At the top of the box office in Korea is D-War, a love-it-or-hate-it special effects vehicle with an American cast. Released on August 1, it sold about 3 million tickets in five days -- not bad for a country with less than 50 million people.
Because the special effects were done in Korea and the Korean director has appeared on just about every TV show, a large part of the movie's success is because of patriotism. The national anthem, Arirang, plays during the credits -- how could any Korean not like it?
The Korea Herald reported today that any "dissenting voice is being crushed."1 Anyone who criticizes the movie for its poor acting or sub-standard story gets flooded with hate mail. I believe it -- a few of these radical supporters' reviews can be found on IMDb.com. They're the ones who gave it perfect 10s.
The movie is about an imugi (이무기), a snake that has yet to turn into a dragon. Some guy has to save some girl and help deliver some ball (called a yeouiju,여의주) that will help it turn into a dragon.
*yawn*
It's set to open in the U.S. on September 14.
1 comment:
I saw "D-War" and can say it truly is one of the worst movies ever made. I'm sure it will become a cult classic.
Did you get my email?? I'm only in Korea for 10 more days.....would like to get together for dinner or something!
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