D-War

Opened. 1 August 2007 (South Korea)

How I saw it. CGV Theater.

Plot. heavy spoilers.

Will be released in USA on 14 September 2007.


As a fan of the movies, there has always been one type of film that I have always loved. Sad to say, it is the "Monster" film. One of my first childhood movie memories was the 1956 Godzilla. I knew that it was a man in a rubber suit and, to be honest, I did not care. I have amassed a nice collection of the so called "Monster" films. On quiet, rainy days, I still warm up some popcorn and enjoy films from my childhood.

I had heard of "D-War" for many years now, and each time the film had a release date and then the date kept getting pushed back. I kept wondering will this film ever be released. As of today, this is the most expensive Korean Film ever made. With cost rumored to be between 30-100 million dollars, this could even be the biggest risk or failure in Korean film history.

To be honest, the film had every reason I should like it, a big monster, great special effects, a somewhat corny story and a huge battle in L.A. I should have loved it but sad to say, I really hated the film. Based on Korea Pop Wars It looks like I will be in the minority here in Korea. The Korean Producer of the film, Showbox, is prediction an opening weekend of 2-2.5 million tickets sold.

The main reason that I hated the film was very easy. The acting was just that bad. I do not even mean as bad as "Plan 9 from Outer Space", I actually liked that film.

For all of the special effect, the wooden acting just left a bad taste in my mouth. One other reason was the film seemed very rushed at 90 minutes, it had very little plot development and the story, as a whole, just seemed very flat.

If you like monsters, then this will be the summer film for you. The film is in English and Korean so please be ready for that.

Grade. C-