trickpixel
If you are deciding whether to watch this film based on the fact that you enjoyed the original Three Extremes, then you should not. Avoid at all costs. At best, in this film there is only 1 horror story and 2 supernatural dramas. While the original had cutting edge horror directors, superb pacing and tension (minus dumplings due to extreme editing) this one only has one acclaimed horror director and two horror producers trying to direct horror. The 1 horror director I am referring in this series is Jee-woon Kim (A Tale of Two Sisters) and though he manages to make the best short of the three shorts (entitled Memories), the other two fail so horribly that it really deflates any effort put in by Jee-woon. Stay far away from this if you liked the original, it left me in poor spirits and I felt totally cheated by the producers of the original and their ploys to cash in on how amazing the original film was. I would recommend this to people who normally are afraid of extreme Asian horror cinema as this is a great vanilla way of enjoying supernatural/paranormal stories. Also, die hard fans of Jee-woon should catch Memories because it has great acting and is technically far superior than the other two shorts. You can also witness some of the evolution of the atmosphere employed later from A Tale of Two Sisters.
Michael_Elliott
Three Extremes 2 (2002) ** (out of 4) Lions Gate is releasing this title next week but it's original title is Three, the "inspiration" for what would become Three Extremes. I guess the popularity of that title is why Lions Gate selected to make this appear as a sequel when it's actually the first film. Kim Jee-Woon's Memories has a woman lost in the streets without any memory of who she is. She has one phone number that she keeps trying to call but when she can't reach anyone she just continues to walk around hoping her memory will return. Nonzee Nimibutr's The Wheel has an old man dying and leaving behind puppets, which are cursed and start to come to life. Peter Ho-Sun Chan's Going Home has a cop searching for his missing son when he is kidnapped by a man who keeps his "wife" locked inside their apartment. These three films aren't any good but the first and third one are the most interesting. The second film dealing with the puppet is quite poor without any good moment. The first and third stories are the best.
LarkWithakay
Peter Chan's 'Going Home' makes this collection worth watching. A haunting examination of loss and and the clash between Eastern and Western ideologies, 'Going Home' paints an elegiac portrait of isolation and longing in modern day Asia. The cool colors set a mood of emptiness and despair, while the understated performances are poetic in their simplicity. The child actor who plays Cheung is simply amazing; his emotions are utterly convincing and it's easy to forget that he's acting.Unfortunately, the other two pieces, 'Memories' and 'Wheel', leave much to be desired. 'Memories' somehow manages to be tense and predictable at the same time, so I have to give the director credit for at least being able to instill some sense of terror in the audience. But ultimately, the hackneyed plot is yawn inducing, though the scenes are shot beautifully.Finally, that leaves 'Wheel', a confusing mess if there ever was one. Throughout the short, I kept wondering if censorship was the reason I hadn't been scared yet.All in all, most would probably be happier renting Saam Gaang. Although regardless of your decision, I am sure that 'Going Home' will spark some thought-provoking conversation on the dangers of globalization and the dilution of culture to Americanization.
Abu Jarrah (MaximusQ8)
The Asian anthology movie "The Three ", in which three directors from three different countries ( South Korea/Thailand/Hong Kong ) craft individual tales unrelated & wonderful ! A)- The 1st anthology from South Korea (( Memories )){40 minutes} by "Ji Woon Kim" where he presents segment of mystery that try to be so scary . - He's the same director who's presented to us on 2003 , Korea's No.#1 Horror Movie (( A Tale Of Two Sisters ))*Abu Jarrah's Rating 4/5B)- The 2nd anthology from Thailand (( The Wheel )){36 minutes} by "Nonzee Nimibutr" who presented his big budget for the ghost story in his well-known film "Nang Nak" inside his segment he's presented an tale of cursed Doll .*Abu Jarrah's Rating 3/5C)- The 3rd anthology from Hong Kong (( Going Home )){53 minutes} by "Peter Chan" is the most powerful segment in anthologies . Who the produced of the famous Hong Kong horror movies as " The Eye 1 & 2" he also produce of "The Eye" remade , and he's the same who directed the pretty romantic first-love film "Comrades: Almost a Love Story"*Abu Jarrah's Rating 5/5By the way: There's another version for this segment "Going Home" called [Going Home : Director's Cut] It contains eight minutes of extra scenes not included in the original release ! [61 Mins] (to the best of my knowledge)
AD
