it was kinda too long that I dozed out a little, but tbh they could've just bought the nuclear bomb, and the whole "stealing" kinda felt ridiculous. like the idea of "we bought the bomb to save our country from a natural disaster" feels like a more normal approach than "we stole the bomb to save over selves" becasue at the end of the day, they stole nuclear bombs and just because they didn't use it on another country or for war doesn't lesson that thieveryness?
anyway, I really loved the acting and the unexpected bromnace, and though the ending was clear from the start, the last scene made me tear up a lot ;)
I also shipped Kang Bong Rae and Jeon Yoo Kyung ;p
I never rewatch stuff and the ost was basic
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This review may contain spoilers
Starts With A Bang Then Fizzles
Ashfall is aptly named. There's plenty of fallen ash to spare. Everything is carpeted in ash. It doesn't take this movie 5 minutes before we're off and racing against time to stop an earthquake that will be cataclysmic. Don Lee (Ma Dong Suk.. one day I'll get used to his Korean name...maybe) plays Professor Robert Kang or Kang Bong Rae who had been warning the powers that be for 3 years that a devastating series of earthquakes were coming and that they would initiate the eruption of the dormant Mt. Baekdu. Of course no one listened until after the fact and enlists the doctor to come up with a plan to stop them, which, of course, he already had. The problem is it has a small rate of success. Even so, Captain Jo In Chang (Ha Jung Woo) and his team are sent to obtain the nuclear bombs from North Korea. Their biggest obstacle is the man they have to enlist to help them. Lee Byung Hun plays Lee Jun Pyeong, the obstacle.The story sounds interesting enough, but it wasn't. There was very little tension, especially in the scenes where there should have been suspense. In very many scenes Capt. Jo seemed like comic relief as opposed to the hero. As the brains behind the operation , Dr. Kang should have had more dramatic scenes or at least more interesting ones. The action scenes were good, but they were a dime a dozen. Nothing new. Just when you think something big was about the happen, they skip to another scene. Basically, you see the beginning of an action and the aftermath, but not the actual action itself. There's also some blaring continuity issues. I feel the need to explain myself so here is a Spoiler: Suzy, who plays Capt. Jo's wife, is stuck in a car on a bridge when a tidal wave hits. The next scene you see her floating in the river. Huh? When did the car get knocked into the river? How did she get out of the car? What happened to all the people who were running? Next thing you know Suzy's bone dry hailing a bus. Her purse and paperwork are pristine. That's some kind of paper and ink! Oh, did I mention her character is in her last trimester of pregnancy? So, yeah, we have a VERY pregnant woman, stuck in a car that was apparently knocked into the Han River where she escapes and I guess swims ashore. She then somehow makes it on time to the road where she hails a bus with paperwork that's not wet. Yup. End Spoiler The pacing of the movie is off. Too fast at some points and too slow at others.
The acting was good. The actors did their best with what they were given. I think many scenes or character interactions were supposed to be funny or at least humorous, but they weren't. It's a really good cast with a fairly poor script.
I don't think the music was good. The music in an action movie is to aid in the suspense and anticipation. The music in Ashfall did none of that. I may not be big on re-watching dramas, but I'll re-watch a good movie over and over. I have no need to ever re-watch this movie.
I wouldn't recommend Ashfall to anyone. Great cast. Great EFx. Good premise. Poor script and direction.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Korean peninsula hangs in the balance when a volcano on the Chinese border threatens to blow everything sky high! Luckily, for both Koreas, Ha Jung Woo and Lee Byung Hun are on the job!Ashfall is an entertaining disaster and spy thriller flick that doesn't try to take itself too seriously. It has all the characters one would expect in a catastrophic volcano movie. Ha Jung Woo plays The Hero who is supposed to be retiring from his EOD squad (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), instead he's leading a group into North Korea to steal a nuclear bomb to stop the volcano from making rubble out of Korea. Along the way, he has to pick up a North Korean agent/double agent/triple agent?, the always cagey Lee Byung Hun, as The Anti-Hero, who has been jailed in a NK prison. Easy peasy, right? Back home giving them support is, Ma Dong Seok, going against type as The Scientist Who Warned Them All and Jeon Hye Jin as the Politico Who Gets It. Bae Suzy also throws in with the scientist as The Hero's Resourceful Pregnant Wife.
