S.Korea Used to Make Awful Movies | Video Essay

[@Draneif]

As a Korean it feels weird having seen the change of perception for my country. People used to only know Korea for the crazy North one, but now with kpop, games, movies and animation a lot more people are starting to recognize Korea for what it creates and it's great.

[@davidjacobs8558]

Because in order to be a cultural power house, a country need to have enough population and also be wealthy. South Korea had enough population back then, but only became wealthy enough after year 2000. wealthy here meaning Per Capita income, not GDP.

[@user-te7ui7gu2g]

@@davidjacobs8558 I understand. Although denmark's total gdp is not that high, but Per capita income is very high, so they conquered the world with LEGO.

[@davidjacobs8558]

@@user-te7ui7gu2g European nations have advantage over other nations, because they share culture among European Union. Therefore their population is effectively quadrupled, just by being in Europe. Also, UK, Canada, Australia cooperates with USA in many matters, which gives them advantage. You find a lot of actors, singers etc from UK, Canada, Australia in Hollywood movies.

[@Nightriser271828]

Something I've heard a few Koreans imply or say is that, for the longest time, Koreans just didn't believe others could appreciate their culture. Being half Korean, I've actually had people talk about how they don't like Korean culture to my face, and my own mother wanted to raise me as Americanized as possible, with almost no mention of Korean culture or media, as if she herself were ashamed. So maybe that sentiment is off base, but it seems to jive with my personal experience. Anyway, it's understandable that if you feel like no one could ever like you as you are, you might just try to put up a facade to be likable. Why should an entire nation be any different?

[@davidjacobs8558]

@@Nightriser271828 Korea was such a piss-poor country for most of their history, that a lot of Koreans had very low view of their own culture and tradition. However, Younger generation of Koreans who are born after Korea become a wealthy country, have more pride in their own culture and heritage.

[@fpedrosa2076]

"It tells the story of a gamer, being sucked through the gamergate and now forced to play deadly videogames. Truly a gamer moment." My sides are in orbit right now. Your deadpan comedy is SO good!

[@alamalam5594]

Speaking for Korean animation.I just watch Sodaz Warhammer 40k (before get hired by Game Workshop) and the animation is just brilliant just for Source Engine (Valve Engine for Half Life 2)

[@derrilazkia1002]

"I can believe it's not Anime!"

[@kabardino1337]

And the "Rick Ashley" part, to further vaporize your sides

[@lewakar]

@@derrilazkia1002 Isegye'd

[@andrewzheng4038]

@@kabardino1337 if my sides were in orbit before, they officially reached escape velocity after that one

[@TheEunchanna]

As a Korean, it should be said: S.Korea is still making aweful movies but there are some that's really good.

[@questworldmatrix]

Yeah, but that's expected of every medium. But people act like "the Room" is somehow culturally relevant that deserves a movie made about it.

[@TheWotageek]

Yeah, like Hollywood. Therefore that's nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone makes crap movies every so often.

[@NoName-dx1no]

@@TheWotageek yep although there’s many great films in Hollywood there are some that may question if the writers were high when they made it

[@Gridseeker]

Every country has its own gallery of the shame and at next the gallery of masterpieces.

[@alabjavilagon5034]

aweful = full of awe awful = bad

[@SeoulMan]

Despite the cultural import ban, manga and anime were "Koreanized" to be sold locally back in the day. Heck, the major electronics shopping district near the now closed Yongsan US Army garrison used to be a hot bed for pirated games, anime, and movies.

[@davidjacobs8558]

Main reason for banning Japanese culture was so that money was not paid to Japanese companies. Japan didn't care about copyright violation in Korea etiher, because Korea was poor back then, and was a tiny market anyway. Piracy was rampant until Korea joined OECD.

[@boost3821]

@SeoulMan Thanks for the info, AkaRed.

[@user-gx9uv6qo3q]

As a korean, I agree with this. Tbh, we still pirate manga and anime and earn money with those running pirated site.

[@davidjacobs8558]

@@user-gx9uv6qo3q Japanese should demand Koreans to stop piracy of their Manga and Anime, and AV, and pay them back for theft.

[@user-gx9uv6qo3q]

@@davidjacobs8558 they cannot catch us lol

[@SojoX777]

I agree with the premise but I have to say it was Shiri (Swiri. 1999) that started the change in Korean films. One of the first real Korean action films to mimic Hollywood but still be Korean (and star Choi Min-sik and Yujin Kim pre Lost) it made enough an impression to start getting recommended on the foreign film forums (Kung Fu Cult Cinema and such) back when. It's how I went down the rabbit hole of S. Korean films. It also led into Joint Security Area which got even more world wide attention. Enjoyed the essay though, took me down memory lane.

[@sndrs]

great film!

[@SeoulMan]

Song Kangho was in both Shiri and JSA, speaking of!

[@JS-ri8qc]

@@SeoulMan shiri and jsa were gamechangers in korean cinema. both amazing films

[@SneharthoDey]

I keep telling everyone this. Before JSA, it was Shiri that began S.Korea's journey into transition and transform to what it is today.

[@DogBarkingAtMoon]

Oh yeah, Shiri is like a monumental film in Korean cinema. Although it was suffocated by Shiri’s popularity because they played in theatre on the same year of 1999, you may wanna check out “2009: Lost Memories”, the first alt-history movie.

[@taikivi5677]

I didn't expect to see Brandon Tenold being mentioned here.

