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Review by: Graeme Kay | Rating:
Two
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio commentary. Cast and crew
interviews. Behind the scenes documentary. Deleted scenes. DVD
notes by Jamie Russell. Region 0.
IMAGINE a movie that took the dark humour of a Tarantino movie,
the brooding horror of The Ring, the acrobatics of a Kung Fu flick,
the regular plot twists of a Raymond Chandler novel and mixed
them all up with the paranoid spirit of a 50s sci-fi flick, like
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and you'll have an inkling about
the content of Save The Green Planet, the second film by the Korean
director Jang Jun-Hwan.
In short, it's totally mental. But brilliant with it!
The story revolves around Korean radical, Byung -Gu, a mannequin
maker, who also has an interest in extra-terrestrial activities.
Byung and his tightrope-walker sidekick, Sooni, decide to kidnap
the most powerful businessman in Korea, Kang Man-Shik.
The reason being that, according to Byung-Gu, Man-Shik is really
an alien emperor from the planet Andromeda, who is intent on conquering
the Earth and making human beings his slaves.
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Byung-Gu knows this because he has
spent years researching the subject.
All he has to do now is torture a confession out of Man-Shik
and get him to call off the invading force of Andromedans that
is speeding towards the Earth.
But Man-Shik proves to be a stronger adversary than Byung-Gu
had imagined, and it's not long before the latter's carefully
laid plans start to go horribly awry.
And, to make matters worse, Byung-Gu, by this time, has the Korean
equivalent of Dirty Harry on his trail.
The big question is: is Byung-Gu really the only man who can
save the green planet, or is he simply a sadistic, anti-capitalist
nutter?
There's only way to find out is to get on board the rollercoaster!
The great thing about this movie is that Jun-Hwan is constantly
toying with the audience.
Just when you think Byung-Gu really is the hero, he does something
that makes you think he's bonkers.
And just when you're starting to hate Man-Shik, he becomes the
hero. Then it all changes round again! And that's just the main
plot.
Similarly crazy things are also going on in the sub-plot.
The action is manic, the sets are fantastic, and the dialogue
is a cracking blend of menace and black humour, and you'll have
lots of fun spotting the director's references to other great
sci-fi films.
Truly a work of crazed genius. See it, or the planet gets it!
Hahahahahahaaahaha!!!!
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