Bi-gong-sik-jak-jeon

Korean political action thriller in the same vein as Mogadishu and The Point Men.

Ha Jung-woo stars in the really entertaining film by up-and-coming director Kim Seong-hun (who already proved his worth with A Hard Day, and continues to do so here). Possibly a better offering than the other two films mentioned before, in a sense that it melds geopolitical concerns with plenty of action and humor without ever hitting a false note, bar an occasional scene.

I find it hard to believe there would be a genre fan out there who wouldn't at least enjoy parts of what Ransomed offers. It's so, so fun, intense, creative in its action scenes that its two-hour runtime zips by.

Very much recommended to genre fans, and/or if you simply like commercial entertainment done right.

I cringed a lot while watching this movie. As someone who has family members who lived and experienced the Civil War of Lebanon, this movie was written/depicted in a very bad way. I think they just wanted to base a story on the kidnapping case without any regard for the historical aspect of the Lebanese Civil War. I think this is really insensitive and had someone taken the Korean historical War and written an inaccurate spin on it, it would have been extremely offensive. This movie is and would be to every Lebanese.

First of all the movie wasn't even filmed in Lebanon. And BTW Lebanon looked much prettier during the Civil War than it does today, the country wasn't as ruined back then as it is today. Yet it shows Lebanon as a totally ruined desert. And there wasn't even any Lebanese-speaking actor besides one I think, the accent was far off from what a Lebanese accent. It's a shame really but I guess that was why the film wasn't filmed in Lebanon because it would probably have caused problems for the production team if they didn't get their facts straight about what happened during the Civil War.

But I guess I may have enjoyed the movie more had it not been for the fact that I'm Lebanese and actually know about what the Civil War was like.

When a Korean diplomat is kidnapped in war-torn Lebanon, his government is conflicted about paying his ransom demand. It falls to "Min-joon" (Ha Jung-woo) to travel there and execute quite a complex plan to extricate their citizen and stay one step ahead of the warlords and the authorities who all want a share of his rather valuable luggage! Luckily, his airport-escaping antics find him in the back of the taxi driven by "Pan-soo" (Ju Ji-hoon). Now this fellow just happens to be a Korean ex-pat, he's also a slightly dubious character who can think on his feet, and who has had dealings with their government in the past. What now ensues is quite an engaging series of adventures as the pair face more and more perilous tasks trying to stay alive and rescue "Mr Oh"! It is too long, and at times it drags a little - but director Seong Hun Kim manages to create one of the more authentic looking desert adventures featuring loads of gunfire, some rabid dogs, a fun car chase down an alleyway and I found this to be way more watchable than some more recent, bigger budget, action films with Hollywood stars atop them. It's a fun watch this, with a good dynamic between the two men on their quest; the script is occasionally quite funny and the whole thing has a sort of light-heartedness to it that I quite enjoyed. Based on a true story, too - who'd be an emissary?

No pun intended - Korean movies. You have to love them. Of course not all will have the same amount of quality, but if they get a cinematic release in Europe (around the world), you can guess that they are more likely than not a winner .. a good one of sorts. And I can clearly say that the movie is well done (like the puns I use - another one in the previous sentence).

That all being said, this is based on a true story. Not sure how much of it actually happened the way it is being shown - but a little creative license goes a long way. The actors are really good - so good that you may not mind when the movie is a bit convenient and coincidences happen that seem way too far stretched (again do not know the real story, so maybe some of the stuff happened like that anyway).

Still the movie has high drama and the suspense works really good. You are on the edge of your seat - car chases, shootouts and twists and turns! Some you may be able to guess ... others not so much. I really loved it ... and I didn't mind the melodrama or clcihes it did dish out ... they make sense in the overall arc and theme of the movie.

Great movie with a mix of drama and action. The whole movie is action packed and I, as a viewer, find it interesting to watch a wide variety of characters who want something of their own. It's worth adding that the movie is really based on real events and it's a payoff. Koreans were able to convey the atmosphere of a real case.

There are a lot of funny moments in the movie, which together with the fight scenes look decent. And the dramatic moments make you feel completely different emotions. The movie raises eternal questions such as friendship, betrayal, etc.

I would also note the excellent camerawork and music accompaniment.

This is one of the few decent movies where the main genres are action and comedy.