Customer Reviews

I Saw the Devil [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Director Jee-woon Kim along with actors Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi are three of the most talented people in Korean cinema today. Jee-woon has done such films as A Bittersweet Life and The Good, the Bad, the Weird, which both starred Byung-hun and Min-sik is most recognized for his performance in Oldboy, but was also fairly impressive in the drama Crying Fist among many others. Oldboy is really the film that made me love Korean cinema. So when word broke that these three marvelous people were getting together to make a film, I knew I was already there. A little thriller called I Saw the Devil came together and became one of the most spectacularly intense thrillers to be released in quite some time.

Late one snowy, winter night, a woman named Joo-yeon (San-ha Oh) sits stranded in her car waiting for a tow truck to arrive and help her fix a flat tire. She talks to her fiance, Dae-hoon (Byung-hun), over the phone as she waits. It's Joo-yeon's birthday and Dae-hoon, a secret agent, gets caught up with work and can't be there with her on her special day. A strange man shows up and begins to pester Joo-yeon about fixing the tire himself. After declining his help, the man known as Kyung-chul (Min-sik) attacks Joo-yeon before brutally murdering her. Kyung-chul is actually a notorious serial killer who mostly kills women and young girls. As the investigation unfolds, Dae-hoon swears merciless revenge on Kyung-chul and a deadly game of cat and mouse begins. Does Dae-hoon really know when this game will end or has he already become a bigger monster than the man he now preys upon?

The chemistry between Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi is what really drives the film. Byung-Hun is the broken down shell of a man when he's not in the hunt, so to speak. He has several emotional breakdowns that are incredibly heart wrenching, but the urge he has to make this bloodthirsty maniac pay for taking the love of his life away takes a front seat to any sort of emotion he once had. Byung-hun portrays the struggle his character has between sadness and revenge flawlessly. Min-sik plays the role of a lunatic incredibly well. His character seems to lack that which makes a person who they are; morals, a conscience, and above all a soul. Killing is the only thing that brings out the real Kyung-Chul. His first initial reaction to someone trying to beat him at his own game is agitation and borderline out of control rage, but once he regains control he not only enjoys himself but claims it's the most fun he's ever had. Min-sik acts level headed when his kills go well, but the way he expresses how insane his character really is when things go bad for him is what makes his performance so memorable. While the scenes where Byung-hun and Min-sik fight with each other are great for obvious reasons, there's a scene at the end of the film where they both have a heart to heart conversation that is just spectacular. Every little glimpse you have of that confrontation leading up to that point is fantastic, as well.

Jee-woon Kim certainly knows how to shoot a beautiful looking film. Lush and vibrant colors make grisly murders and spontaneous revenge tactics look much more pleasant than the blood that endlessly splatters all over every wall and floor in the film. Other than the brilliant colors, the cinematography is rather unique as well. There's a scene near the end of the film where Dae-Hoon is walking toward the camera on a deserted road. It's simple and shot like we're basically walking backwards in front of him while staring directly at his face. He eventually begins to cry; an uncontrollable sobbing. The way the scene is shot along with Byung-hun's performance made it one of the more memorable scenes in the film. There's another where Kyung-Chul gets picked up by a taxi. He gets into the front passenger seat while there's another man in the back, so there are three people in the car altogether including the driver. Kyung-Chul realizes he's going to have to beat these guys to the punch, so as their adrenaline escalates the camera rotates around the inside of the car. You get this continuous 360 degree shot of the action occurring inside this cab. It's amazing.

Leave it to another Korean thriller revolving around revenge to make an impression on me. Jee-woon Kim's I Saw the Devil is a superbly acted, exceptionally written, grotesquely gorgeous film that'll make you cringe during some of the more horrific and blood soaked acts in the film while secretly leave you craving so much more. That craving is satisfied thanks to the interactions and chemistry between actors Byung-hun Lee and Min-Sik Choi. The disturbing content in the film is more than enough to satisfy the hungriest gore hounds out there while the captivating story will please anyone looking for something more than someone being chopped to pieces. I Saw the Devil is one of the most morbidly delightful films to be released in recent years.

