Customer Reviews

Tube

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

 

 

Let's get something straight right from the get-go: TUBE isn't SHIRI ... nor does it try to be. While Woon-Hak Baek is the genius behind both of these films, he's created two entirely different vehicles ... both with their own unique narratives ... and one shouldn't enter into the TUBE expecting the political firestorm that was SHIRI.

However, what one can expect is a great action movie that tries to hard to be something more than a great action movie.

The premise is simple: T (Sang-Min Park) takes control of a crowded subway train, loading it with explosives so that the authorities risk detonation if they try to stop it. However, Detective Jay -- vengefully hunting the terrorist who killed his fiance -- manages to board the train, and he spends the bulk of the film trying to outsmart (and, when necessary, outfight) someone he's always been one step behind.

So, yes, the film can clearly be compared to SPEED as well as DIE HARD, to a lesser extent, but what those films lacked in depth of character Woon-hak Baek goes to great lengths to create here. However, when the film slows down to focus on character, it slows down too much. Too many secondary characters are given a backstory (or a B plotline) that weighs down the narrative with some unnecessary emotional baggage (in SHIRI, Baek focused on principally three characters, hence the greater success). Inevitable choices still have to be made, so the emotional depth ends up being thrown in for the sake of ... well ... being thrown in, and the end result is a bit of a mess.

Character elements aside, however, TUBE moves along briskly as a convincing action vehicle with some solid special effects.

While the disc is slim on extras (there is a music video and a "making of" featurette that's far more promotional than it is informative), TUBE is still worth entering for the sheer thrill of the ride.

Woon-Hak Baek did NOT direct OR write "Shiri". "Tube" is his first and only film. The DVD cover for the R1 release of "Tube" from Columbia is therefore confusing, because it is misleading.
Otherwise though, this is a high-action movie that is worth at least a rental. Bae Du-na is wonderful as usual. However, there are many much better films coming out of South Korea these days that deserve more attention. Unfortunately, US companies seem to be mainly interested in action movies. Too bad.

Korean auteur, Woon-Hak Baek made a splash in North American a few years ago with "Shiri" - a political thriller that grabbed the viewer and would not let go.

With "Tube," he does it again.

Think "Speed" - but on a train, and with a bad guy who has a genuinely good reason for being as bent and vicious as he is.

"Tube" is orchestrated almost like a piece of classical music: the opening five minutes is a violent set piece that introduces the villain, the hero and the female lead [who is not *quite* a romantic lead]. Then, the first act brings together the various characters and sets up the situation - much like the first act of a symphony introduces themes and develops them.

The second act finds hero, villain and not-quite-romantic female lead in the midst of the situation, and the third act resolves one situation, to discover that there are contingencies in place.

In the final act/coda, the final resolution is made and a brief tag underscores the bittersweetness of the final victory.

Baek's direction is elegant, calling to mind the balletic qualities of Sam Peckinpah and John Woo [though without the extravagant use of slo mo].

Seok-Hoon Kim's Jay is the unorthodox cop we all love, but with a tragic twist that moves beyond what we're used to. Doo-Na Bae, "Kay is the not-quite-romantic female lead - a real woman - not one of those exquisite creatures that Hollywood tries to pass of as one [and though she's not beautiful, she has a very powerful, charismatic presence]. Sang-Min Park plays renegade covert ops agent "T" as a vicious, evil thug who wasn't ever supposed to wind up that way.

Between the touching emotional moments and the amazing action sequences [one filmed in the real Kimpo Airport, and another filmed in a real train station], there's plenty to keep the viewer on the edge of his seat - and the unexpected climax shows Hollywood how it *should* be done.

Only "Tube's" length keeps it from being a five-star film - it could have stood to have five or six minutes trimmed. Still, it's a remarkable piece of work.

With both "Tube" and "Shiri" to his credit, it's clear that Woon-Hak Baek, who wrote and directed both films, is a force to be reckoned with. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Also worth mentioning are the "Making Of" featurette, which is better than expected, the trailer [which captures the feel of the actual film better than most Hollywood trailers] and the music video for the end credits theme song.

The dvd is high quality and I received it very fast. I am very pleased with the product and the service I received. I saw this movie on cable a while back and had it on vhs. I am very glad I found the dvd. Great movie love the action sequences.

While I can't highly recommend it, TUBE is kind of fun, provided you don't think too much about the plot, which has a walking stereotype loose-canon cop (Kim Seok-hoon) battling a terrorist (Pak Sang-min) onboard a hijacked subway train. The terrorist is a former government eraser that the government tried, but failed, to erase, and he's taken the train, and Seoul's mayor, hostage to uhh, well, to apparently have the plan be doomed from the start.

