The Running Man
11-06-2006, 02:08 PM
There was a bit of hype on this title before it's release in Korea and before it's release on DVD. Surprised that after it came out, no one here was making any noise about it. I guess it just means that they saw it and found nothing really to say about it. :b
But anyway, I'd figure I'd jump start a discussion on this flick. Just a word, this will be more of a post about the action than the actual movie itself.
Overall, it's okay. It's the story of a man (Jung Doo Hung) coming back to his old town (now a cop) and seeing his old friends after one of them has been murdered The film, directed Ryoo Seung Wan (who also is in the film), has a good energy with itself and knows how to move. It was promoted and hyped to be a top notch action movie, and if you are expecting that you will be disappointed. Again, it's pretty good, just not anything I'd really call memorable.
The thing with Korean cinema, when it comes to action, is that I see it as a sort cross between Hollywood and Hong Kong (and I don't mean that in a good way). While Korean cinema seems to be picking up on things from Hong Kong such as wire work and a bit of creative choreography, but when it comes to the filming of these scenes, they seem to have the ignorance of Hollywood. Bad angles and bad editing.
This is interesting especially when it comes to Ryoo Seung Wan, because I remember around the time it came to release this film, I heard about something he was doing like in a college or film school or whatever where he was conducting some sort of class on action film making. He brought some Hollywood films and also some Hong Kong films to discuss. The reason I find this interesting is because when I look at Mr. Ryoo's work as an action director, he doesn't seem to have really learned anything from watching Hong Kong action films.
Anyone who has a good eye for action film making will notice that the best action in Arahan was the fight scene in the cafe where Ryoo Seung Bum fights those bullies. The fight is about more a less a minute and in a movie that's filled, and created to be filled, with lots of epic, mystical battles, it turns out that the best action was a simple fight scene in a cafe. Lesser learned viewers would naively think it's because of the lack of wire work. It has nothing to do with that. The reason it is the best fight scene in the entire movie is because it is the only scene where the angles are the best and the editing is not screwed up. For anyone with the Arahan DVD, check out the deleted scenes. In one of them, it's a deleted camera angle to one of the sections of the final fight. It's an angle that basically stays close to the bad guy (Jung Doo Hung) and circles around him while the other two go at him with their swords. It's mostly all done with one shot and it's really good since you get to see the performance and the choreography of it all. This was totally discarded in the final cut of the movie for a bunch of weak angles and bad editing. Not only does this demonstrate that Ryoo Seung Wan is not a good action director, but it also demonstrates that the fight scene in the cafe was a fluke.
I feel sorry for Jung Doo Hung, who is the go to guy in Korea for action choreography. All of the films I have seen him that he worked on the action for, have all be badly directed and edited. This is too bad because from what I could tell, he is a talented choreography but unfortunately no film I have seen him do best shows that off on screen. As such, the same continues for City of Violence. Although it is better than Arahan which I found to be just weak overall, COV just barely rises above mediocrity. Again, the film does have a good energy to it and there are some bits here and there that are inspired, and some even in the action (for example a scene caught from a bird's eye view angle where Jung and Ryoo and fighting a bunch of opponents, they stop, and then continue again), but it's just ends up being mostly "ho hum".
I heard news that Ryoo Seung Wan declared that with City of Violence he has said everything he wants to say about action cinema. I guess he didn't have that much to say. :\
But anyway, I'd figure I'd jump start a discussion on this flick. Just a word, this will be more of a post about the action than the actual movie itself.
Overall, it's okay. It's the story of a man (Jung Doo Hung) coming back to his old town (now a cop) and seeing his old friends after one of them has been murdered The film, directed Ryoo Seung Wan (who also is in the film), has a good energy with itself and knows how to move. It was promoted and hyped to be a top notch action movie, and if you are expecting that you will be disappointed. Again, it's pretty good, just not anything I'd really call memorable.
The thing with Korean cinema, when it comes to action, is that I see it as a sort cross between Hollywood and Hong Kong (and I don't mean that in a good way). While Korean cinema seems to be picking up on things from Hong Kong such as wire work and a bit of creative choreography, but when it comes to the filming of these scenes, they seem to have the ignorance of Hollywood. Bad angles and bad editing.
This is interesting especially when it comes to Ryoo Seung Wan, because I remember around the time it came to release this film, I heard about something he was doing like in a college or film school or whatever where he was conducting some sort of class on action film making. He brought some Hollywood films and also some Hong Kong films to discuss. The reason I find this interesting is because when I look at Mr. Ryoo's work as an action director, he doesn't seem to have really learned anything from watching Hong Kong action films.
Anyone who has a good eye for action film making will notice that the best action in Arahan was the fight scene in the cafe where Ryoo Seung Bum fights those bullies. The fight is about more a less a minute and in a movie that's filled, and created to be filled, with lots of epic, mystical battles, it turns out that the best action was a simple fight scene in a cafe. Lesser learned viewers would naively think it's because of the lack of wire work. It has nothing to do with that. The reason it is the best fight scene in the entire movie is because it is the only scene where the angles are the best and the editing is not screwed up. For anyone with the Arahan DVD, check out the deleted scenes. In one of them, it's a deleted camera angle to one of the sections of the final fight. It's an angle that basically stays close to the bad guy (Jung Doo Hung) and circles around him while the other two go at him with their swords. It's mostly all done with one shot and it's really good since you get to see the performance and the choreography of it all. This was totally discarded in the final cut of the movie for a bunch of weak angles and bad editing. Not only does this demonstrate that Ryoo Seung Wan is not a good action director, but it also demonstrates that the fight scene in the cafe was a fluke.
I feel sorry for Jung Doo Hung, who is the go to guy in Korea for action choreography. All of the films I have seen him that he worked on the action for, have all be badly directed and edited. This is too bad because from what I could tell, he is a talented choreography but unfortunately no film I have seen him do best shows that off on screen. As such, the same continues for City of Violence. Although it is better than Arahan which I found to be just weak overall, COV just barely rises above mediocrity. Again, the film does have a good energy to it and there are some bits here and there that are inspired, and some even in the action (for example a scene caught from a bird's eye view angle where Jung and Ryoo and fighting a bunch of opponents, they stop, and then continue again), but it's just ends up being mostly "ho hum".
I heard news that Ryoo Seung Wan declared that with City of Violence he has said everything he wants to say about action cinema. I guess he didn't have that much to say. :\