I SAW THE DEVIL takes the serial-killer tale and turns it upside-down (and inside out!). I was expecting another "sociopath vs. the police / cat and mouse" story. ISTD uses this premise, only to expand on it, resulting in one of the best revenge films I've ever seen. I actually found myself feeling (somewhat, almost, well, ok, not very) sorry for the murderer! This movie goes a long way in showing the ultimate price of vengeance. If you love movies like LADY VENGEANCE, OLDBOY, etc., then I SAW THE DEVIL will fit right into your collection...

I knew this was gonna be a good movie but I didn't think it was gonna be this good! "I Saw The Devil" is an awesome serial killer, cat an mouse revenge flick where the good turn evil in order to inflict pain and suffering on a greater evil.
The story goes like this, one snowy night a woman who is married to a detective catches a flat tire and calls for a tow, a stranger appears to help but ends up beating her, kidnaps, dismembers and disposes of her remains in a river. The remains are found and the hunt for the killer begins as the police narrow it down to four suspects.
The detective takes time off due to his wifes death but secretly tracks down the four suspects and tortures each one till he finds the one who killed his wife. Once found he exacts revenge over an over in a very cool way I might add at which time a game of cat an mouse occurs that leaves a trail of dead bodies and a once lawful detective no better than the truely psycho killer he's been stalking.
"I Saw The Devil" is a brutal/gory but not to gory film that will lead you down a road with a psychopath and a man who becomes one out of grief and anger in order to get revenge! As far as acting, it was great as was the score which fit the movie perfectly. Every year there is one or two horror movies that really standout, "I Saw The Devil" is 2011's standout horror masterpiece that deserves to be seen!

This is the first review that I've EVER done on Amazon. However, this movie is so great that I simply could not help myself. I Saw The Devil is a fantastic, suspenseful, griping and superbly acted film. It's a movie that, long after you watch it, will stay with you forever.

If you're reading reviews on here wanting to know if you should buy this or not....DO IT.

I blind-bought this gem and was incredibly happy that I did.

The transfer is fantastic and the sound is amazing. Add this to your Blu-Ray collection RIGHT NOW!

Chances are that if you're interested in I Saw the Devil, you've probably seen at least one of the Vengeance Trilogy movies. If you have, then there isn't a whole lot new in this movie that you haven't seen before, but I don't mean that in a bad way. I Saw the Devil seems to borrow some of the best elements from each movie to the point where they could practically release another box set, a quadrilogy, including this film with the others, despite having a different director. It's funny that, like Oldboy, before I saw this movie, all I'd heard was that it was extremely 'brutal' and 'unforgiving'. I don't know if it's just being desensitized from the Vengeance Trilogy or what, but I Saw the Devil didn't win me over as much as Oldboy or Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance did. As much as I hate to compare movies to one another, it's hard not to in this case. But the thing is, if you like revenge movies, or are a big fan of the Vengeance Trilogy, there's a good chance that you'll like I Saw the Devil as well.

Soo-hyun is a secret agent spending the night at work while his fiancé, Ju-yeon, gets stuck on the side of the road after getting a flat tire. A tow truck is on the way, but before it arrives, a stranger pulls over and offers to help her out. She politely turns him down, and within minutes he smashes her windows and drags her off to a dank torture room of sorts, and kills her off quickly. Ju-yeon's head is found in a stream soon after, and both her father, a retired police chief, and Soo-hyun see what's happened. Upon seeing this, Soo-hyun vows to find the person who killed her, and make them suffer just as much as she did. Within days, he tracks the guy down- it's a school van driver named Kyung-chul. Soo-hyun nearly beats him to death, but leaves before the final blow. Why does he let the maniac live? Because he's just getting started.