Equal parts SPEED, TAKING OF PELHAM 123, MONEY TRAIN and DIE HARD, the film has few pretensions, which make it easy on the derriere. Poor Bae Doo-na gets one of the stranger film roles in film history, as a pickpocket who apparently knows she must LOVE the hero even before she KNOWS the hero, and creates all the necessary Korean histrionics along the way (as well as almost bearing more physical brutality than the hero!) while our glowering protagonist poses with a series of unlit cigarettes in his mouth (and which only one person will ever be allowed to light, care to guess who?).

The SPEED and TAKING OF PELHAM allusions are apt, as are slight nods to MONEY TRAIN (the hero's boss does his best crazy Robert Blake impersonation) and DIE HARD (or UNDER SIEGE 2 if you'd rather, since it's so blatantly name-checked on the U.S. package), but overall it's a victim of it's own weak (and often downright ridiculous) logic and begs a few too many questions.

Production wise, though, it's delivers the goods, with slick production values all the way, with some nicely handled chase and fight scenes. Turns out, if I read the docu-stuff on the Korean 2-disc set correctly, that the Korean subway trains don't even look as hi-tech as they do here, and the ones in the film were almost entirely CG apart from the sets for close-ups! Columbia Tri-Star's sleeve is highly reminiscent of the art for TRANSPORTER and, not entirely unexpectedly, substitutes a generic Asian face for that of star Kim Seok-hoon. Nice.

I read so many bad comments that I had to watch this again. I still liked it the second time. Not an A film, just a B action with great suspense elements. This is actually better than Speed in some aspects- mainly less two dimensional with the characters (I mean these are better developed). Speed was a slicker product, and I really liked it too. Tube is Korean with a capital K. Made for Koreans. So of course not all American action film fans will like this much. They just make movies differently than Hollywood. I don't buy this as a pure imitation at all- not even very close. This film maker-director is so good at his craft, even his mediocre film (like maybe this one compared to his previous). is quite good. It did have a few slow, and a few really corny places. So I prefer to give it 3 1/2 stars.

This has to be the worse Korean movie I've seen....ever. It's complete with laughable attempts at drama, characters you don't care for, and....(fill in with whatever you don't like).

The action scenes are a joke. The director of Shiri wasn't known for action, as you can easily seen from both of these films. The "action" is choppy and just plain stinks. It needs to take ques from Hong Kong.
***Spoiler ahead***: please, please, someone tell me why would a commuter train go right into a nuclear power plant????

I can't believe I wasted money watching this. It's not all bad, the score is quite good, and the running time is under 2 hours. Plus it's a 1-disc feature, so disposal is very easy.

And no, it's not from Hollywood, because Hollywood at least wouldn't make such pathetic attempts at adding depth into this.

If you like good action with a bit of a story and good acting, then the 'Tube' is a good bet.

A FORMER GOVERNMENT AGENT HOLDS A TRAIN HOSTAGE WITH A BOMB THAT'LL BLOW UP IF THE TRAIN STOPS AND IT'S UP TO A DETECTIVE TO STOP HIM AND FIND A WAY TO SAVE THE LIVES OF THE PASSENGERS. WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS BASICALLY ANOTHER IMITATION OF ''SPEED''. THE DIALOGUE IS LAUGHABLE AND THE ACTION [WHICH THERE IS PLENTY OF] IS NOT REALLY THAT ENTERTAINING. THE ACTING IS ALSO PRETTY BAD, BUT THE MOVIE TENDS TO SHOW A FEW SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE LAST 30 MINUTES. IF YOU'RE AN ACTION FAN [LIKE ME] AND YOU'RE CURIOUS ABOUT THIS MOVIE, RENT IT. BUT DON'T BUY IT. ON THIS DVD, YOU HAVE THE CHOICE OF WATCHING THIS MOVIE DUBBED IN EITHER ENGLISH OR FRENCH OR YOU CAN WATCH THIS MOVIE IN ITS ORIGINAL LANGUAGE, WHICH IS KOREAN.

A Hollywood movie went out into the world, traveled to Korea, got assimilated and regurgitated, and now it returns to our shores as this. The studios know it and advertise it using reviews that cast it as the Korean version of Speed. It also "borrows" a score straight from Hans Zimmer's work for The Rock, and the main actor looks and acts like Chow Yun Fat light. It's discouraging to see Korean cinema paying homage to American action flicks when it has so many more interesting stories to tell. At least Woon-Hak Baek's first feature, Shiri, spoke in a unique voice and told a story personal to the Korean experience. This is a step backwards for him.

On the other hand, this movie composite of so many action movies we've seen before is fascinating in its skewed familiarity. It's not terrible; the production values are high, the acting occasionally thrilling, the one-liners sometimes amusing. It's no more or less diverting than the average Hollywood Die Hard knockoff. I think of it as top notch karaoke, like American Idol. In the proper context, it's impressive.

In the grand scheme of things, though, it's depressing, especially when Korean directors like Chan-wook Park are producing such unique and energetic work.