I can honestly say I have been excited for this film since I first heard about it, and with that much build up it could have easily been a disappointment, but instead it is one of the most ridiculously fun films I have seen in a very very long time. This film is a Western in the East, do you call that an Eastern? And is obviously based somewhat on Sergio Leone’s classic The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. And it doesn’t hurt that the film stars 3 of Korea’s hottest stars,, Song Kang-ho 송강호 plays the Weird and has been in such classics as Green Fish, Shiri, The Foul King, JSA, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Memories of Murder, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, The Host, Secret Sunshine, and is in the about to be released Thirst by Park Chan Wook. The Bad is Lee Byung-hun 이병헌 who was also in JSA, as well as Three Extremes, A Bittersweet Life, and is about to be in G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra, and we have Jung Woo Sung 정우성 as the good, who has been in Beat, Musa and Daisy, I mean what a cast! And for an Eastern, it is not as incongruous say as Chow Yun Fat’s classic PEACE HOTEL, as this is set in Manchuria during the Japanese invasion, so it does have horses and cars and motorcycles (even if I doubt a US army jeep would have been there at this time), but after all it is an over the top super stylistic action film, so it is not exactly grounded in reality to begin with. Honestly I enjoyed this so much I would love to see a sequel! This film is just so much fun all the way around!

In Japanese occupied Manchuria, a rich and powerful man sends a very important map to be sent to the President of the Japanese Imperial Bank, named Kanemaru, who is traveling by train. He then hires his associate Park Chang-yi AKA the Bad (Lee Byung-hun) to go with his gang of robbers to steal it back. Meanwhile the Korean independence movement has hired Park Do-win aka The Good (Ju Woo Sung) who is also sent to get the Map, but also to get the bounty on Park, who he believes is a man called the Finger Chopper who has been chasing for some time. On the train Kanemaru gets robbed by a third man, The Weird also known as Yoon Tae-goo (Song Kang-ho) who gets the map, just as Park and his gang shows up and stops it, and Yoon shows up gunning for Park, but ends up going after Yoon and the map. Yoon though is picked up by his friend Man Gil (Ryoo Seung-soo 류승수) on a motorcycle, and they go off to figure out the map.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Yoon shows the Map to his friend, who figures it is a map to buried treasure, and Yoon wants to find it and get money for he and his Grandmother to go where they want. Yoon is hunted by a gang from the Ghost Market, an illegal market that sells anything, and it’s leader Byoung Choon (Yoon Je-moon 윤제문).

Park returns to his benefactor without the map, and kills him, and takes his money, then heads out to get the map, and the treasure.

Do-won manages to capture Yoon, and they go to get the map together. Do-won admits to Tae-goo that he is after the Finer Chopper who he believes is Chang-yi.

Man Gil sells a copy of the map to Byoung Choon, but then gets caught by Park, and gets all sliced up by his knife techniques, and is about to die, but Do Won and Tae-goo show up to save him, and a huge shootout follows in the ramshackle town of the Ghost Market, with 2 gangs, and the bad ass Tae-goo taking on as many as he can.

Tae-goo runs for it on a motorcycle, with Tae-goo following, but so are Chang-yi and his men, and Byung Choon and his men. Tae-goo ends up going to a border town brothel, and gets robbed, but the proprietor who works for the Japanese selling Opium, but manages to escape with some kids and the map.

As he runs, the Japanese army shows up, and now he has 3 groups chasing him. Do-won shows up, and kicks some serious ass, taking on much of the Japanese army himself, and allowing Tae-goo to get away.

Tae-goo finds the location on the map, and doesn’t know what it is. Do-won shows up and they find a big pit, but don’t know what it is (Seems to be an oil well), then Chang-yi shows up with some treasure, and says they will have a 3 way shoot out for the treasure. Tae-goo doesn’t want to join, but when Chang-yi tells how Tae-goo is the finger chopper who cut off his finger, then Do-won makes him join too.

The shootout occurs, and all are badly shot, with Do-won shooting Chang-yi last. Do-won’s sister shows up to take him away, and then Tae-goo awakens, it seems like Eastwood he used a metal plate to protect his chest, and is still alive. He drags Chang-yi into the well and tires him up with explosives, finding his bag of huge diamonds. The Japanese show up, but Tae-goo sets off the dynamite, blowing the well, and getting away.

The film ends with Chang-yi’s wanted poster being ex-ed out as Tae-goo’s is changed to $3500, and Do-won is now on the hunt for him.

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Such a fun film, especially Song Kang-ho who just steals the show. This is an absolute must see film! A must see!!