My Favourite Asian Movies

The second movie in director Chan -wook Park's vengeance trilogy is so good, your left numb afterwords. The cinematography again is excellent, and the story is probably the most devastating I've ever seen. This movie is always in Top 10 lists everywhere, so believe the hype.

I love epic martial arts movies. Beautifully shot and acted. I loved the chemistry between the 3 leads. The sword fight at the dojo was the highlight for me.

Absolutely fantastic. As far as epic movies go this is as good as it gets. Very character driven, the action scenes are exhausting and the acting is top class. Thankfully the plot's not too complicated to follow, as John Woo's direction guides you along nicely. Can't wait for part two.

The Chaser is an impressive thriller from Korea. It's about an ex-cop turned pimp, who's girls start to go missing. Yun-seok Kim was excellent in the lead role, and was complemented by a great supporting cast. I loved how director Hong-jin Na controlled the tension by constantly changing the movie's pace, and some of his camera work made the movie look fresh and authentic.

The 3rd and final part of Chan-wook Park's vengeance trilogy is a lot more easier on the eye than the previous 2. Again the creativeness in the cinematography and storytelling is excellent, and the performances he gets from his cast (especially the leading lady) are stunning.

Beautifully directed and acted. The cinematography is some of the best I've seen.

Excellent movie. John Woo brings ancient China to life again in the second part of the legendary battle of Red Cliff. Again the acting was superb from Asia's finest actors, who are given a lot more dramatic depth than the first part, and the visuals and cinematography were amazing. The battle scenes were jaw dropping, with great sword play, and I loved the chemistry between Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Great movie. I'm watching this as part of a trilogy of revenge movies by the same director. The story starts off really slowly, but once it gets going it's unpredictability keeps you enthralled til the very end...

Tony Jaa's back kickin' some serious ass in his latest movie. A vast improvement to his first 2 movies, with a bit more thought behind the plot. The action of course is astonishing, with Jaa doing all the stunts himself. I was a little surprised with the ending, but I think it may have set itself up for a 3rd installment.

Very elaborate and beautifully filmed. The action scenes and the cinematography are of course what you expect from modern Chinese cinema, but the chemistry between the leads make it both believable and entertaining.

Visually stunning action movie from Korea. When a mob enforcer fails to kill his bosses bit on the side, he's made an example off. It starts off a little slow but soon gathers pace, and then the action begins. The fight scenes are brutal, and shot with a flare similar to Oldboy. Although the plots not the most original, the characters are given depth to make you give a damn. And Lee Byung-hun is excellent as or anti-hero, as his intelligent performance makes it worth a repeat viewing.

House of Flying Daggers is a stunning movie, With amazing cinematography, great fight sequences, and 3 of China's finest actors, it delivers enough punches of awesomeness to knock out a rhino. Ziyi Zhang is one of my favourite actresses and this is one of her finest performances, the fan scene in the brothel being the highlight

Complete chaos. Wonderful non-stop action sequences. Chow Yun-Fat is excellent as the tough cop, and John Woo has never been better behind the camera

The story may be crap, but the action is legendary.

Good Korean detective movie. Memories of Murder is about two rural cops and a special detective from the capital who investigate a series of brutal rape murders.The story was engrossing until the end, and the acting was top class. It reminded me a little of David Fincher's Se7en and Zodiac in how the story was structured, and even though it was a little slow at times, the off-beat humour of Kang-ho Song always give it the lift it needed.

Great action movie from Korea. The City of Violence is about a pair of high school friends who reunite to investigate the murder of one of their own.
The action in this movie was spectacular, fast paced, and beautifully shot, with plenty of memorable fight scenes. And even the story was a little predictable, it was well acted and always watchable.

Good movie. Oldboy director Chan-Wook Park directs this detective drama set on the Korean borders. The story is intelligent and endearing, and the careful use of flashbacks worked well. The acting is great, with familiar faces from Korean cinema on top form, and I liked the unbiased nature of the plot. The one thing that did annoy me was, I thought the Swiss army should have spoke French instead of English, as it didn't make much sense to do latter.

Another gem from the ever impressive Korean cinema. The Host is a monster movie that's less formulaic than usual. The strong performances made it a lot more endearing than it should have been, and the musical score and CGI effects were also impressive. Kand-ho Song is fast becoming one of my favourite actors in recent times, and this is another good example of his fantastic filmography

Great movie. I'd been looking forward to seeing this movie for years, and I wasn't disappointed. The Killer is about an assassin who accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded, only to be double-crossed by his boss. Chow Yun Fat is awesome when he's got a gun in his hand, and like Hard Boiled, Once and Thief, and the Better Tomorrow movies, his charisma and talent for action has made him a legend in this genre. But like most movies of the eighties this is high on the cheese factor, and the moralistic characters are a little 2 dimensional. The Killer is however exciting and action packed, with stunning gun play and car chases.