Ashfall actually feels more like a spy thriller film with a cranky volcano in the background. Our plucky band has to deal with betrayals and comes under fire from various political powers that don't want them getting their hands on a nuclear bomb for ANY reason and disturbing the power balances regardless of the fact that both North and South Korea are about to be wiped off the map.
The action is non-stop, almost from the first frame and never lets up whether it's fire from the sky or fire fights. As with most disaster movies, you have to let go of reality and just enjoy the ride as nearly everything that happens is implausible.
The heart of the movie is the bromance that develops between The Hero and The Anti-Hero. Lee Byung Hun's character development and the friendship he grudgingly develops with Ha Jung Woo's character brings out the humanity this movie needed as everyone is moving at breakneck speed.
If you are expecting a rational approach to a cataclysmic tragedy in the making, not only for the Korean Peninsula but having an effect worldwide with scientists and world leaders joining hands and acting altruistically and quickly, you're going to be disappointed. If you are expecting vehicles, people, and the starring volcano to obey the rules of nature, you might want to skip this. This is an entertaining, if at times ridiculous, thriller disaster movie set on high drive with a little bit of heart to make it not instantly forgettable.
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Heartwarming movie amidst a natural disaster
'Ashfall' is a movie that portrays a disaster caused by Mt. PaekTu's eruption which greatly affects both South and North Korea. It's pretty similar with those tsunami or earthquake movies wherein of course there's a disaster and there will be someone who will save the day. The plot is pretty much the same to others. What stands out here is the set of cast and the small details inserted on the plot.First of all, the casts were incredible in their roles. I actually enjoyed seeing a bromance in the movie and it made some scenes lighter than compared to the issue they're actually facing. I also love that Lee JoonPyeong and Choi InChang's character had deeper emotional involvement about the eruption. A little downside on some scenes that are hard to believe like how they try to steal from North Korea and on how the hell they were able to enter a mine despite the eruptions.
Overall, I liked this movie because there are also side stories that were involved and not just all about the eruption. This will keep you on the edge of your seats and will surely make you cry in the end.
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Spy thriller disaster movie
Ashfall (2019)My 4th Ha Jung Woo movie this month 😊
This movie felt like two movies combined into one. It starts with a disaster movie, where Mt Baekdu erupted and the resulting earthquake severely impacted Seoul and North Korea. And a team was dispatched to steal a detonator from NK and to place it in one of the mines in Mt Baekdu to diffuse the pressure and prevent an even massive eruption.
The SK team met the NK spy who made their mission difficult by double dealing with the Chinese to bring the detonator of the nuclear bomb and somehow the US army found out about it and the movie became a spy thriller.
Great effects although the earthquake was too severe to be realistic. I love the tandem of Lee Byung Hun and Ha Jung Woo. Their fights were intense as they tried to outsmart the other but they worked best as a team. I was also laughing out loud at some of their scenes. Would love to see them in a proper action comedy flick again. It's my first time seeing Ha Jung Woo in this kind of role since he always plays roles where he is just so good and smart at everything, so it was nice seeing him fumble and be funny. Of course by end of the movie he was able to solve everything!
Suzy as his wife i think didn't really have a lot of scenes and was just there to provide some emotional reason for the captain to come back alive. The professor who thought of the most harebrained idea of detonating Mt Baekdu also had a side story which I also liked.
Overall I would say this is more of a spy thriller under the guise of a disaster movie. The plot is unrealistic but still fun to watch.
Rating: 8/10
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A one time watch
Positive points -1.the visuals in this film was really good.2. The acting of whole cast was also great.
3.the story was good because when you see the movie you will get some small questions time to time. Which made it bit intresting.
Negative
1.background music was really dull if it could have been good then i think it would have. Been a really good watch.
