 2014 This is probably the 1st decent flick Sol Kyung Gu (The chief detective) has done in a while. He keeps on picking big budget projects and they have been mostly stinkers. I'd agree with this, for me his last great movie was 'No Mercy' from 2009. He keeps on picking big budget projects and they have been mostly stinkers. Before this was The Tower, and after Cold Eyes it was Spy: Undercover Operation. Spy was essentially a copy of True Lies. Daniel Henney was the villain. Did you know that this movie actually started filming under the title 'Mr.K,' under the direction of Lee Myeong-se, the same guy who directed 'Nowhere to Hide' & 'Duelist'? The details were kept pretty much under wraps, but apparently due to differences which arose during production, Myeong-se ended up stepping down and replaced him with 'Quck' director Lee Seung-joon-i. All very 'Drunken Master 2', although from the reviews this movie didn't turn out quite so favourably. Sol Kyung Gu was very good in Oasis, Peppermint Candy, and Public Enemy 1. I recommend those 3 movies. Don't forget 'Silmido'. The bad guy is played by Jung Woo Sung. He seems to have had more box office flops than hits. He also gets a lot of parts for looking good. He starred in a movie titled Beat in 1997 that was good. It is out of print. Beat was pretty what catapulted his career. It has been reprinted at least once. I was surprised to see him The Reign of Assassins. I haven't seen everything he's in, but I enjoyed his turns in 'The Good, The Bad, The Werid' & 'Musa'. I'm not sure he was the best fit to take over from Lee Byung-hun as the lead in the 'IRIS' spin-off series 'ATHENA', but he did a good job in 'Cold Eyes', and I know quite a few people on here are fans of 'The Restless'. I skipped EYE IN THE SKY because I heard it was lame. After reading the above posts, it sounds like that's not the case. Likewise, I'm definitely curious to check out the original now. You should enjoy the Simon Yam cameo in 'Cold Eyes' as well KFB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member yojimbo Posted February 24, 2014 Member Share Posted February 24, 2014 I'd agree with this, for me his last great movie was 'No Mercy' from 2009. Did you know that this movie actually started filming under the title 'Mr.K,' under the direction of Lee Myeong-se, the same guy who directed 'Nowhere to Hide' & 'Duelist'? The details were kept pretty much underwraps, but apparently due to differences which arose during production, Myeong-se ended up stepping down and replaced him with 'Quck' director Lee Seung-joon-i. All very 'Drunken Master 2', although from the reviews this movie didn't turn out quite so favourably. I haven't seen everything he's in, but I enjoyed his turns in 'The Good, The Bad, The Werid' & 'Musa'. I'm not sure he was the best fit to take over from Lee Byung-hun as the lead in the 'IRIS' spin-off series 'ATHENA', but he did a good job in 'Cold Eyes', and I know quite a few people on here are fans of 'The Restless'. Likewise, I'm definitely curious to check out the original now. You should enjoy the Simon Yam cameo in 'Cold Eyes' as well KFB! I didn't know about the director change. It does sound very Drunken Master 2. I enjoyed Lee Meyong Se's Nowhere to Hide. It was one of the 1st Korean movies I showed my friends. I've been meaning to watch the Duelist for years now but the unfavorable reviews have made me not in a rush to see it. I almost watched it this weekend. I enjoyed Quick. Wasn't great, but a fun watch. Troubleshooter was also another movie Sol Kyun Gu was in a couple years ago. People seemed to like it but it wasn't a massive hit. I thought it was ok. I haven't seen him really go the distance in terms of acting in years. He went from a skinny guy with a mental deficiency in Oasis to a slightly overweight crooked cop in A Public Enemy. It reminded me of Christian Bale going from a skinny insomniac in The Machinest to a buff Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins. The IRIS spin off was all but necessary as a money grab and keep it going while it is hot. He dated his co-star Lee Ji Ah. Who turned out to be the secret wife of Seo Tae Ji. Seo was a extremely popular leader of a kpop group from the 90s. Who is still very popular. His sidekick founded the YG Entertainment group which is the home to acts such as Jinusean, 1Tym, 2NE1, and Big Bang. She was separated from Seo but still married to him. And Seo never said anything about being married all those years. I am pretty sure there would have been a legion of fan girls taking their lives. Jung Woo sung and Li Ji Ah ended up breaking up due to all the media scrutiny. I didn't like The Restless. It looked nice but I am not a big fan of Kim Tae Hee. The female lead. She can't act her way out of a paper bag. Most of her money comes from all the commercials she's in. Jung Woo Sung has also been cast in some romances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member yojimbo Posted February 24, 2014 Member Share Posted February 24, 2014 Silmido was ok, but it just didn't do it for me. This was right after Taeguki made it big. Despite a bit paint by the numbers on Taeguki and the emotional mugging of an ending I still enjoyed it. Silimido felt like it got jumbled along the way. Need to re-watch it. The movie lied. I know movies, taking liberty with the story. The original men recruited into the program to sent as soldiers to the North weren't criminals. As a matter of fact, most of them weren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted February 24, 2014 Author Moderator Share Posted February 24, 2014 I didn't know about the director change. It does sound very Drunken Master 2. I enjoyed Lee Meyong Se's Nowhere to Hide. It was one of the 1st Korean movies I showed my friends. I've been meaning to watch the Duelist for years now but the unfavorable reviews have made me not in a rush to see it. 'Duelist' is, sadly, as bad as everyone says it is. Things just don't click together on any level. I enjoyed 'M', which also had Kang Dong-won as its main star. Myeong-se often collaborates with the amazingly talented actor Ahn Seong-gi, who features in both 'Nowhere to Hide' & 'Duelist'. I recently had the pleasure of watching Myeong-se's debut movie 'Gagman', a comedy which features Seong-gi in the lead role as a wannabe movie director that gets embroiled in all sorts of trouble. Not a bad debut, but a little jumbled and a tad overlong. The IRIS spin off was all but necessary as a money grab and keep it going while it is hot. Yeah I heard a lot of negative reviews around this so never bothered to check it out. Interestingly they still went ahead and made 'IRIS 2', although I haven't checked that out either. For me it was all about Lee Byung-hun's character, so without him it all seems a little pointless. He dated his co-star Lee Ji Ah. Who turned out to be the secret wife of Seo Tae Ji. Seo was a extremely popular leader of a kpop group from the 90s. Who is still very popular. His sidekick founded the YG Entertainment group which is the home to acts such as Jinusean, 1Tym, 2NE1, and Big Bang. She was separated from Seo but still married to him. And Seo never said anything about being married all those years. I am pretty sure there would have been a legion of fan girls taking their lives. Jung Woo sung and Li Ji Ah ended up breaking up due to all the media scrutiny. I didn't know this, thanks for the interesting insights! I didn't like The Restless. It looked nice but I am not a big fan of Kim Tae Hee. The female lead. She can't act her way out of a paper bag. Most of her money comes from all the commercials she's in. Jung Woo Sung has also been cast in some romances. Kim Tae-hee was also the lead in 'IRIS', she played her character ok I thought, although Kim So-yeon was definitely more interesting as the North Korean agent. As for Jung Woo-sung, I think 'A Moment to Remember' is a movie which every Korean girl over 30 has seen, thankfully I've still managed to avoid it up to now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member yojimbo Posted February 24, 2014 Member Share Posted February 24, 2014 Ahn Sung Ki is like the Morgan Freeman of Korea. He is considered the older reliable actor that a lot of movies/directors turn to when they need someone in the elder statesmen role. Although, it was interesting to see him as a villain for a change in Nowhere to Hide. His co-star in Nowhere to Hide, Park Joong Hoon. starred with him a few years earlier (1997 I believe) in a movie called 2 cops. About a corrupt cop getting a new partner who is straight laced and by the book. This needless to say rains on his parade of bribe taking and extra money making schemes. He spends the movie trying to corrupt his new partner played by Park Joong Hoon. Ahn Sung Ki has been acting since his early teens. I think he said in an interview it was when he was 12. My limited edition Korean version of Silmido came with a pictured signed by Ahn Sung Ki. The Limited edition had 3 or 4 different pictures that were printed on metal that were signed by the actors. Also, sometimes some of the DVDs would come signed. I have Save the Green Planet that was bought off the shelf signed. I've seen one other DVD like that but I didn't really care for it (It was a movie called He was Cool with the late Jeong Da Bing and Song Seung Heun). Lee Byung Hyun has come a long was. He started off mostly in romances and soap operas. During the late 90's and early 2000's I thought his career was going nowhere. He seems to have recovered nicely since making A Bitter Sweet Life. He started off as a model and became popular with the music video To Heaven sung by Jo Sung Mo. Kim Haneul (Face, Too Pretty To Lie, My Girlfriend is an Agent) was his love interest. The military trainer from Silmido Heo Jun Ho plays the cop out to catch Lee Byung Hyun. Heo Jun Ho is a second generation actor. His dad being a well known actor pretty much guaranteed him entrance into the business. 7fTvSQQt0wY The Seo Tae Ji and Lee Ji Ah story was all over the Korean papers for about a year. Naturally it made good ammo for the divorce lawyers. I think she has gotten one other role since then. I've seen A Moment to Remember. Not a bad movie, not a great movie. It has its moments. The sum is better than the whole. Kim Tae Hee is currently dating Rain (The Ninja Assassin, Speed Racer, Return to Base). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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