It's going to sound weird, but even with the guy being the lowest of low, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him when Soo-hyun would pay him a visit. Soo-hyun really does a number on Kyung-chul the first time, but it gets worse each and every time, to the point where it seems like a demented version of hide and seek. The violence isn't over the top, since each bit of it is there for a reason, and what's seen looks like it's genuinely happening to the actors. Knowing that Kyung-chul was about to get obliterated every couple of minutes got to the point where it was comical because you knew that he was going to be let go each time. And part of the fun is in seeing how the guy makes it to his next destination. Other killers and innocent people going about their daily lives in broad daylight aren't safe from Kyung-chul. I really did feel bad for Soo-hyun and Ju-yeon's father when she was killed and they pulled out her head. The reactions on their faces looked sincere, as did the lack of emotion on Kyung-chul's face whenever he got his hands on a victim. Whether it's intentional or not, I still couldn't help but feel like a few things were taken from the Vengeance Trilogy and altered a bit. Achilles tendon scene like Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance? Check! Fancy black coat like Lady Vengeance's? Check! There were other parts, and again, I'm not saying that this is bad or makes the movie score lower or anything, but the connections are there for someone who's seen those movies. Actually, there's not much about the movie that I don't like, aside from the slightly long runtime. The main character can seem bland, but when it's over and done, it comes together. I Saw the Devil has thrills, comedy, just the right amount of gore, and a somewhat painful ending. It's a solid movie.

The blu-ray has great picture quality for the most part, aside from a few scenes shot at night with lots of black where grain shows up now and then. The movie isn't shot in any gorgeous areas by any means, but the cities and country look good here. The audio is very good too, with a nice DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 dub if you want to go that way. Unfortunately, there aren't many special features: there are a handful of deleted scenes, a short behind the scenes featurette and trailers for other Magnolia movies. Ouch.

This movie does many things right thanks to good writing, directing, acting and cinematography. They have a merciless killer and make him interesting without going too deep like other movies I've seen in recent years, and put him in an interesting cat-and-mouse situation. But I still can't shake off the feeling of 'been there, done that', which is something I wish I could look past. Still, anyone who enjoys a good revenge movie will most likely love I Saw the Devil, but the lack of extras on the blu-ray hurts the score a bit when there's so much more they could've thrown on. Even if it weren't for that, I give the movie itself 4/5 stars. I wanted to say a lot more about the movie, but so much goes on with torture scenes and story bits involving the two main characters that I don't want to give away too much. Give this one a rental at the very least.

This movie brings the saying "an Eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" to its ultimate literal meaning! I think what captivated me through the entire movie was the superb acting of both leads. I didnt mind the gore, but I think the movie was kept 30 minutes too long. A few subplots (the taxi rides, the canniba, the clinicl) could be edited out to make this movie more tight.

Ji-Woon Kim is one of my favorite Asian directors. The movie runs well over two hours and I was left wanting more. You do need a thick stomach for this but if you love the gory revenge movies that Asian Cinema seems to have perfected you will love this one.

Acting, cinematography, script, all top notch. I even dare say, better than most American movies out this year.

this movie is truly the best revenge movie i ever saw. it had me anxious the whole time watching it, waiting to see what happens next. if u can handle the gore, u can check this out. watch a hero almost become a borderline villain in his quest for vengeance.

This was a great suspense/drama/revenge movie. The cinematography is superb along with top notch acting and a great story. I'm definitely going to be on the look out for more movies from this director because I really like the visual style of this movie. I noticed quite a few similarities between this movie and Seven. I don't really want to spoil anything about this movie for you but it's very interesting in the sense that there really isn't a winner in this movie but there is clearly a loser and the loser is not who you'd think, very similar to Seven in that respect. This movie also covers a very interesting transformation that the protagonist goes through throughout the movie and is even mentioned by the head detective about 3/4's of the way through the movie, again very similar to Seven. The box cover really gives a good indication of what I'm talking about there. Anyway, I highly recommend you check this one out.

Okay, so I rented this movie thinking I was going to see a good killer/cop revenge story but WOW....its so much more!! If you liked movies like Lady Vengeance, Old Boy, and etc. Then this is right up your alley. It's very graphic and violent (which is to be expected) but I even had to cringe at certain parts. However, to me it just goes with the story and helps depict the inevitable cost of revenge and the road ones goes down to get there.

Needless to say Awesome movie, had me going "oh my gah" over and over. I've always been a fan of Byung-hun Lee (<3) & Min-sik Choi (<3 his acting), so this movie just increased my adoration for their works.

If your on the fence about watching....let me just give you a push....go on rent it!!!