[@AccentedCinema]

One of my top ten favourite Canadians

[@dennissailo13]

@@AccentedCinema I am from India and I approve both of your content.

[@caesartopacio9636]

A welcomed surprised. Cheers.

[@raam726]

Brandon tenyearold sucks!

[@duchi882]

The Giant Monne giving the Middle Finger would make for a great Meme GIF

[@kristiankho]

It already is.. Seen it a bunch of place now

[@daisuki9296]

Monkey 👨 Monke 🦍 Monne 🐵

[@GDHCole-uj7mc]

It was, it was just very old

[@duchi882]

@@daisuki9296, I will not edit my comment in respect for your comment

[@daisuki9296]

@@duchi882 🙏thanks man

[@Hosu223]

As a Korean, I was skeptical about watching this (since every country produces great and awful movies all the time) but overall good job! D-War was especially notorious because in the Korean release, at the credit sequence the director would appeal to the audience sense of patriotism by saying what a revolutionary achievement this step was for Korean cinema. One guy in the audience even gave a standing ovation while everyone else just silently left...I remember being so angry at how shitty the film was and was even angrier that the director would try to pander to nationalism.... Also small note but I wouldn't consider Minari a "South Korean" film. It's all US production/studio with US director/writer talking about the American immigrant experience.

[@andyhan5008]

That last bit was hilarious. Showing different iterations of a live dbz movie putting the country of origin in the corner and putting “hell” for the dragon ball evolution one. Seriously tho how did Hollywood mess up the most out of all those lower budget ones. I didn’t even know they had live dbz movies in Asia lol

[@Kaimax61]

it's because Hollywood always feels the need to put "their own spin on it" while most the Asian unlicensed movies where mostly faithful adaptations of the original source. Like I only watched the Taiwan Dragonball, but that was miles better than Evolution. as much as I like Chow yun Fat.... NO! he's not a good casting for Master Roshi. and that's just one aspect of Evolutions gaffe.

[@manchesterunitedno7]

Well, The Hong Kong one is a parody, a spoof movie adaptation of Dragon Ball. So all the hijinks byproduct is more acceptable to the palate. Which is twice as funny with the fact that Dragon Ball itself is a Japanese parody anime adaptation on China lore of monkey god Sun Wukong. So, you are parodying a parody property.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

@@manchesterunitedno7 there’s also a South Korean film based on dragon Ball. And it’s far more faithful than either the Hong Kong Taiwan film or Evolution.

[@leejuicy]

You missed the unlicensed Fist of the North Star live action movie, it's a pile of cinematic gem.

[@mrnarason]

Sauce?

[@user-te7ui7gu2g]

@@mrnarason Try to search 북두의 권 실사판 on KZbin. That was introduced to japanese variety show, too. Very hilarious.

[@kuraiaku2997]

@@user-te7ui7gu2g Surprisingly it looks ok, I mean not great but it retains the original essence quite accurately from a clip I just found.

[@jfbeast]

Searched using the words "Korean Kenshiro" and it worked!

[@PutingPinoy]

Please, PLEASE, do one about the Philippine film industry and explain how they can improve it so they actually get what they want of becoming an internationally renowned industry.

[@de_ciphered]

Dude should also talk about the *ABUNDANCE* of shitty romance films flooding our industry as of right now.

[@asa.pankeiki]

As a Filipino, I second this!

[@fyreborneblu6706]

Shitty ass romances or cringey ass kids movies that's literally all we are good for... That or forgettable modern action movies or low budget horror movie crap, which to be fair has a good concepts but still shitty executions

[@crimeexpocon]

If it gives any of you all some hope, the indie scene does have gems, maybe not all of them, but when you hear it's good, it IS good. The historical duology of Jerold Tarrog (Heneral Luna, Goyo) is a good example of that. I'll give a recommendation: Patay Na Si Hesus. It's a Cebuano film and it's on Netflix. Edit: Kalel, 15 is a nice film too

[@PutingPinoy]

@@crimeexpocon I have seen a couple that were decent for sure, like Apocalypse Child & Ordinary People. But, there is still little elements that can be improved upon. But definitely there are better movies in the indie scene than the mainstream here. I wanna see Genera Luna tsaka Patay si Jesus

[@ZweeNDD]

I got an ad for a South Korean KZbin channel lmao.

[@augmento8584]

Lol

[@ZweeNDD]

@@cosmicchuck9743 yea just noticed that

[@metalenigma]

나 한국인인데 이거 맞다. Thanks to introduce South Korea's dark history in cinema. By the way, you missed one bad movie called 'Resurrection Off The Little Match Girl'. This was a disaster in Korean SF movie history, literally.

[@supert9981]

I was never this ashamed about my country before 나도 한국인 (I'm also korean)

[@user-tu4nd4dv7k]

성냥팔이 소녀의 재림 ㅋㅋㅋ

[@dirtiestharry6551]

Resurrection Of The Little Match Girl is kinda turning into cult classic actually. No kap

[@supert9981]

I never watch the film so can anyone tell me the plot?

[@omegaaverenger112]

근데 요즘에 외국 씬에서 재평가 받고 있긴 함. 나도 6/10을 주고 싶더라, 보니까 퀄리티가 생각보다 나쁘지 않아서.

[@jerrythepolishmouse]

If it wasn't for censorship, someone as acclaimed as Bong might've appeared much earlier. Ha Gil-jong is one example. Such a brilliant filmmaker, but most of his films are not in it's full form due to censorship. So much talent unused. A real shame

[@kritiasmaple2714]

I dont think so. Considering the fact that south korea didnt really have an impact back then it would have made no difference. And there were art film directors even back then.

[@AP-bc8bv]

Of course there was and is. There are bad movies and movie periods EVERYWHERE movies are made.

[@impcityangel3245]

@@kritiasmaple2714 This reminds me of youtube today for reasons I can't explain.

[@oiawoo9168]

Now that S. Korea has its film industry one of the best in the world, it's time for them to improve and bring their animation industry (K-Anime or Ani) to international recognition. Adapting famous manhwas into k-anime would be a very great step for achieving it.

[@mintyfresh4855]

Solo. Leveling. That would be beautiful.

[@vanillaar655]

100%. they gotta stop making dramas of manhwas and webtoons and just make really top-tier animations

[@cafelatte1124]

@Yu Kay I disagree with that being a good idea. There is no reason in this day and age to make them into full fledged animation because it simply isn't profitable. Also, webtoons get the job done in story telling at much cheaper costs.

[@jon66097]

@@mintyfresh4855 Yes and No. The Solo Leveling series started off good, but quickly dissolved into a Gary Stu self-insert fanfic. I was excited for the series to explore the dynamic of the idea that Sung Woo was becoming more heartless and more like a monster himself. At the highest point of the series, Sung Woo even outright states that he feels like he loses something as he gets stronger. He started off with a heart of gold but now he had no issue massacring demons even though he had the option to negotiate and talk. If it is adapted I would like to see it dramatically change because I am so disappointed. It had all the hallmarks of an amazing story, but then just threw away to make Sung Woo a Gary Stu.

[@youwayo]

They did make one Aeni loosely based on Kumiho. It’s currently on my channel actually.

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

A*P*E vs Pulgasari: The King of the Bootlegs. Now THAT'S a movie I'd like to see. Bonus if they give APE's middle finger to do Ultraman's Ultra Beam attack.

[@johnnoahdeandres9458]

Make this happen

[@jonecuntapay9561]

I would choose APE than Pulgasari.

[@leonartha03]

"i guess deep down we are all weebs" - accented cinema (2021) -

[@raam726]

I hate you, weeb! I hate weebs!

[@ihaveeyesbutimustntlook1668]

@@raam726 ok boomer.

[@raam726]

@@ihaveeyesbutimustntlook1668 ok loco poco.

[@refindoazhar1507]

@@raam726 ok weebs

[@Sylvrn]

Loved this video! As a Korean-Canadian working in the animation industry in Vancouver this video hit close to home (pleassse let's have a movie set in Vancouver for once!) and I'm awaiting with bated breath the creation of more original animated works from Korea ^-^ On a broader note I always love the mini-history lessons you include in your videos, they give a lot of much-needed context that is hard to pin down without prior knowledge! Thank you :)

[@marinthecreator]

MST3K’s riff on Yongary is the only way to watch Yongary without dying.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

The Korean version of Yongary is pretty much gone.

[@technojunkie123]

Bollywood used to create some really amazing movies in the 90's/early 2000's (though the '50s and '60s era is still has a special place in my heart) but seeing the garbage that it pumps out now makes me so sad. I really hope they can turn things around and not be such a joke

[@aasamspb967]

Are you excited for Shamshera and Brahmastra?

[@MrNo-dc2wp]

@@aasamspb967 Shamsheera shit... Brahmastra Mediocre every where except visuals

[@aasamspb967]

@@MrNo-dc2wphmm. I haven't seen both. So I cannot say anything.

[@MrNo-dc2wp]

@@aasamspb967 Don't watch Shamshera bcoz it's a shit. Watch Brahmastra only in theater, atleast you'll get a great theatre experience. It's a shit to watch it in TV, lap or mobile screen

[@IanHsieh]

5:00 "Still more enjoyable that Evolution though..." LOL

[@justinchoe1673]

I saw Evolution in theaters. In Tokyo. With my now-anime producer and musician friends. Dear god....

[@riodwiputra7281]

13:19 no wonder its movie came from hell hahaha

[@boulderbash19700209]

There are Dragonball made in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and .. Hell.😄

[@cashomnitrix]

@@boulderbash19700209 You mean HFIL, right?

[@djctai9288]

south korea is the definition of great things can happen when the government re-invest back into its culture

[@rd116s]

Huh ???🙄

[@alamalam5594]

Everything change until My Way (from History Buffs based video )and Train Into Busan (2016) Korean film strike back

[@peterwang5660]

Dude, that’s everybody.

[@of1564]

A thing that the Mexican government will never learn

[@davidjacobs8558]

It has little to do with direct government intervention. It has to do with wealth of nation. Wealthy AND populous country can produce a lot of movies, and some are bound to be good. If your country is either poor, or has small population, chance of producing good movie is also small. South Korea had enough population back then, but only become wealthy enough recently.

[@mayuri4184]

I wonder if Japan had a dark age of bad movies. I know they were (and are) a cultural powerhouse, but I wanna know if they made bad movies like South Korea did.

[@user-gc1hg9sp9k]

probably during imperial japanese era or 50s-60s

[@AccentedCinema]

Originally this was planned as a trilogy of videos, exploring bad movies from Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan... But the Japanese video got scrapped, because, and this is just my personal opinion... The dark age of Japanese cinema is like, happening right now.

[@supanixta]

@@AccentedCinema So are you going to make a video about contemporary Japanese movies?

[@AKIBATAKU39]

@@AccentedCinema Really? can give examples? The recent Japanese movies ( The ones I seen anyway) Arn't that good but not bad either. with movies like I am a hero(which I really recommend), Fukushima 50, Space battleship Yamato, Shin Godzilla, and of course anime movies like Your name, a silent voice, the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Gundam Char's counterattack, and A bunch of others I know that still is made well and distinctively Japanese. Of course it's not perfect as Korea is now taking the lead so I want to hear what is your reason for the opinion.

[@AccentedCinema]

@@AKIBATAKU39 Japan's cinematic history began after the Allied Occupation of Japan have ended. And right from the get go, Japanese films were top notch. It continued to be colourful and good throughout the 80s all the way to the 2000s, producing endless cult hits and mainstream hits. So, comparatively speaking, Japanese cinema, especially live action cinema, is at its lowest it has ever been. So either this is the dark age, or Japan has yet to have a dark age.

[@look_at_me1312]

아주 흥미롭고도 유익한 내용입니다 21세기에 거둔 한국 영화계의 단면 외에 과거의 유산들을 분석적이고 되돌아보게 만드는 자료입니다 한국어 자막으로도 볼 수 있었으면 좋겠군요 It's a very interesting and informative story. In addition to the cross section of the Korean film industry in the 21st century, it is an analytical and reflective material. I wish I could see it in Korean subtitles.

[@georginebianca7540]

"D war if you are feeling kinky" if I tell you I spat my drink

[@MoreThanALoser8107]

I like how the ending of this video was really constructive and that along the way I was blessed with the sight of a knockoff King Kong flipping someone off. These odd and bad movies are (especially for me as a western viewer who sadly didn't knew they existed) a really interesting topic. (...at the same time I wish my country would produce that interesting to talk about bad movies. Bad german movies are just uninteresting bad movies most of the time.)

[@kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061]

BTW, Minari is US-made, not South Korean-made. Slight correction. That's why I was ticked off when the Golden Globes categorized it as a "foreign" film. It's not a foreign film.

[@glumpink4106]

wow

[@dewaeryadi7776]

The impact of modern japanese entertainment culture to the rest of asia is no joke, from idols, music, movie, anime, manga, music, video game, gacha games, tokusatsu, variety show, game show and many more, heck... even now they still able to came up with new trend like vtubers

[@dathunderman4]

Lmao product of Japanese colonization. Japan will enslave other nations and then clap among themselves for being “INFLUENTIAL” lol

[@SeoWoojin55]

Lol, Korea has arguably the greater impact, in a much shorter span of time to its rise. Japanese pop culture was banned in Korea for decades. This is why Korean pop culture is so different. And Korea is called a cultural superpower while Japan is not because Korea legitimately brought its influence in every facet of life. Japan was mostly just anime and a bit of food. Korean culture and pop culture has influenced various facets of everything. From films, food, shows, music, clothing, language, etc...

[@youwayo]

Thats cool but also incredibly scary tbh

[@carlosluismendez7392]

@@SeoWoojin55 the joke is on you. Japan made some of the most seminal films ever. Your country and the rest of the planet are still remaking Zatoichi's films, Kurosawa's Films, Chanbara Films, Japanese horror films, Japanese thrillers, Yakuza Films and Nikkatsu action films. The Japanese pretty much created the Hong Kong film Industry and a market for Asian cinema when Shaw Brothers hired a bunch of Japanese filmmakers and cinematographers to help improve their output, the Chinese guys working there had to watch 200 samurai films to learn film language, editing and storytelling. Tons of Wuxia films were remakes or copies of chanbara films. The martial arts genre is a thing because Sugata Sanshiro was adapted into a film in the 40s, that's the template for pretty much any martial arts movie ever made. The cinematography that Korea, China, Taiwan and the like uses for historical dramas were developed by the Japanese in the silent era. I can even see a tatami shot in this same video XD. It's very hard to be as influential as Miyazaki, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi or Yasujiro Ozu. Just Watch A Page of Madness 1926 By Teinosuke Kinugasa and see how modern the camera work is in that film, it's insane. The screenwriter actually won a Nobel prize in literature in 1968 XD.

[@kimurahundoshi4485]

@@carlosluismendez7392 as a japanese,I agree to you but you need respect korea 🤔 actually their products are so amazing so we also love so many korean movie,kpop,korean food,korean,webtoon etc.....

[@kaiserlichekommisar8661]

I'll be happy the day you make a video essay on pilipino films. It seems the industry is too obsessed with clichéd shit like love teams to actually get recognised by outsiders. God help our film industry for noone else can.

[@dimitrescu182]

He'd be frustrated trying to go through nearly endless crappy movies from the Philippines. Our horror is also overreliant on jumpscares.

[@version_dew]

I stop watching Philippines movies/tv series when I started saying "...again?" multiple times, some exemption in indie once in a blue moon and news.

[@davidjacobs8558]

a country has to be both populous AND wealthy, in order to be a cultural power house. Philippines have enough population, but has to increase the Per Capta Income quite a bit more.

[@juanchoresultay2704]

The 1970s until the early 2000s ,Filipino industry used to produce great films, idk what the heck happen to the current Filipino industry but it can all link to the masses, the Filipinos want escapism through cheap or comedic plots

[@hrithikjoshi6918]

I guess it was the yonggary remake that my dad bought home once, it was called "agni-rakshasa" In Hindi. And it scared the shit out of me.

[@lesleyblackvelvet5802]

That robot cartoon just embodies the "Can I copy your homework" meme.

[@ianbyrne465]

Yang, if that A*P*E gif of the gorilla flipping someone off doesn’t become a mainstay of the channel, I will be very sad

[@shogun2heroicvictories15]

The moment I fell in love with Korean Cinema was when I first saw Taeguki (Brotherhood) a Korean war epic, on two brothers who are drafted to fight the north. After that I just focused on looking for similar films, and there are a large number but nothing to the same level at the time.

[@SiriProject]

I refuse to believe that "Yongary, monster from the deep" was directed by master Kim Ki-duk himself. I refuse.

[@AccentedCinema]

Fortunately, it's just another director with the same name.

[@NerdXZ-pn4nt]

@@AccentedCinema can you tell us the many history of the popular movies of journey to the west?

[@trigunjay50]

he might make ok movies but hes a piece of shit human being. Ask any korean about Kim Ki-duk they will all probably say "fk that guy hes trash"

[@cole27456]

@@trigunjay50 no one cares

[@trigunjay50]

@@cole27456alot of people care in korea

[@arskakarva7474]

When it comes to South Korean animation: There is only life before seeing Aachi & Ssipak, and life after seeing Aachi & Ssipak.

[@mayomayo3111]

Loooool seriously "Aachi & Ssipak" hits different

[@user-xv9tm4qq3i]

Oh dear lord, you've seen it haven't you.... definitely an infamous piece of Korean animation history.

[@Mikabrytu]

Just want to salut the 3 other people who know what the hell Bibleman is

[@kenshix7902]

I watched the movie at church 🤣🤣 and the villain wanted to destroy all Bible's for some reason 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@lainiwakura1776]

@@kenshix7902 I bet they were KJV Bibles, Elizabethan English is hard to read.

[@jakelee7083]

@@lainiwakura1776 I had enough of that from Shakespeare. I'd rather learn Hebrew and Greek

[@draganbosnjakovic7173]

South Korea went From making terrible movies to now making some of the greatest movies in history of cinema now that's amazing.

[@worldforce7857]

Today, South Korea routinely produces some of the most acclaimed movies in the world? It sounds like Korea didn't make good movies in the past.But from the past, Korea has been making good films. Don't generalize to all Korean movies with just a few examples.Of course this is my personal opinion. It may be different for each person. I've been to Canada and the US so far. What I feel is that the US sometimes sees both good and bad aspects of Korea, but Canada seems to only look at the bad side of Korea. I know roughly what this video means, but it's not just about Korea.This is also true for most Countries.There are many things that are Korean and original.

[@jpolt1317]

Accented cinemas comedy is so underrated, love his sense of humor!

[@thespiralwithaC]

Agree! :D

[@fifski]

Interesting video and really great to learn about all these hidden 'gems' of South Korean cinematography. I really wished that you'll at least briefly mention 2003 movie titled 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring' which is really a beautiful movie with an interesting story.

[@HenryTitor]

“Rip-off of, of course, Bibleman” Someone get me an ambulance XD

[@jun8569]

Don’t be stupid. Every cinema industry has some bad and good movies. Everyone copies, everyone can be creative. Japanese have also copied a lot of European/American stuff, too. This video kinda makes it seem like it’s only the Korean film/animation industry that have plagiarised others, but this happened in other countries too, and it’s still happening.

[@thierrydesu]

You didn't mention that the 1999 blockbuster action movie Shiri is probably the movie that changed everything as for the international audience. There's a before and an after Shiri. I don't think any Korean movie has ever been released in my country until Shiri came out. Many of them were afterwards.

[@legendofnoob]

13:18 Oh man that caption killed me lol

[@ScuzoidMelee]

I watch a number of youtube channels that can be described as comedy+something. Music, games, news, whatever. This channel is easily one of the funnest I watch. The editing and the dry sarcastic jokes always get me.

[@YR-wz5id]

As a Korean, I'm just happy to see my country being mentioned in one of my favorite channels. And yesss, we've had some dark years... (although I didn't know it was THIS dark, lol)

[@nope1018]

When your studio is ripping off something like Golden Bat, you know times are desperate.

[@god15625]

Wow I feel like your editing has really levelled up, good stuff

[@fearydog]

Though it's not part of the film/animated cinematography, it would've been great to mention webtoons/manhwas too. Some really good k-dramas have come out of some great gems which also become legit series and not just quick cash-grabs. They have also helped a lot in mainstreaming digital comics in an accessible manner and popularized scrolling instead of the typical page-by-page viewing.

[@camvertiz8109]

"knock-offs go nowhere" ..instantly thought about kill bill & lady snowblood

[@christopherross8358]

Nothing about Korean TV series? Can't believe you left out gems like "Roof Top Cat" or more recently "Mr. Sunshine".

[@koomaappa75]

Yeah, Korean here. First of all, great video! Korean cinema really did have an amazing leap, especially in the last 20 years or so. Now, I grew up in Seoul during the 70's when most of those truly awful movies were made. They were not the mainstream, however. There were a number of well-made films, although more in the family drama, love stories, and the ubiquitous historical movies category (First Love, March of the Fools, Winter Lady, etc.). Having said that, you are absolutely correct that the Korean movie as an industry still had a long way to go. Soft core, erotic films were often some of the bigger box office hits back then. Interestingly, I must say most of the kids pretty much knew Taekwon V was a copy. We knew all about Mazinga Z and some of us even saved up enough money for a plastic model! The thing is, we were just excited to have TKV as one of our own. So yeah, it's not quite true that we didn't have access to Japanese stuff. They showed a bunch of popular anime dubbed, including Candy, Galaxy Express 999, and the lovely Dog of Flanders on TV. A lot of the Japanese music could be found on illegal bootleg cassette tapes as well. Thanks again for the awesome video & look forward to your next upload!

[@dr_lubaba]

So you're telling me dragon war is Korean? My whole life was a lie

[@mrhoon]

it was financed by a once very popular comedian in korea who instead of honing his craft decided to throw it all away and become a director. spoilers it didnt work out :(

[@leslieelizabeth3024]

This thumbnail is like a spoof of SaberSpark 😂

[@HamanKarn567]

The Good The Bad and The Weird is my favorite South Korean movie.

[@Smile4mypride]

This is the opposite in Filipino movies. Movies started ok but the now the movies are so bad and keep recycling the same actors and story every time.

[@vickie_g]

I remember watching D-wars & liking it as a kid. But I couldn't remember the name until now...

[@Messengus]

Oh lord my initial confusion upon seeing Kim Ki-duk as the director of a 60s monster movie

[@andrewrainey4192]

I feel like that gorilla should be your channel mascot

[@octopusfly]

Great video essay. I learned a lot. Thanks for sharing. I really love Aachi & Ssipak... quirky and raw!

[@FOLIPE]

While "there's hope for the rest of us" I think it would be interesting to enter the debate of how the Koreans built a system that allowed them to build up their own healthy media industry. I mean, countries are not like people that just copy for a while to learn, then start doing their own art but have to take time to learn to fully express their own history in their products. Countries are the context in which that happens, and so they need to have a system in place which allows those individual artists to become someone who can live off their art, so they don't have to emigrate overseas to do art (for example). If Koreans hadn't made the Korean cultural industry economically viable, no matter how many talented artists they had it would not have become the powerhouse we know of today. I know that in the east Asian context, where all countries have had those systems in place, it may be more interesting to just dwell on the natural evolution of this strategy over time than to delineate the strategy itself, but for international audiences even in other developed countries it would be useful to remember this is *not a natural progression*, and that it was allowed to happen because of political and economic choices which created the environment in which local industry could live and even prosper.

[@CuppaKofe]

9:01 To be fair, I'm pretty sure even Disney in 1979 would have looked at Castle of Cagliostro and said "Shit, we need to step up." (in b4 pfp comment :P)

[@myungkim7241]

Every country used to and still make awesome and awful movies.

[@KoongYe]

Well, Korean here to tell you we still make bad movies. A lot of them. Those you guys get to see are actually pretty rare.

[@andreagullo1700]

As a European, I watched something like 40 Korean movies or so, and the "famous" ones (in the West) among them were very few; still, the vast majority of those movies were great, very good, good, decent or not that bad. The worst Korean movie I've watched until now, in my opionion, is a "wuxia" movie known internationally as "Shadowless Sword" and at the end of the day it was just mediocre, not "unwatchable".

[@scottandrewhutchins]

I've seen Yongary, more like Yawn-gary.. I've also seen am English-dubbed Korean anime called Goldwing (황금날개123).

[@JIYkp]

It was pretty funny to reveal to my mom that Astro Boy was, in fact, a Japanese anime.

[@alexcook8324]

That was very interesting. Living in Korea I only know the recent scene and stuff like old boy so it was nice to learn about what lead up to that. Thanks.

[@xtrafries6320]

I have learned so much from your videos, though I don't have much of an interest in film making your videos have motivated me to get started on writing stories that make an impact, I hope to become an author of a light novel one day. I hope you reach 1 million subs I strongly believe you deserve it

[@CulainRuledByVenus]

This is great stuff! Thank you so much for the work you put into this, and for having fun with it.

[@sodadrinker89]

You actually brought out the Taiwanese Dragon Ball movie! Now I kinda want to hear your take on Taiwanese cinema.

[@alfazul21]

Yes I'm still waiting for the day Malaysia will make good movies/drama with great cinematography, storyline and originality while still remain "Malaysian". Right now they just recycling same cliche ideas. btw great video man!!

[@ametkemalidinov738]

Is there anything worth watching at all?

[@alfazul21]

@@ametkemalidinov738 it depends actually. right now the film industry target audience is only the local people. For international audience no, there is not.

[@ametkemalidinov738]

@@alfazul21 hmm, thanks. I think, I tried watching some Chinese-language melodramas or something some years ago

[@commanderaat5001]

@@alfazul21 Compare to other country, the most movie we can import is to Indonesia but even that a far more few than Indonesia movie that come into Malaysia cinema. The only good movie I can see now is the upcoming Air Force movie. Expect to be good as I feel bore enough to see some shit drama. Even zombie movie is worse in our country (exception of Zombie Kampung Pisang because that movie is nostalgic and entertaining). I think our country need to improve our cinema unless we only watch the same drama shit again

[@alfazul21]

@@commanderaat5001 yes I agree. From the trailer, it's looks like a big budget movie, really hope it doesn't flop.

[@kinslayermds]

I had almost forgotten that I saw Dragon War in theaters

[@dr_mafoony]

Shim Hyung-rae’s YONGGARY remake is honestly one of the most fascinating tales of ambition and ultimately failure in any monster movie. He seemed to feel like the way to show the world the prowess of Korean cinema was to make something that felt like a “great value” version of what Hollywood. Ultimately it was a monster film like THE HOST that proved to be the Korean monster movie praised by international audiences, a film that seems very Korean vs the way Shim approached Yonggary. Still I gotta respect the man’s ambitions however misplaced they were. Also funny tidbit about the 1999 version: I think they only used *slighlty* more suitmation than the current cut. The main difference was instead of lower end Dreamcast level CGI it used PS1 level CGI.

[@bibhuchhetri5421]

Bollywood also has a history of plagiarism with a lot of movies being a straight ripoff/unlicensed remake of western movies that are 'Indianized' to some extent. Most shameful thing is many of them are high budget movies with big actors. There's even a Oldboy remake as far I know

[@friedsushi_]

@Spongeman Ode to my father - Bharat The man from nowhere - Rocky handsome The chaser - Murder 2 A bittersweet life - Awarapan

[@bibhuchhetri5421]

@Spongeman the remake of Oldboy is called Zinda

[@ritodey]

I would really love if you can make a video essay on 'TAQDEER' its a Bangladeshi web series. It is the best web series in Bangladesh still now. Actor Chanchal Chowdhury did an amazing job. I really hope you can make a video on it.

[@Runningtail]

you bamboozled me with the Bibleman line lmao

[@VerluxUA]

Your essays are some of the best in the field! Very comfy c:

[@raviamodernepic]

Love the conclusions at the end. Awesome stuff. Also, I Saw The Devil is so good 👍🏾

[@zeyrie]

Amazing Documentary. Very informative. I love it.

[@tegarz]

N.Korea: we have Pulgasari S.Korea: hold my soju, we have Yongari

[@BiscuitBliss]

The path of my own rabbit hole - In my childhood there was Singin' in the Rain. Now that I'm retired, I can indulge my middle to low-brow tastes with endless K-pop music videos and K-dramas. Lately there have been these: Street Dance of China, Ip Man 1, 2, & 4, and Red Cliff - the truncated version. To me they are all dance movies. Some have music, some don't. My adult children think I have fallen off my rocker. I can't explain it, but this rabbit hole is four years deep with no end in sight.

[@Sirrajj]

While I'm early, just want to say you make great content, it's refreshing to see videos on films besides from Hollywood, and from various nations, keep it up! Also I recommend to make video on Indian film "Dangal" which actually broke many records in china, so I highly recommend it.

[@taeuklee1440]

"South Korea used to make awful movies." It still does. They just never make it outside the country.

[@couldntthinkofagoodname4384]

Just like the any other country

[@SparrowNoblePoland]

I just don't understand, why everywhere around the world, filmmakers always have to copy the same stories, while there are tonnes of original inspiration in reality and history of each country.

[@petosorus]

I know you are questioning the direction of the channel, so I wanted to tell you: you sounds like you are really having fun here, I learned things about South Korea history and culture, and I learned about more bad movies that maybe I'll see some day. Those are a great part of why I like watching you :)

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

"I guess deep down, we are all weebs." -Accented Cinema, 2021

[@aklhj]

Got quite caught when you mentioned Filipino cinema, and a horror movie nonetheless. Those are the worst of the worst somehow (there’s A LOT of folklore here that I wish was handled more responsibly. It’s good.) That being said, I guess for every 50 (or a hundred) cliche movies there’s always an good arthouse-indie one. Those here are made the same way from the video it seems, some are cheap imitations, that while entertain a more unassuming local audience, it has nothing much to sell for a more global one. Yes, before my fellow Filipinos jump at me bolos withdrawn will all your cynicism in hand. Movies are made to reflect what we are. If anything, we can’t even bother believing in ourselves. Lol.

[@karl-oppa5261]

“we cant even bother believing in ourselves” ulol ikaw lng yan wag mo kami idamay lahat, bahala ka maging depressed mag isa 😂😂😂

[@ihaveaquestiontothegodwhy1669]

I agree with you on this, and out of every PH film that i have watched, i only liked 3 (yes you heard that right) films, and that is Heneral luna, Rizal and Goyo. Imagine, only 3 in almost 1,000+ films in the industry, imagine the huge difference. And this is the cold hard truth, PH films are just bad to just only for popcorn fluff. nothing more, nothing less.

[@ihaveaquestiontothegodwhy1669]

Well, he has a point, the philippine movie industry is not what it was before.....and to be fully specific, it's just getting worse and worse even with a few hidden jems.

[@aklhj]

@@ihaveaquestiontothegodwhy1669 Three in a thousand is better than zero in a thousand. The cold hard truth is the audience refuses to recognize what it has. "Popcorn fluff," I mean, aren't Hollywood films the same? Summer blockbusters? For every thousand movies they (or any other box office industry) make, there's always a bad one we won't remember. Say Muro Ami, Anak, a lot more titles I can't remember. If we break through the shallow comfort that popcorn "I want to watch a movie" films provide. There's so much more.

[@trex1448]

The bad movies were a result of government censorship mostly. Even while being thrown in jail and being beaten by government agents, these Korean movie makers persevered. True artists. That's why the current crop of movies are so good. The economy and production value has caught up to artistry of the movie makers. Korean movies are not just a money making scheme for investors.

