Shiri (1999)

Security agent Ryu stumbles upon a plot by North Korean fanatics (led by terrorist Park and assassin Hee) to disrupt peace and re-unification efforts by North and South politicians using high tech explosives and the hunt is on to stop them. Much gun play follows, as well as much talk about the politics and sociology of possible Korean re-unification. Given North Korea's history of selling weaponry to anyone with hard currency and South Korea's position as an important diplomatic and military ally of the U.S., such discussions are actually of worldwide interest. Since emerging in the mid-90s as a distinct cinematic power, South Korea has become filmdom's leading edge for cult actioners and this movie shows why. It is fast paced, uberviolent, with a polished look, tightly crafted plot line and strong performances by its ensemble cast.

Fmovies: This is certainly an okay action movie. But after reading all the reviews using every hyperbole in the dictionary to call this movie "great" and "genius," I just have to put in my 2 cents.

"Shiri" is a good action movie, but some of the action scenes are just too long and seems to go on and on forever without ending. The movie itself is covered end to end in cliches. There's nothing here that hasn't been done before, and been done better. The love story was probably the only decent thing in the entire movie. After all, how many times do you have to see guys in commando uniforms storming buildings or pursuing criminals? I counted at least 6 separate SWAT-like incidents in this movie.

In interviews, the director claimed "Shiri" was supposed to overthrow Hollywood's dominance in the South Korean market. If by "overthrowing" he means to copy and be just like them, then he's achieved his purpose.

So, in summation: good movie, but definitely not as ground-breaking as everyone seems to think. How can you possibly call this movie "better" than a standard Hollywood summer event film when it's an exact duplicate of those same summer event films? It doesn't make sense, and I question if those who gives this movie such a glowing review isn't doing it because of some bias towards all things Hollywood. For those of you who fits in this category, just remember that "Citizen Kane" and "the Godfather" came out of Hollywood, too, so get off your high horse.

I went to see this movie after a friend of my, who had purchased Failan, decided that he wanted to go and check out this movie, which he'd also heard about. Well, I didn't watch Failan (hey, just what I need on a Friday night...a depressing movie, woo hoo!) but if this is any indication of the best Korea's film industry can offer, I'll pass.

I was surprised to see this movie in one of the "non-art" movie theaters in the area, and watching it, I know why. This isn't artsy, this has about as much art in it as Terminator 2. There is just so, so much utterly bad action in the movie, it's not even funny. I've seen more accurate gunfire in a Jackie Chan movie.

Here's just one example of what the film had to offer. Three N.K. agents come in to take out an informant. They can see the informant from where they are, but choose to walk up on them, so they can all be engaged in a gun standoff. But it gets better! There are S.K. agents with automatic weapons in perfect perches waiting to shoot. And they do, but they can't hit ANYTHING!

After the fourth or fifth time this happens, you just ignore the movie. If Korea wanted to imitate an American movie to make a blockbuster out of, they really should have picked something better than an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. If you're into this, you'll really love Fox's "World's Greatest Explosions Where Nobody Gets Hurt."

Shiri fmovies. Awesome, but violent film. I've only got it in the original Korean with Chinese subtitles, so I didn't get much of the plot, but it surpasses typical Hong Kong Action Flick genre stuff. Special effects are more than realistic, and it keeps interest going even if you don't understand it. The intro is one of the most violent I've ever seen, more action and death in the first 30 seconds than most other movies combined.

In summation, if you're a fan of Hong Kong action genre, this takes it to a whole new level.

As for the Shiri, there are plenty of them in the film. Fishtank's are featured heavily in the early part of the movie.

A solid thriller from South Korea, focusing on the tensions on the Korean peninsula. In this case, a rogue military outfit from the north plans a terrorist attack at a North Korea - South Korea soccer game, aimed at improving relations between the two Korea's. Despite being South Korean & criticises the current situation in the North, this film does not totally demonise North Korea. The bad guys in this film are a rogue element planning to rise up against the North Korean government. Solid action, though special effects at times are not great. 7/10

It's a cool movie . From the beginning until the end the action is unstoppable .

The flick talks upon a counter-terrorism outfit that has to fight against a murderous terrorist group who creates terror by means of an explosive liquid with the aim to blow up a soccer stadium and getting the unification Korea .

The movie has a John Woo style , there are amount of shoot-outs, frenetic action and running men while they are shooting .

The film blends action-packed , rip-roaring , a love story , betrayal , drama , violence and is quite entertaining .

The movie will appeal to action lovers and Hong Kong films buffs , it's very spectacular , it's an exciting film for adrenaline lovers .

Rating : 7/10 , good .