stacyp_1212 My husband enjoys movies produced in Asia and the Orient. We watch a fair amount of those. The old "seven samurai" ranks as one of his favorites. I say that as an explanation that despite some familiarity with some foreign movies (not that we're experts by any means), and acceptance of some things as inexplicable cultural differences, I wanted to like this movie more than I did. It seemed well acted, the settings seemed authentic and interesting, the situations seemed real and sincere. But as my husband and I watched it there were a lot of times when we would look at each other in total confusion. "Now what just happened? Can you 'splain that to me?" I mean, I expect a certain amount of cultural differences, but often the character's reactions and motivations seemed completely baffling to us. We just shrugged and figured that if we knew the culture better we'd have understood. As it was, a lot of it went right over our heads.

ZomBieHamsteR This is quite possibly one of the most powerful movies I've seen. By far it's the best South Korean movie.It's a story about four companions who grow up together in South Korea. The four friends go throughout life always keeping in touch with each other, helping each other out, and always remain by each others side ;). Not only does the film contain some intense fight scenes, but it amazingly illustrates the bond that four kids can share with each other. Despite what other reviews may say, if you're interested in a good movie to watch with a best friend or girlfriend, I highly recommend this.

Jaewoo This move does not cross the east/west cultural barrier very well. I am not sure if non-asians can fully understand the confucian harshness and its effects on the Korean society. Nonetheless, like all great movies, this movie strikes at both the heart and the mind in unison.It intrigues our intellect with subtleties. It leaves us to wonder why the characters behave the way they do. Why must one friend murder an another? It isn't always clear. Why does one friend chooses an another friend as his favorite? No can be sure. Yet there are reasons.It moves our emotions because the movie is about the true meaning of friendship. It is loyalty above all else, even to the point of forgiving and understanding a friend who murders an another. Among friends, there is no hatred or bitterness, only forgiveness, understanding, and support.The acting is second to none. Both the lead and the supporting actors won the best acting awards at an international film festival. When the murderous and treacherous friend becomes himself murdered, it is a profoundly sad moment. Then we realize that we have come to love and care for the characters, despite their flaws, because we come to respect them as human beings capable of deep and profound friendship unlike any other.Finally, the director did an incredible job of enhancing the allure of the main female character. Her on stage lip lyncing performance as the lead singer of a high school band was shot beautifully. Understandably, all the characters fall in love with her at that moment, and so does the audience.

QuadESL63 As mentioned in the earlier comment here, this movie is beautifully filmed with great cinematography, but...The first half (before two of the friends went to colleges elsewhere) of the movie brilliantly portrayed the relationships between these four friends and their differences. However, the second half of the story is not as good as the first. Sure, it illustrated the friendship between "Sang-taek" and "Joon-suk" and the parting of "Joon-suk" and "Dong-su" in great details, but we never see the two college-goers involve in the conflicts between "Joon-suk" and "Dong-su".I'm disappointed that "Joong-ho" did not get a chance to further develop the character and the involvement in the conflict (e.g. which side of the conflict did he sided with?). He became just a comic relieve type of character in the movie, which is sad. They movie could have developed all four characters around their life-long bond in a more balanced and thorough way.The friendship between "Sang-taek" and "Joon-suk" can be touching at moments. "Joon-suk" took care of "Sang-taek" took care of each others from time to time, and at the end "Sang-taek" never leave his friend (obviously "Joon-suk" was heading for an execution) even though he killed one of them.At the end of the movie "Joon-suk" said something like: "... I thought Joon-suk and Dong-su were together on the same path..." (I watched the movie with Chinese subtitle... so hopefully the translation did not loose the original meaning). They are until the end. "Dong-su" always want to be at the same position of "Joon-suk". That's the tragedy of the four.I'm relieved that it doesn't emphasize around the action scenes (they are brief but stunning none the less) as some of the Hong Kong movies of the same sort. This movie is not just about gangsters' war.This is a good movie to watch if you are tired of the usual Hollywood flicks. However, it lacks just a little bit to make it into a truly great movie.