[@FiveSolas1]

As a Korean, I'd like to explain about it and give an advice. It is true that Korea made terrible movies. But then you have to look at the times. As anyone who has seen the Korean movie 1987 or Taxi Driver might know that Korea was oppressed by dictators for a while. At that time, TV programs, song lyrics, movies, and everything else had to go through government censorship, and many things were restricted. As a result, creativity was reduced, and the people who made that had to self-censor theirself. But after the dictatorship was overthrown, people's creativity was revived and they started making good movies, dramas and songs. If you have read this far, you may think that 'Ah, there was such a thing in Korea.' However, as a person having lived in the US for several years, I would say it could happen in your country and your life. Living in America as a foreigner, I had seen Americans self-censor in the name of political correctness. In keeping with political correctness, Hollywood wrote strange screenplays and took in Chinese money and make films that the CCP would love. Schools restrained people who said something because minorities could be offended about it, and politicians made these things into laws. Americans call that as democracy. As a South Korean who had a dictatorship in the past and now has a dictatorship in the north, my advice to Americans is that it is not democracy. It is another name of censorship. All thoughts and speeches should be guaranteed freedom to the maximum extent possible. I personally want the United States to be a nation that abides by The First Amendment.

[@seanc9520]

The U.S. remake of oldboy might not be better but darn, at least in the multiverse, there's one that thanos and scarlet witch did some action together.

[@qshim1267]

국뽕뺴고 담백하니 영상 좋다. 내수용 유투버들도 이런 관점으로 만들어주면 참 좋을텐데 ㅠ

[@electricgecko8997]

That statement about Canadian cinema stings because it’s true. I don’t think we’ll ever really develop much of a unique cinematic identity, though. Not when that massive glut of American media is just sitting right below us. Even to Canadians, Canada is lame. Someone says, “The crime boss is in Boston,” in a movie, and I accept it. But if someone says, “The crime boss is in Winnipeg,” it’s just ... lame.

[@AccentedCinema]

Crime Boss in Quebec City sounds pretty alright... To someone who isn't familiar with the Quebec accent.

[@satxsa]

In art, it is easily called 'hommage'

[@kill4foods]

Minari isn't a korean film from the korean film industry. Its an american produced movie, with an american director featuring koreans and korean americans, living in america.

[@apineapple3587]

I just finished your new video! I love your analysis into eastern media, and how its influenced or influences western media, with an objective view while teaching me something new. Keep up the good work, I look forward to your next video!

[@Ziialan]

Great work on the Video, Mr. Yang! This is an absolutely wonderful take on the South Korean Movie production. The movie scenes that you choose to show, combined with your great humor woven nicely into the narration, they are superb! And I also love the cheeky input of Every Frame a Painting's video, that channel was amazing, and I can see that you share the same love for them as mine! Once again, magnificent work on the videos! I love 'em, keep it up, I'm rooting for you from over here. On a side note, I just want to check up on your situation, how are you? how have you been? is everything going alright? Best wishes from me.

[@Ziialan]

And in case anyone asks... My favorite movie from South Korea is Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard. I love it!

[@PETBOY]

Do you know Kim Ki-young 1960 film The Housemaid? Because of the censorship, the ending turned in a weird way. (The reason is home destruction.) The movie ends with the explanation that the family should not be destroyed like this. In Korea, low-budget copy works are called Hae-juck-fan(piracy versions)

[@Danikoshii]

When you mentioned the Philippine film industry I literally choked on my breath I have heard _no one_ until now mention our shitty film industry and I'm glad that others have the same frustrations as me regarding Filipino movies and animation Indeed, I do hope thing ever better for ours and other industries out there

[@juanchoresultay2704]

It’s ironic how also back then , the Philippine Film industry used to be great starting from the 1950s and even in the 70s despite a lot of propaganda and censorship of the Marcos regime (Who is also like the Filipino version of Park Chung Hee) , many filmmakers still produce great films from directors Lino Brocka, Marilou Diaz Abaya, Ishmael Bernal , Danny Zialcita, Mike De Leon etc. However, Filipino films started to decline in late 2000s, I hope there can be a renaissance (rebirth of a golden era) in the Philippine film industry Btw im a Filipino

[@juanchoresultay2704]

Philippine Animation is not bad , it was just produced at a wrong time (Except Netflix’s Trese but it lacked more episodes) when Filipinos sleep on that medium and most of them were great however they were low grossed due to its cheap competitors that are cash grab. I hope in this era, Filipinos would see the importance of the medium of animation

[@wmproductions88]

Take a shot every time you see the clip of APE flipping us off

[@e.a.forrest1388]

Slight correction here, you mention Pulgasari among the Godzilla knock-offs: Pulgasari is actually a North Korean film! The director, Shin Sang-Ok, was South Korean but was kidnapped by the North Koreans and had to make a bunch of films for them. However even though Pulgasari has a familiar Kaiju monster design, it's actually thematically really different from Godzilla and its knock-offs, so I wouldn't actually call it a knock-off even if Shin had Godzilla in mind when designing the monster's appearance. It's well worth watching, I think the whole thing was on KZbin the last time I checked!

[@Napoleonic_S]

Lol man, this guy made an entire video about pulgasari already, it's you who need correction.

[@richardb561]

Was hoping for a mention of 'Musa: The Warrior' from 2001 - it was the first South Korean film I saw that made me really take notice, a very grand production with some good acting and action, a striking setting and visual style over a historically based story that gave good insight into a period and culture I was not terribly familiar with at the time.