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Foul King, The

  Country : South Korea
Year: 2000
Genre: Comedy
Format: DVD / Theater
Running Time: 1H42
Distributor: Bom
Date reviewed: 09/24/2000
   
Producer: Oh Jeong-wan
Director: Kim Ji-wun

Cast:
Song Kang-ho, Chang Jin-young, Park Sang-myeon, Cheong Wung-in, Song Young-chang, Chang Hang-seon, Lee Won-jong, Kim Su-ro

 


Story: Dao-Ho a banker with no self confidence gets beaten down by his boss because he has poor performance and is sometimes late for work. He hopelessly try to sign up for some martial art lessons but gives up before he even starts. He notices a local wrestling gym on his way home and tries to sign up but the coach does not want to have anything to do with him. A few days later the coach of the gym is offered a contract for a fixed match, he needs to find a cheating wrestler and decides to take on Dao-Ho and train him.

Review: This was one of this years most popular movies in South Korea, it came in 3rd below Gladiator and Mission Impossible II. This is another comedy from Kim Ji-wun, he also directed The Quiet Family another popular comedy. This movie might not have been as funny as Quiet Family but it certainly had a well developed story line and some great characters. This movie is basically about pro wrestling and how a complete loser can become somebody in the ring and regain his self confidence. The story is easy to understand and the humour is tasteful.

There were a couple of characters in this movie but the spotlight was on Dao-Ho, it was his story and his alone. You saw the perfect development from where he had no confidence what so ever to the point where he would take on the fiercest adversary. The acting of Song Kang-ho (Dao-Ho) was really good, he managed to portray the pitiful individual so well. The other characters are good too but they play a more minor role in the story. We`d like to mention that Dao-Ho`s boss was an especially evil man.

Wrestling and humour are the order of the day here, you have the typical WWF style wrestling moves with all the tricks thrown in. You'd be pretty surprised at some of the moves these actors pull off. Also Song Kang-Ho did all his stunts which was quite impressive, definitely no fear on the part of this actor. In between the wrestling there is a good deal of humour, its not killer humour but the kind that will keep a smile on your face during the whole movie. Most of the humour is situational and has to do with Dao-Ho`s lack on confidence. We'd like to also mention that the big wrestling fight at the end of the movie was really great you'll be cheering for Dao-Ho during the whole fight.

We are sad to announce that this movie is unavailable with subtitles in any format at the moment. We were lucky enough to have seen a media screener of this movie and it would have been a pity if we missed it. If you understand Korean or if you have a chance to see it at an international movie festival then don't miss this great film. From our comments you are pretty much guessing by now that we are recommending this movie, in our eyes this film was simply great entertainment. Also if you are not a wrestling fan don't worry, this is a movie that just about anyone can enjoy.

Pictures come from the official web site: http://www.foul.co.kr/

DVD [ NTSC, All Region ] :


Free Region Coded. Spectrum has done an incredible job for the image quality, this is probably the best Korean DVD release we have seen so far. You have an amazing anamorphic transfer. As for the sound you have an excellent 1.5 Dolby Digital Surround. For the extras you have: Scenes selection, Audio Commentary by the Director, Theatrical Trailer, music video, Making of (no subs), Cast and Crew info (in Korean), 3 interviews (no subs), shots from the story board of the last fight and 2 photo gallery. If you have not seen this movie yet and you want to watch it, we strongly recommend this DVD release.

Reviewed by Peter Zsurka

You can buy this movie on DVD at:


Story Cast Entertainment Subtitles Overall
3.5 4 4 5 4


 

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