2. Character development was lacking it is one of the main thing you should have in such movies.
Overall-its a good one time watch. I dont think mostly people will get bored while watching it and it is a fast paced movie.so it will be a good film for you if you have not seen films of this genre.
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Didn't expect to watch Armageddon's Korean sequel
I feel like I'm on a streak of posting 8-8.5's and this was all set to be another 8* option, but... in the end had too many weak points to give it that (it's still fine for single-viewing mindless entertainment, just not exactly for grading it from a story and casting POV or my own preference since I'm not really a mindless watch stuff get blown up sort of viewer-I do generally prefer my brain to need to at least be alert-here, it's like I could put it in hibernate and recreate the whole thing-it's just a bit too basic, too common and overdone a storyline, and predictable overall).This one is a bit hard to rate because the acting and production are totally A-grade and I appreciate that they don't have the actors in the "control towers" (military commanders, the President and his staff, etc) being over the top-everyone was precise and acted their parts out quite well... but for a script that is totally average. This is a bit like Armageddon, South Korea style, but not so cringe-inducing, not trying to drag tears out of you by punching you repeatedly with saccharin blech (there's a very very short bit of it, though it's forgivable, I guess), this had, for me, what would make a really weird high/low points graph. It starts off kind of mediocre which honestly almost made me click out, but it got much better and better... only to have an ending that felt like dozens of other action movies and brought back to mind Armageddon references when I never in my whole life want to remember that film with... isn't it Steven Tyler singing its anthem? Yeah, pretty sure... that song still feels like a trauma in my life somehow.
At least this lacks an OST to speak of-it's too busy with immense sound effects. THAT is a definite strength, but it's Dexter Studios (Dexter the Eye etc) with CJ Group-of course the visuals and sound engineering will be solid. The ACTING is also solid. This is Lee Byung Hun's perfect sort of role IMO. I don't like him in anything where he's supposed to be "sexy" or in any romances except only-half-romance historical Mr. Sunshine, but this... yes, this is the right role for him... tough, sly, a bit hard to put up with, cocky, all the things his face exudes if I'm honest. Physiognomy isn't my jam, but maybe all those face reading sageuks made me see his face and project... or the Marlboro Man vibe just feels off-putting... okay, and Mr. Sunshine aside, I'll never root for his romance bc he took Ji Sung's woman in 2003. Yup. Bitterness eternal here.
This is, overall, kinda, hmm... entertaining because the acting is slick and some dialogue is, while not too unique, really well-delivered (and thank goodness their American cast members were actually good speakers, whew... SO often their "Americans" end up just absolutely sucking!)... Ma Dong Seok was playing a super smart Princeton professor, a geologist of sorts who had predicted the mountain explosions that are the basis of this and gets involved, and his big ol' teddy bear personality was on screen as authentic as imaginable here. He's so dang endearing.
Now for a gripe, though: Suzy's role was small and honestly forgettable and seemed pretty out of place (she looks 20 years younger than her "husband" Ha Jung Woo plays here, like 40 vs 20 even if they're supposed to be 30... mismatched for me and they ARE 17 yeara apart). While she's great in her role, Jeon Hye Jin, actually a couple years older than him, easily passes for child-bearing age in this movie, so she would've paired better, as would have Ok Ja Yeon who's 10 years younger. Either of those would've made Ha Jung Woo seem younger than his 44 years, but Suzy's SO far off age and appearance-wise it makes him look like his character would have friends whose children were in her class. Oh well... not that important, just not loved by me and a bit annoying in the very few moments they were in the same scene... it's super weird to see Ma Dong Seok look like a better spouse for Suzy than the one assigned! He cleans up nicely here, though. :P
Anyway, it's not amazing stuff, no, but for a couple of hours of explosions and action and me wishing more about the science would've been explored and worked through on-screen (and even the political end since it was just thrown on screen in an "everyone knows this bit" way that made it lack longevity for sure), it was entertaining. Not a screenwriter I'll be desperate to seek everything out from, though. To go to Armageddon's awful theme song to close this out, I WON'T miss a thing... about this movie, Ma Dong Seok the expert Princeton scientist with his ever-golden care bear heart aside.
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