Save the Green Planet!

Now this is something different, that is one thing I can assure you. I didn't know what to expect from this piece. So let's start somewhere. If you like original movies, this one qualifies! It is a weird (but good) mix of different genres here, and all in all it is one superb hybrid film. It has it what it takes to keep you focused, changing rapidly between some more thriller/horror moments and all of a sudden there is a large dose of a more comedy touch - all blended with a feeling of sci-fi. Ha-Kyun Shin makes a superb performance here, and you develop some kind of hate-love for his character. South Korea keeps supplying us with great movies, and here's a solid 8/10. If you like "Oldboy" and familiar stuff, I bet you will like this one. At least give it a try.

I love Korean cinema. Even when it makes as little coherent sense as this, you still come out of it really refreshed and humbled by the sheer weirdness of it all. When you think you know what is coming you are driven right back to the park of the unknown. This bizarre story of a nobody who deems it a good idea to kidnap a successful businessman he believes to be an alien, incorporating torturous sanity, vigilante gumshoes and lots and lots of nastiness will stretch your basic emotions beyond their thresholds, making a mockery out of them in the latter acts. Usually when a film is as blatantly silly as this it would be easy to dismiss it as nonsensical whiff that was probably made up on the spot as the film went on. And believe me, you won't get much of an argument from me about that. