Lluvia de Acero

This movie is incredibly relevant these days because of the current tension between North Korea and the US, South Korea, and Japan. No doubt that is precisely why it was made too. The movie in my opinion is very good, with an underlying moral messages about peace for all Koreans. It shows problems with both sides. The main actors do a great job, and there is both drama and action here, both of which in my opinion are done well. Do yourself a favour and watch a movie that is not only entertaining (which this one most certainly is), but which also has a relevant and important message, for once.

Simply excellent movie in most every way.

Takes a while to get going, and the very opening scenes are very out of place with the rest, and not necessary even. Because the rest is such a trope-buster, this sticks out.

I think my favorite example - being vague to not give anything away - is when the bad guys stage a diversionary attack about halfway through and all the soldiers leave where our main characters are guarding the MacGuffin. Because not /every/ guard or soldier leaves, and the remaining ones are brave, skilled, and professional. The improbably-supervillain leader of the bad guy assault doesn't just walk through, and many, many of his people are killed, on the way to the main-character confrontation. Unlike every horror movie and almost all action movies, you believe it. The good guys don't die because they are NPCs but because they were fooled, they fell to overwhelming odds, etc. The plausible odds make it that much more engaging.

And at the structural level, it's just perfect also. A major character is a senior bureaucrat, so there's a natural link back to the war cabinet, and to the spies of other nations, to allow us to see the whole situation, from top to bottom, with minimal jumping around; we follow the main characters through much of the action quite seamlessly.

Downsides were mostly in that it was a purely Korean production. There was enough US involvement in the plot that a slight joint production would have helped make the American actors seem less trite in characterization, and given them more plausible dialogue. Lots of "simulations" for some reason.

The Netflix version has mediocre captions. Korean seems right, but the English is not captioned and is often very hard to understand. Some signs are titled but not others, or not on-screen information that's important to the plot. Hopefully that will get better eventually also.

I was expecting an "okay" action movie with an excuse plot and a lot of unrealistic, flashy stunts from the lead character. Gangcheolbi (Steel Rain) is not that. This is a movie that gets it right.

It doesn't rely on flashy action scenes to provide entertainment and fake tension, but on a good story to provide actual tension. It doesn't force in character development or beg for some audience empathy, but simply lets the characters do what they do in a believable and organic way. Actions feel consequential. The dramatic scenes (unlike most movies) succeed because they are set up carefully and aren't milked for everything they can.

It's got plenty of action scenes and those were very enjoyable: fast, but well-shot (no super-short cuts), gritty, and with very little nonsense. Some of the shots in general were absolutely stunning. But the plot is also very solid (if somewhat difficult to follow for a Western person...) and stays interesting for the entire movie. It uses credible dynamics between countries and powers and masterfully displays the concerns over the existence of two entire nations, as well as the concerns over an entire people.

My only gripes with the movie are the sub-par acting of the CIA woman, and the parts where Asian actors suddenly tried to speak English (for no reason whatsoever) and didn't do so well, which is a bit of a shame since they acted phenomenally otherwise.

Clearly, and successfully, made for western consumption, this South Korean "The Sum of All Fears" style doomsday action/thriller/buddy film is one of the best I've seen. All the requisite action and intrigue parts are there and done very well. The actors are very good; the relationships and developments have weight; the meticulous script is excellent and the 'thriller tension' is ratcheted nicely. 'Timely' would be the cliché, but what isn't is that this not a one sided propaganda piece at all.

The hc subtitles do come quick, but they're good clear translations.

Well made complicated North and South Korea political and nuclear thriller. Its hard to follow in parts. Korean speakers will find this more understandable probably and appreciate the complicated politics. I liked the comic and touching relationship between the two main actors.