Customer Reviews

Typhoon

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

 

 

"Typhoon" is a movie that I wanted to like. And fortunately for me, I did. I've seen it described in many different ways, most of which turned out to be inaccurate. First and foremost, it is not an action movie. Yes, there are action sequences, but not enough to make it an action movie. The action plays out more like a Michael Mann film than a Michael Bay film. The film is more of what I'd call a suspense/thriller with some espionage. Yeah, there's gunfights. But more time is spent with the opposing parties trying to outsmart each other.

This is also a movie I'd describe as being big, especially for Korea. There's some very big and very well done CGI in the final act that really is impressive. The narrative isn't bad and the story plays out well. One of the few weaknesses of the film is the characters.

There's actually so much substance given to the antagonist that you almost feel sorry for him and want him to succeed in his plan. Ironically, the protagonist, to me, felt more shallow because they tried to tack on a backstory. I actually felt like he had more depth before they started bringing up his history. Although not an overly verbose fella, his subtleties, facial expressions, reactions to those around him- gave me a very big look at who this guy was.

Where "Typhoon" really shines is in its story. First off, the scheme the antagonist plans to unleash is very unique. It's not the standard bad guy takes something/someone hostage and demands a huge ransom or is trying to steal something very valuable. I really enjoyed seeing his plan come together. "Typhoon" has excellent pacing. You're not given the whole plan up front. Things are revealed slowly, often times you're left lagging behind the main characters. Only when they're done with what they're doing will you understand why they were doing it in the first place.

If you like the international intrigue (think James Bond-lite) with a tight story, good characters, a little soul, and large-scale filmmaking, "Typhoon" is a good pick.

I wish US action pix were half as good as this. Really excellent and great production values.

action, explosion, compassion, love, hate, comradeship... all kneaded together into a world class movie. no wonder dreamwork is going to release it in north america. excellent sound, scenic, make up, acting and characters' creation - thriller you wont forget for awhile. worthy of collection.

Jang dong gun shows me once again that his movies are some of the best on the planet. this movie was great. Tae guk gi was his best in my opinion, but this movie puts him as a bad guy, and he does a really good job at it. I imported this and am glad i did. Awsome movie.

The best way to describe this movie I will write the Plot from the back of the DVD box that I own. Hope this is helpful.

JULY 2004: In the waters of South Asia. Pirates board an American ship and steal its secret cargo of satellite guidance receiver systems - the kind used by nuclear missiles. When it is discovered that the pirate (Played by Jang Dong-Gun- Tae Guk Gi:The Brotherhood of War) originally came from North Korea. The South Koreans send in special agent Gang se-Jong (Played by Lee Jung-Jae).

Gang chases the pirate Sin all over the region, as he frantically tries to piece together what happened and get the guidance systems back. Along the way, Gang learns about Sin's wretched past - how he fled North Korea with his family, but were all killed in china except for his sister.

Blaming North and South Korea for his family's death, Sin has dedicated himself to destroying both countries. In a ship between the seas of Korea and China, Sin is planning a treacherous scheme that will painfully kill millions all across the Korean Peninsula. The fate of both Koreas hangs in the balance.


Dreamworks has bought the rights to bring this film to the U.S and will either come out late 2007 or early 2008. I saw the film and I think that the film is great and it is one of the best Action/Drama Korea has made. And they make alot of great films so this obviously means alot when I say this.

This movie shows a lot of promise with charismatic actors such as Jang Don-Gun and Lee Jung Jae. These days, Don-Gun is typecasted to play the suffering elderly brother type as he already portrayed in Brotherhood of War the year before, and before that, Friends. In this offering, he seeks revenge from both Korea who let his family out to dry twenty years ago. He witnesses the gunning down of his parents. Along the way, he lost his dear sister only to be reunited twenty years later. Lee Jung Jae leaves me with a lasting impression after his showing in the movie, House by the Sea which has since become a Hollywood production starring Sandra Bullocks and Keanu Reeves. In this offering, he's a special operative who's ordered to stop Don-Gun before it's all too late. The movie is named Typhoon after Don-Gun's boat, the fact that the final climax of the movie happens when typhoon is blowing, and that these two main characters are metaphorically two typhoons that are to confront one another. Being Korean movie, there's an element of bittersweetness to it where the special operative has empathy towards Don-Gun because he loses his father in an operation twenty years ago. Through Don-Gun's sister, he knows that Don-Gun is rather a victim of his circumstances and that he's a nice guy afterall. In other words, both parties fight one another reluctantly. Truth to be known, with a tighter script and battle of wits thrown into it, Typhoon could have been a very watchable cat and mouse game movie and I could even imagine Denzel Washington plays the main role as he's done before in Crimson Red with Gene Hackman. Somehow, Typhoon loses its momentum when the production company is too greedy cramming too much in the frame of almost two hours. They go to Thailand, Russia, China, Korea and I even lose count of languages spoken here too. Overall, it becomes too patchy and too messy. The action sequence is too predictable and feels like a filler in between movies. In other words, Typhoon is a hit and miss movie that could have been better and I sincerely believe that these two actors are underutilised when they could have done so much better.

i think the korean movies, especially the action-thriller ones are very mature and worth watching. this movie is so intensely done and well delivered. screenplay, directing, acting, plot....all pretty good and worth watching.