Pulgasari

Filmed in 1985 by a director (Sang OK Shin) who had been kidnapped by North Korea, this movie is about a monster who is created by a blacksmith just prior to his death to help his village against an evil king. Now from what I understand Kim Jong Il (the eventual leader of North Korea) was an avid movie buff and wanted Sang OK Shin to produce a film along the lines of "Godzilla". This movie is the final product. Unfortunately, this movie doesn't translate as well to world-wide audiences as its famous predecessor did. That's not to say that this movie is necessarily bad but it clearly had some weaknesses. For starters, the special effects were quite poor and the movie had some scenes which could have definitely been trimmed here and there. Along with that the movie I saw was filmed in Korean but had English subtitles. I only mention this because this is a film that is probably best suited for young children and subtitles simply won't suffice for that particular audience. Be that as it may I rate the movie as slightly below average.

PULGASARI is a hoot for lovers of demented, low budget cinema. It's the one and only North Korean kaiju movie out there, a film that's been inspired by the likes of GODZILLA and YONGGARY, although I think plot-wise it has most in common with the Japanese DAIMAJIN trilogy.

The story is a straightforward one in which the poor are presented as a righteous, oppressed people and an evil general and his army are the out-and-out villains. A humble blacksmith is captured and starved to death by the villains, but not before he's created Pulgasari, a tiny humanoid creature who eventually grows into a lovably, Baby Godzilla type beastie.

After a time, Pulgasari becomes the city-stomping giant monster that kaiju cinema loves, although given the budget there's little destruction on offer here and the effects are lacking to say the least. But the story with its uniquely North Korean slant is a solid one and the novelty value alone is enough to keep you watching. It's good fun!

As the workers have a hard time rebelling against the oppressive (pre colonized) Chosen regime they get unexpected help from the gods. Bulgasari awakens to life from a figure of clay and rice with the drop of blood from Ami and is thereby under her authority. This secret weapon was exactly what they needed in order to kill the king, but it grows out of control. Whether this monster represents capitalism or not is anyones guess, I didn't notice anything that pointed towards that conclusion in the movie, but there's always the juche discourse to look it in the light of. After all Kim Jong-il is listed as a producer. With that in mind, I got a little bit anxious by the ending.

As a movie it is OK. The script is very simple and the characters are, like the weapons, like cardboard cutouts. Some of the berserker smashing the temples (cultural revolution style?) however, were quite impressive. All the shouting and wailing were not. I wonder if there's a movie were the title of it is repeated more often than in this.

In the days of feudal Asia, the crops are not so good, and farmers are facing a takeover by Jong-Un Kim ... oops the self-proclaimed king (Yong-hok Pak.)

The farm Jugend becomes rebels and with the help of the local blacksmith physically challenges the king.

The king offers the blacksmith employment by supplying his army with weapons. Naturally, the blacksmith refuses. While he is imprisoned his last dying, wish is to make a revengeful "iron eating" Pulgasari.

Eventually, the king may meet the same fate as Bambi Meets Godzilla .

The big question is will any of the good guys survive?

Or will the world go to the peasants?

The film was loosely based on the legend of the Bulgasari.

The value in the movie is not the movie it is self but the historical value.

On the orders of Kim Jong-il, the South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok (1926-2006) and his wife, famous actor Choi Eun-hee, was kidnapped to North Korea.

After three years in prison, Shin was united with Choi, and the two were instructed by Kim Jong-Il to make films for him to gain global recognition in the film industry. After making various films for Kim Jong-Il, including Pulgasari in 1985, in 1986 Choi and Shin escaped from North Korean caretakers to a US embassy while in Vienna.

The Lovers and The Despot.

I like to watch Kaiju films and this Korean monster movie it's a funny monster movie with great battle scenes. In the beginning I supposed that will be other bad movie, but after some scenes you'll be invited to appreciate the story about poor villain people that fight against a bad king and his cruelty governor. Besides the poor special effects, most of them inside the atmosphere behind the Pulgarasi monster, other great battle scenes with hundred extras acting and fighting, You'll like all the crew efforth to create power and big scenes. This movie was produced by Jong-il Kim and directed by Sang-OK Shin. This is the first movie that I watch directed by Sang-OK Shin, but I felt interested in watch other movies directed by him.