The Good, The Bad, The Weird — The Good, The Bad, The Weird( UHD)
The Good, The Bad, The Weird is a 2008 South Korean action/adventure/comedy/western from writer/ director Kim Jee-Woon (A Tale of Two Sisters, I Saw The Devil and A Bittersweet Life). The film stars Song Kang-ho (Snowpiercer, Parasite and The Host), Lee Byung-hun (I Saw The Devil, A Bittersweet Life and Squid Game), Jung Woo-Sung (Steel Rain, The Warrior and A Moment to Remember), Yun Je-mun (Okja, The Host and Mother) and Ryu Seung-Su (The Chaser, Wonderful Days and Finding Mr Destiny).
As the title suggests, the film is loosely based on Sergio Leone’s classic 1966 spaghetti western The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Set in Manchuria in 1939 in the run up to World War II, Park Chang-Yi, the bad of the title (Lee Byung-hun), is a bounty hunter who has been hired to steal a map from a Japanese official travelling by train, however he is not alone in trying to track down the map as bounty hunter, Park Do-Won aka the good (Jung Woo-Sung) is on his trail with the intention of collecting both the map and the bounty on Chang-Yi’s head, whilst the thief, Yoon Tae-goo (Song Kang-ho) who actually manages to steal the map is trying to avoid his rivals, a group of Manchurian bandits and the Imperial Japanese army in order to find and take the treasure allegedly buried by the Qing Dynasty government shortly before their collapse.
The Good, The Bad, The Weird is a violent, action-packed, comic western that features some frankly excellent fight sequences, which take place in a variety of different scenarios, all of which work brilliantly. The film looks stunning, from the first frame to the last, the cinematography by Lee Mo-gae (I Saw the Devil, A Tale of Two Sisters and 12.12: The Day) is faultless with a wonderful use of colour. The acting itself is also of a very high standard, with the entire cast providing excellent performances across the board.
This recent(ish) limited edition 4k UHD edition from Arrow Video features both the original Korean and the international version of the movie. The disc also features three separate audio commentaries, a new one with critics James Marsh and Pierce Conran and two archival ones with director Kim Jee-Woon, and actors Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung, and another with Jee-Woon, cinematographer Lee Mo-gae, lighting director Oh Seung-chul, and art director Cho Hwa-sung. Disc one is rounded out with a new intro from Kim Jee-Woon. Disc two features archival featurettes on the making of the film as well as new interviews with Kim Jee-Woon and martial arts coordinator, Jung Doo-Hong and a trailer and image gallery.
Overall, this is an outstanding package for an excellent action-packed movie that is part western, part comedy and part martial arts. If you love any of those genres, then you’ll more than likely love this movie and the whole package means that this set is a must-buy for fans of all of the above. This is a cult classic given the five-star treatment from Arrow Video, and I absolutely love it.