Bi-gong-sik-jak-jeon

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?

Indeed the action is very entertaining--oh those tight streets but it's the imaginative creative problem solving and personal interactions which put this a step ahead of other such films. The frosting on the cake though is the show of loyalty and care of the civil servants who stand in solidarity in the hallway as they offer their salaries to pay the ransom while the so called "leaders' are willing to treat every life as expendable--except their own of course. One wonders how anyone manages to live in countries destroyed by war and overrun by gangs. Have to ask where all the guns and ammo come from as there seems to be an endless supply. The answer to that are not very pleasant.

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.

It is masterpiece movie for my lifetime. It is full of thrilling and humorous scenes and touching message for me. It is based on a true kidnapped story of a Korean diplomat on 1987 but Director Kim who directed "Kingdom" famous series of Netflix created it as his own version. The thrill and action, specifically car chase scenes remind me "mission impossible " It made me unable to take my eyes off of it for a moment.

It is so sHighly recommend this movie to any audience specially if you need "laughter " and "freedom from stress" and "buddy to trust you and give up his/her most precious chance for you"

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.