Ruminations in Korea

It had been ages since I had watched a movie in the movie theater (except for Shrek II). After watching Hellboy last Wednesday, I am in a movie mood.

The Bourne Supremacy

Last Thursday, the day after watching Hellboy, I watched The Bourne Supremacy. Jae, over at My Resonating Life, has a good review of the movie. The movie and the book have absolutely nothing in common…other than the title. That having been said, the movie was a good action film. The story was weak and thin, but the action was top notch, although somewhat repetitive.

I missed about 20 minutes in the middle of the film while fielding a telephone call from Andy of Flying Yangban fame. When I left, Jason Bourne had just finished pounding another agent and then strangling him to death. When I came back, Bourne was about to get in another deadly fight. I don’t know what I missed while I was out, but I will assume that there were maybe a few fights and a chase or two ending in a very narrow escape. Whatever happened, it didn’t affect the plot in the least. So, to summarize: The storyline sucked, but the fast-paced, adranaline-pumping action were worth the $5.50 for two hours of escapist fantasy.

Shilmido

The next day, Friday, I saw Shilmido. I must say that although I am not impressed with the vast majority of Korean cinema, Shilmido was a very good movie. This is the true story of a squad of 31 men trained to assassinate Kim Il Sung. Charlie over at KimchiGi made some comments about the movie and the true story that are very much worth reading.

The story is essentially the same as the 1967 blockbuster, The Dirty Dozen. In the Dirty Dozen, 12 convicted murderers are hand selected to be part of a secret, elite team to infiltrate Germany and assassinate Nazi officers. They are told that their sentences will be commuted if they succeed and if they screw up, the will be sent back to prison and/or executed.

In Shilmido, 31 people are hand selected from among prisoners on death row to be part of a secret, elite team to infiltrate North Korea and assassinate Kim Il Sung. They are told that they sentences will be commuted if they succeed and if they screw up, they will be sent back to prison and be executed. Capture or other failure was to end in suicide. The men were described as “human weapons”.

The 31 men trained on the island of Shilmido for three years. Their mission was cancelled at the last minute due to improving relations between North and South Korea. They were put on hold indefinitely. Their training stopped and eventually their food supply was cut off. They men learned that not only were they to be disbanded, they were to be destroyed. Seven men had died during the course of the training, which left 24 men. Before they could be wiped out by the government, they took over Shilmido in less than 10 minutes, leaving only 6 of the government soldiers on the island alive. They then swam from the island to Incheon, where they hijacked a bus and headed to Seoul toward the President’s residence at the Blue House. They fought soldiers along the way and had to change buses once (which was not in the movie). Then ended up in Seoul and a huge stand off with government forces.

This story was much more amazing and enthralling that the Dirty Dozen. If it were not a true story, it would be entirely unbelievable. Give that it was a true story, it makes the movie that much more engrossing. Get a hold of this DVD. I don’t know how good the English subtitles are, because I don’t need them or use them, but I would assume that they are satisfactory. Keep in mind, this is NOT a feel-good movie.

Hidalgo

I grew up outside of Logan, Utah in the small town of Nibley, nestled in a pristine Rocky Mountain valley in Nothern Utah, a place so stunningly beautiful that people like Joel from About Joel, who are unfortunately from the wrong side other side of Sardine Canyon, can only dream of living there. Being from out west, in the wide open spaces, it is hard for me not to enjoy a movie about horses, cowboys, and such. One day after seeing Shilmido, I was in DVD room with a combination pizza and a 1.5 liter bottle of diet coke watching Hidalgo.

Although the movie apparently got some bad reviews, I quite enjoyed the movie. Enjoyed it so much that I ordered the DVD first thing this morning. It should be arriving at my office tomorrow.

Hidalgo is another true story. Frank T. Hopkins was a pony express rider who later teamed up with Buffalo Bill’s show. He was arguably the greatest long distance endurance horse racer that ever lived. He even participated in a 3,000 mile endurance race across the Arabian Desert against Arabian Thoroughbreds in 1890 on his mustang named Hidalgo. The movie is the story of that race. Beautifully shot, the movie captures the spirit of the old west cowboy, and in particular Frank Hopkins. Viggo Mortensen provides some eye candy for the girls. Omar Shariff, looking every bit as majestic, stately, and good looking, and masculine as he did in Lawrence of Arabia, does a marvelous job as Sheikh Riyadh. Hidalgo is a very heartwarming story of a man and his love and devotion for horses and his Indian heritage.