Customer Reviews

Save the Green Planet (Tame Cover)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Save The Green Planet" is many things. It is funny, parodic and innovative. It is well made, although the story isn't terribly well constructed. It is sickeningly violent and gruesome, maddeningly cagey about its plot points, and completely and utterly insane. It's also a great movie, because of everything above.

It's important to note that this is not a film for everyone. The torture scenes are painful and plentiful, and make up the bulk of the film. They are NOT done in a slapstick fashion, as the title, the box cover and opening sequence might suggest. There is repeated electroshock, stabbings, stranglings and an even gorier plot twist later on. Suffice it to say, this isn't a kids movie.

"Save The Green Planet" is about Byung Goo, a man who is even more messed up than is initially revealed when he begins saying that wealthy, successful industrialist Kang is an alien from the planet Andromeda. In fact, Byung Goo is patently psychotic, a kidnapper who cons his tightrope-dancing girlfriend into helping him carry out his paranoid schemes.

All the while, he pops powerful metamphetamines, robs banks to take care of his comatose mother, raises bees and creates manniquins. Byung Goo becomes the movie's simultaneous hero and villain, and it's clear that our sympathies are supposed to lie with this utterly screwed up loser. The odd thing is, more often than not, we do sympathize with him.

If you think that's weird enough as it is, the movie doesn't stop there. The tone swerves wildly from whacked-out comedy to brutal violence to teeth-on-edge suspense, swinging from one to the other as rapidly and disorientingly as possible. The plot is equally wobbly, the psychopathically quick and risky twists constantly threatening to lose the viewer. Some serious suspension of disbelief is required much of the time, just because it's unrealistic that several main characters haven't died from all the damage they've sustained.

But as many things that can be said against it can also be said for it. "Save the Green Planet" is a true original, a movie that only a total mind-job could make and is interesting, if not always pleasant, to watch. It helps that there are a number of entertaining references dispersed every so often to keep the viewer going, and that there's the occaisional glimmer of sanity in everything that's so terribly off-kilter. The filmmaking is as good as anything else in the film, well-executed and often joltingly original. It's a visionary film, if an undeniably strange one.

I think this movie was outrageously brilliant as the storyline was wicked. It's about a couple who believe theirs Aliens among us who look just like humans, as they feel that they are the only ones to stop this madness. They kidnap theses supposable aliens and tortured to the point of no return. This movie rocks in every way, its suspense keeps you watching this most usually story that take's you into a completely different setting all together.

Some of the scenes in this movie are unimaginable and shocking; I feel if you have seen Seven or Saw you will be able to stand the heat of this remarkable movie.

I barely know what to make of this film. It runs the gamut on so many levels and so many directions it makes your head spin. It never goes where you think it will go. It never does what you think it will do. There are moments of wonderful sweetness and moments of brutal savagery.

Others have recounted the plot so I won't waste your time. But this is not too far from Woody Harrelson's Defendor. It's the same basic idea but taken to extremes.

The key here is in the entire unexpectedness of everything. I simply did not know from moment to moment what would happen next. Every time I thought it was going a certain way it would make a neck-snapping U-Turn and go someplace else. Movies can be a bore when you know what's coming. Filmdom is replete with cookie cutter plots. Too many people want to make money doing the same old same old. This simply is not the case here. It's a total thrill ride.

The acting is great. The main characters are great. Good sets, good music. Every time you hear "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" it takes on a different meaning. And each time it is performed in the film it is rendered differently. I just cannot say enough about this. If you liked Defendor, give this a shot. If you didn't like Defendor, give this a shot. If you like left of center insanity, give this a shot.

This movie has become one of my favorite films! It's a really crazy and fun film. It also may not be for everyone because of the gore and flow. I would classify this film as horror but it also has a sci-fi, romance, and comedy theme. The film tries to be a little bit of everything which could be confusing. In some instances you may be asking yourself, "Should I be horrified or should I be laughing"? I highly recommend Save The Green Planet!

This film is classic. an ambitious and unpredictable combination of styles that succeeds brilliantly.

if you're a fan of THE HOST, see this one immediately.

This movie is amazing. I work at an independant theater and we gave this film its western Canadian premiere on Friday. I just saw it last night, and the fact that I'm already looking for the DVD says something. The poster is entirely misleading, this is the creepiest movie I have seen in a loooooong time. That doesn't mean that the movie is bad, far from it, just don't expect a lighthearted B-movie style romp. I won't reveal any of the plot, but damn is it good.

I would have given 5 stars, but I'm not sure what the (Tame) in the title means. If they censored it too much, it wouldn't be as good, as part of the amaing effectiveness of this movie is in how unrelenting the camera work is in showing the scenes of torture. Therefor, a 5 star movie, knocked down a star because of the potential for censorship in this edition.

Very rarely can it be said that when watching a film with expectations I had as high as this one, that they are met. It's a very surprisingly thing for me because I am usually set up for disappointment. The first thing I must say about SAVE THE GREEN PLANET is how truly unique it is. There are several points throughout where I would predict what would happen next - obviously being brought up on too many blockbuster movies - and the film did not fall into the ensnarement of my clichéd predictions. In fact it goes to places I really did not expect at all - freely switching between comedy, thriller, melodrama, sci-fi to even a touch of horror. Perhaps one should be apprehensive of a film that seems so undecided on what it wants to be but SAVE THE GREEN PLANET knows perfectly well what it is. It has a very strong (and valid) message and it handles its genre-leaps very skillfully - succeeding in making me cringe, laugh, saddened, thrilled and amply entertained.

I will save you the synopsis because I am sure if you're interested in seeing the movie you've already read it, but just know that the less you know about this flick the stronger the viewing experience will be. Try your best to avoid spoilers because I found out the ending beforehand and while I still very much liked the movie the ending would've been improved without this knowledge.

The acting on all parts are great. We have two major characters and two other more minor but important characters and all four play their roles very well - Ha-kyun Shin and Jeong-min Hwang especially being outstanding in their portrayal of the comic, sympathetic, violent, potentially-crazy, murderers. I would like to point out how much I enjoyed the protagonists in SAVE THE GREEN PLANET. The two aforementioned actors are the two alien hunters we're introduced to in the beginning and while they torture their victim several times I never saw them as villains. Instead I am rooting for them and in some cases empathizing with them. Other than originality - which is always a plus - the characterization is the best aspect.

If I were to get into the reasons I do not think of this movie as perfect, one would definitely include the special FX department. This movie is low-budget and this becomes blatant when you see some of its more elaborate FX scenes. While I know having flawless looking FX isn't totally necessary it definitely did detract from the film for me. The second criticism was that I felt the ending was a bit too over-the-top. You'll know what I mean if you watch, but I was enjoying it hugely up until the film's final two minutes and I was wishing what I had just seen was cut. Some of this reason was special FX related, but its not entirely so.

Although I personally loving this movie I would not recommend it carelessly. It's not meandering or puzzling, two complaints often made about foreign films, but it is too zany for some. A fan of inventive movies with an open-mind would be the best audience for a film as wacky as SAVE THE GREEN PLANET.

Despite having a couple of issues with the film in its special FX and its superfluous finale neither of these are large enough problems that I did not enjoy the movie. It's become an instant favorite of mine as well as one of the best Korean movies I've ever seen. If your taste in films borders on the "questionable" and if the movie sounds like it might be good to you - take a chance and purchase it because I am sure you won't have any regrets.

9/10

As of May 2008, the Unbox version of "Save the Green Planet" is in Korean without English subtitles. So unless you speak Korean, don't bother.

I won't rehash the material covered by more detailed reviews. The movie is disturbing, touching, funny, silly, and graphically violent. You'll either love it or hate it. Either way, it's best watched without spoilers. As another reviewer stated, "The less you know about it going into this, the better."

I hardly know where to begin when discussing SAVE THE GREEN PLANET; its as if somone threw 3 or 4 different genres into a blender and set it on puree. Of course for me this is not necessarily a bad thing since I love movies that make unpredictable twists and turns and don't stay safely within the boundaries of any conventional realm. However some viewers may feel themselves at sea in this film which seems to start out as a black comedy and then spins wildly out of control (much like its lead character) through the slasher, gorno, and science fiction genres with detours into David Lynch territory for good measure. They may even resent the fact the film's advertising represents it as far more of a comedy then it is. I personally got very few laughs from this flick after the first 10 minutes.

SAVE THE GREEN PLANET is the story of a young man (Ha-Kyun Shin)who has made it his life's mission to save earth from an alien take-over, with the help of his plump, female friend Sooni (Jeong-Min Hwang). To this end he captures and tortures the CEO of a major chemical firm who he believes has information on the upcoming invasion. The torture scenes are brutal and become extremely difficult to watch. The director stated that he wanted to make a film like MISERY only from the perspective of Kathy Bates' character. So he alternately makes us feel sorry for the young man and repulsed by him; feel certain he's a madman and then wonder if maybe he isn't right after all. Director/writer Joon-Hwan Jang pulls at our emotions like he's making salt water taffy. I've never seen another film quite like this, and it will be a little while before I'm ready to see another one. Its bloody and gruesome and violent and full of pathos and dispair, the kind of comedy you get only from the Koreans these days. I do recommend it, but only with a caveat.

As of December 2009, there is an English name and English descriptions of this Korean movie, but there is Korean only audio and no subtitles available so if you don't speak Korean you're out of luck.

On the upside, just got great customer service on the phone and a gracious refund from Amazon Video on Demand.