Its a decent movie if you like the Narcos driven hype and drug kingpin storyline at the moment. Korean cinema is generally very interesting with a lot of brilliant movies. The story is interesting , the directing overall is good but the movie in a few places lacks a smooth fluid transition between the different chapters of the storyline. The movie is a bit too long and feels dragged out by the time you reach the end they should have prioritized a bit better with what could be left out. The lead actor has done a good job along with many of the co-stars who have performed very well.
Add a Review
-
RosanaBotafogo6 May 2021Based on Lee Doo-sam's true story, I like South Korean humor, slightly unpretentious and in disconnected moments, but here I missed the humor, as they were not successful, and ended up becoming overwhelming, Kang-ho Song is great as calm citizen, a common and ambitious man, almost clumsy, there is no way not to associate it with the wonderful "Breaking Bad", but here we lack the humor ... We have great photography, ambiance, soundtrack from the 70s, delights, but a bit long and almost dispersed ... That ending, almost "heroic", was crazy and fun, that dark humor that we love, #MadeInKorea.
-
mister_bateman28 February 2019The story is pretty much the same as Scarface, so it's impossible to not draw a comparison. If you take away the legendary cultural status the movie Scarface has in the "West" and just put the two side by side, I would say this one's actually almost as good. What I liked even more in this film, is that it highlights a little bit more the detrimental effects of drug dealing on the community as a whole, instead of just glorifying it Hollywood style. Certainly worth a watch.
-
Leofwine_draca22 February 2019THE DRUG KING is another crowd-pleasing South Korean thriller, made with plenty of scope, an expansive background (both geographically and politically) and some fine acting from the leads. The 1970s setting allows for a great soundtrack and outlandish fashions. It's very similar in tone to the Donnie Yen film CHASING THE DRAGON and very bit as good. The excellent Song Kang-ho delivers another multi-layered turn as the man who works his way up from the very bottom to the very top, his desire for money the only thing that continues to drive him forward. There's even a role for the suitably expressive Doona Bae. The film is typically Korean in that it mixes comedic moments (the riff on the climax of SCARFACE is a particular delight) with bursts of extreme violence and melodrama, and the end result is the kind of film Scorsese made in his heyday.
-
Your enjoyment of this movie will undoubtedly depend on your existing familiarity with Korean filmmaking. While I'm certainly not an expert on the subject, I do believe many of the more negative reviews come from western watchers who are less accustomed to the style and feel of Korean films.
The film takes its time to build up and wind down, but I never felt like it dragged out too long or got boring. Even the setting - 70's Korea - is exciting to get a look at and not explored, I think, in other films very much. I have absolutely no idea how well this flick represents the real Lee Doo-sam, but all the key performances felt very fitting and well acted and the cinematography is nice and does the job. I might add that I tend to analyze film pacing, and it hits all the usual turning points at the exact typical time marks.
What I think is most distinctively Asian in the filmmaking is the tone. It is a serious movie about several serious subjects with plenty of gritty scenes and emotion, but it's not afraid to let "wacky" characters act wacky. Some critics call this being tone-deaf or not making up its mind, but I don't think that is it at all. I consider it merely a refreshing cultural difference.
If you care about the setting or subject at all, watch it with an open mind and I think you'll like it enough to not feel like your time was wasted. -
kosmasp19 August 2019Though obviously ship would be more fitting, but that other movie I was riffing off is called Train to Busan, so ... anyway, just a small joke in the summary line, hope you don't mind. The movie itself has Kang-Ho Song in the lead and if you are as bad as I am in remembering names at times, you might not immediately know who that is, but if you've watched more than 1 Korean movie, it is more than likely you've seen him.
Netflix has gotten into the producing movies market and not a minute too late if you think about Disney shortly coming up with their own streaming service. And with content like this Netflix might have a chance against other giants. This is a straight up crime story with really good acting and the comedy you might already know from other movies. Violence is also there and quite something, so also not for the squeamish ... A good movie with a really good cast then -
georgetm-605463 April 2019A good movie to smoke up, kick back and enjoy. Try and keep up with the subtitles though, don't look away haha.
-
phd_travel5 March 2020Watch this for Song Kang Ho in a meaty role. Endearing till the end. His character is funny and not bad like Escobar. Not a wanton killer. Interesting to see a Narcos biopic of a Korean drug lord.
-
THEgongoozler21 December 2021Long, scrappy, boring, almost like Korean version of SCARFACE (1983) but much less "exciting."
The main, actually only, selling point of THE DRUG KING (2018) is Song Kang Ho. This movie is in effect his one man show. It is satisfactory as always to watch he performs, anything else in TDK doesn't worth mention. Although TDK is insignificant as such, Mr Song deserves awards before his next work -- the super-hyped PARASITE (2019). -
davi-shaw25 February 2019Better than Scarface because it it is part dark comedy part blood and guts thriller. If you watch a lot of Korean movies you will get the style a lot sooner. The tension between Japanese gangsters is as much political as it is territorial. The movie straddles the Yushin (4th Republic) and 5th Republic eras including the assassination of Park chung-Hee. I watched on Netflix and it kept me engaged throughout. So good I will watch again very soon.
-
temuukaaaaa27 February 2019Nothing new, not that interesting , it supposed to be based on the true story , but director put it in too much sweets , acting is horrible , but oh well.
-
shanayneigh31 March 2019I gave it half an hour but I couldn't be bothered finishing this movie. The acting is atrocious, especially from the main character. Horrible movie.
-
GLOBAL POLITICAL REALITY
A solid but overly familiar true-life crime drama from Inside Men director Woo Min-ho.
WITH THE MIXTURE OF KOREAN HUMOR WITH BEAUTIFUL MUSIC.
ENJOY. -
menanti19 April 2019Idk if this movie are from real story or not, and whole movie are 100% predictable. no suspense, no twist, just plain movie.
i don't know what the producer are trying to tell in this movie, and this is just pure waste of the great actor of korea. there is no way this movie can please movie goer. absolutely no need to watch this, you know what's going to happen for whole character in this movie. -
ryanbeblow8 June 2021If you liked Scarface and other similar crime lord movies, you'll love this one. Got a banger soundtrack to compliment that beautiful visuals.