Customer Reviews

Sex Is Zero

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

 

 

Saw this film few years ago.. Just like the title, this is pretty much the Korean version of "american pie" except it's 5 times funnier. Hopefully nothing will be cut out of the US release. Even All my Non-Korean friends still ask me to this day to let them borrow this movie again. Highly recommend this movie

Eun-shik seems like a decent, if a bit odd, sort of guy. A 28-year-old freshman, Eun-shik had to delay his entrance into college because of the obligatory military service that all Korean males have to serve and other difficulties. However, with his younger roommates, Eun-shik is able to enjoy the pleasures of college which in this film seem to be limited to smacking the head of the martial arts club with various implements, gawking at pretty girls, and masturbating to his and his roommates large stash of pornography.

Similar to Jason Biggs character in American Pie, Eun-shik is a bit hapless when it comes to striking up conversations with members of the opposite sex. Yet it must be said that he does not aid his cause very well because he tends to find himself in some awkward situations such as standing on a windowsill in his tighty whities, after drinking a medicine that will supposedly give one an erection for three days, with a couple of perverts who seem to enjoy molesting girls on subways and jerking off at any given opportunity, while hiding in closets watching people have sex and at gymnastic events.

The main object of Eun-shik's affection, or lust, is the gorgeous Lee Eunhyo, played by Ha Ji-won, who seems to acquire a bit of affection for Eun-shik after she kicks him in the balls and sends him to the hospital. This incident also leads to Eun-shik's martial arts club being able to share a room with the gymnastics club where the sultry Kim Ji-won rules the roost. Eventually Eun-shik and three of his friends take out Eunhyo and three of her friends, but while his three friends make "progress" with their dates, Eun-shik seems to be losing Eunhyo to Sung-ok, the university's big man on campus and Ji-won's boyfriend. However, for Eunhyo, even though Eun-shik leaves a lot to be desired, maybe in the long run he would have been the better choice.

Similar to Jung Cho-sin's Wet Dreams 1 and 2, Sex is Zero is filled with some very low brow humor, such as the consumption of semen in soup and fried form and a very sloppy kiss that starts before a drunk girl has finished emptying the contents of her stomach, but unlike the two films above there is quite a bit more skin. With the exception of Ha Ji-won each supporting actress bares her breasts with the actress showing a bit more. While some of these bits can be quite humorous such as when one girl gets stuck in "the wrong hole" there is one scene in which the guy unbuttons the top of a passed out drunk girl feels her up amongst other things. While meant to be humorous this scene was a bit uncomfortable especially after the girl wakes up and the guy blames her for coming on to him. They stopped at a hotel because she had a bad headache from drinking too much.

In addition to the scatological humor which is so gross at points that it is not amusing, Sex is Zero falls into the trap of many other comedies and tries to take itself too seriously in the last third of the film. If it had been left as a sex comedy the film might have been more tolerable, but the last third of the film divulges too much from its beginning to be taken seriously.

If one is looking for eye candy one will find it in abundance in this film, but if one is looking solely for a light, if a bit raunchy, comedy then there are better ones to be found.

I got this video today and was excited to watch it. this movie was a hilarious korean sex comedy! I didnt get bored throughout the whole movie. this is a must watch movie!

Hilarious Korean sex comedy that's often compared to American Pie, Porky's, and other films of that ilk in its approach to sex, except that this one ventures into the aftermath and potential consequences.

My main gripe with this DVD is that while the Amazon description says that the disc is widescreen, it's actually presented in letterbox format (with black bars). That might not be an issue for most people, but it's a pain for those of us with widescreen TVs ... especially considering that all releases of this film outside the US are anamorphic widescreen. I'm also disappointed in the choice of "Mr. Skin" to do the audio commentary, as he seems more interested in ogling the actresses, putting down the male characters, and discussing other films than saying anything worthwhile about the film at hand. Fortunately, Matt Kennedy of Panik House chimes in occasionally on the commentary with cultural notes on Korea and Asian cinema. On a positive note, the included special features are impressive, and Panik House was kind enough to include a free Sex Is Zero sticker(!)

So overall, great film for those who enjoy raunchy sex comedies and don't mind a little dose of pathos. Not so great disc for owners of widescreen TVs or fans of enlightening commentary tracks.

If you like teen targeted films with a lot of sexual humor, this film is probably perfect for you. It's funny... but not laugh my pants off funny. Its storyline isn't too bad. On a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 7. It's not a must see. But if you're into asian films and sexual humor you would be wrong to pass this movie up.

I watched Sex is Zero again last night and remember how good it was,
with all the awful comedies coming out of Hollywood right now, this is
a breath of fresh air. I remember the first thing I heard from this
movie was that it was the Korea's American Pie, but for my taste Sex
is Zero is much better. You get all gags a sex comedy should have plus
more. If you are a fan of Asian Cinema you know they like to throw
dramatic twists even in comedies and Sex is Zero is not the exception.
For example, let's say the do an Action comedy in Hong Kong like Rush
Hour, near the end one of the 2 main characters is going to die, that
throws a punch to the viewer out of nowhere, some people hate that and
others like me love it, enough of Hollywood endings. Not that I'm
saying anybody dies in this movie, this one is a Sex Comedy, not and
Action movie.
Ha Ji Won plays the lead female character, she is a sweetheart, before
watching this I saw her in a Horror movie called Nightmare, she is my
favorite Korean actress, last movie I saw her in is Duelist, you
should look for that movie too, is one of the best pieces of
cinematography I've ever seen.
Im Chang Jung plays the lead male character and he does a great job,
the guy is really funny and also shows he can act when he has to.
I got both the Korean DVD and the US DVD, both are great, but I got
the US DVD because the extra material comes also with subtitles, one
thing that the Korean release doesn't have, plus it also has a very
entertaining commentary track by mrskin, he had a lot to comment since
they didn't went shy on the nudity factor. Hope they keep releasing
Korean movies with this quality in the US.
So don't wait until Sex is Zero is remake by some money hungry studio,
do yourself a favor and watch it now, you wont be disappointed.

