The Drug King

The Drug King-1080P

The Drug King-720P

The Drug King-480P

Based on Lee Doo-sam's true story, I like South Korean humor, slightly unpretentious and in disconnected moments, but here I missed the humor, as they were not successful, and ended up becoming overwhelming, Kang-ho Song is great as calm citizen, a common and ambitious man, almost clumsy, there is no way not to associate it with the wonderful "Breaking Bad", but here we lack the humor ... We have great photography, ambiance, soundtrack from the 70s, delights, but a bit long and almost dispersed ... That ending, almost "heroic", was crazy and fun, that dark humor that we love, #MadeInKorea.

GLOBAL POLITICAL REALITY A solid but overly familiar true-life crime drama from Inside Men director Woo Min-ho. WITH THE MIXTURE OF KOREAN HUMOR WITH BEAUTIFUL MUSIC. ENJOY.

Though obviously ship would be more fitting, but that other movie I was riffing off is called Train to Busan, so ... anyway, just a small joke in the summary line, hope you don't mind. The movie itself has Kang-Ho Song in the lead and if you are as bad as I am in remembering names at times, you might not immediately know who that is, but if you've watched more than 1 Korean movie, it is more than likely you've seen him. Netflix has gotten into the producing movies market and not a minute too late if you think about Disney shortly coming up with their own streaming service. And with content like this Netflix might have a chance against other giants. This is a straight up crime story with really good acting and the comedy you might already know from other movies. Violence is also there and quite something, so also not for the squeamish ... A good movie with a really good cast then

Your enjoyment of this movie will undoubtedly depend on your existing familiarity with Korean filmmaking. While I'm certainly not an expert on the subject, I do believe many of the more negative reviews come from western watchers who are less accustomed to the style and feel of Korean films. The film takes its time to build up and wind down, but I never felt like it dragged out too long or got boring. Even the setting - 70's Korea - is exciting to get a look at and not explored, I think, in other films very much. I have absolutely no idea how well this flick represents the real Lee Doo-sam, but all the key performances felt very fitting and well acted and the cinematography is nice and does the job. I might add that I tend to analyze film pacing, and it hits all the usual turning points at the exact typical time marks. What I think is most distinctively Asian in the filmmaking is the tone. It is a serious movie about several serious subjects with plenty of gritty scenes and emotion, but it's not afraid to let "wacky" characters act wacky. Some critics call this being tone-deaf or not making up its mind, but I don't think that is it at all. I consider it merely a refreshing cultural difference. If you care about the setting or subject at all, watch it with an open mind and I think you'll like it enough to not feel like your time was wasted.

The story is pretty much the same as Scarface, so it's impossible to not draw a comparison. If you take away the legendary cultural status the movie Scarface has in the "West" and just put the two side by side, I would say this one's actually almost as good. What I liked even more in this film, is that it highlights a little bit more the detrimental effects of drug dealing on the community as a whole, instead of just glorifying it Hollywood style. Certainly worth a watch.

THE DRUG KING is another crowd-pleasing South Korean thriller, made with plenty of scope, an expansive background (both geographically and politically) and some fine acting from the leads. The 1970s setting allows for a great soundtrack and outlandish fashions. It's very similar in tone to the Donnie Yen film CHASING THE DRAGON and very bit as good. The excellent Song Kang-ho delivers another multi-layered turn as the man who works his way up from the very bottom to the very top, his desire for money the only thing that continues to drive him forward. There's even a role for the suitably expressive Doona Bae. The film is typically Korean in that it mixes comedic moments (the riff on the climax of SCARFACE is a particular delight) with bursts of extreme violence and melodrama, and the end result is the kind of film Scorsese made in his heyday.

I gave it half an hour but I couldn't be bothered finishing this movie. The acting is atrocious, especially from the main character. Horrible movie.