Maybe "Sex Is Zero" is a sarcastic way of saying "Sex means nothing." However, I don't recall anywhere in which the title is explained. If you liked "Porky's" or "Revenge of the Nerds," then you might like this film.
I think we in the West have this image of the East as being sexually conservative, excluding the kama sutra, sex tourism, etc. However, this is filled with the horniness that you could find in American sex comedies. It has a gross-out humor aspect too. Vomit, mastering one's domain, and all that type of stuff comes up here.
Some say the West is individual-oriented while the East is group-oriented. While Western characters are often seen with friends, there sure was a way the the characters here seemed glued into groups. Although the main characters were four guys and four girls, the eight people almost acted like four reincarnations of each other.
Like most sex comedies, there is far more female nudity than male, as opposed to having equal amounts of naughty bits.
Some of the humor I didn't get. For example, one guy was trying to make a sick woman laughed and he did something that I thought would suffocate him. There's a lot of eating or drinking things that one shouldn't do; I wonder if that's a culture-specific laughfest.
I also think all the Western guys that just love, love, love them some naked East Asian chicks will enjoy this. I don't recall "The Joy Luck Club" showing any nudity, but this film does.

That's the problem with comedy--either it makes you laugh or it doesn't. The latter applies in this case. Waste of time and money.

I grew up watching teen films like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Porky's, and those are two reference points of partying, raunchy teen flicks. American Pie throw in male bodily fluids in the formula. Now, from South Korea, comes Saekjeuk Shigong, which combines elements of those movies, and it's quite enjoyable.

One can see the influence of Fast Times from the opening sequence using the Go-Go's "We Got The Beat," albeit in an abbreviated version; it features a host of hotties doing an aerobics workout, while the first year college students are undergoing a gnarly initation ceremony.

One of them is inept Jang Eun-shik, recently having finished his military service, who's often at the receiving end of an accident that lands him in the hospital or leads him to jump out of windows. He's also in Songgchuk's martial arts club involved in spiritual concentration, which amounts to basically bashing each other on the heads with phony wooden sticks or doing silly stuff like doing a headstand in a bowl of water. His three roommates are the goofy Changsu, an unnamed nerdy bushy-haired guy--these two seem to do nothing but watch porn on their computer--and a sissy boy, Taehak, who's not too athletic. When he sees a mouse, what does he do like a girl? Yup, you guessed it!

As for male bodily fluids, there's a funny one involving said fluid, some rat poison, a sandwich, and Eun-shik accidentally eating it. That leads to a hilarious chase scene where his roommates try to catch him so he can spit it out.

Eun-shik falls head over heels with Lee Eun-hyo, a willowy beauty who's an aerobics star and sub on the national team. When he casually tries to steal looks at her, she twigs on, and suddenly, spreads and opens her legs quickly, causing him to spit rice. Her girlfriends are a funny lot, too, including the short-haired Kyoungiu, self-conscious about her breasts who is told, "if someone put two raisins on your back, no one would know the deifference between your chest and your back--but eager to score. After a night at a club, Eun-hyo's friends end up with each of Eun-shik's roommates, with hilarious results. For a grossout scene, one of them who has drunken a lot makes some really horrendous barfing noises, spewing Linda Blair-like at one point, then gives bushy-hair a sloppy barf-laden kiss. Charming, huh? Poor Kyoungiu ends up with the unassertive Taehak with hilarious results.

There's the aerobics prima donna, a pretty but stuck-up girl named Ji-Won, who's dating the hunk Han Sangwook; there are some steamy scenes between them. Things heat up when Sangwook dumps her in favour of Eun-hyo. However, he's quite a cad and when he gets Eun-hyo pregnant, leaves her high and dry, kind of like Mike Damone and Stacy Hamilton in Ridgemont High. While the topic was superficially done in RH, Eun-Hyo angrily tells Han when he seems casual about it, "You and I both have birthdays, but this baby is never going to have one! It's just waiting to die!" It veers into drama at this point, when Eun-shik nurses Eun-hyo, trying to cheer her up with his exercise routines. Although a goofball, he proves to be actually very caring and devoted, with Bread's "If" used as the love theme in this scene.

Then there are two thieves, one with a Moe Howard-like haircut, who end up trying to hard to avoid discovery and end up becoming voyeurs, playing uno, and I DON'T mean the card game.

Yes, the intense drama part is quite a change from the earlier silly raunchiness, but it's a comedy with some heart in it, saved by the aerobics competition set to some snazzy techno music, really well choreographed. And yes, the two thieves are right there doing that crazy hand jive at one point. Heck, all the hot actresses in there are enough to make anyone do that!

This movie was extremely disturbing. It made me want to stay as far away from Korea as possible.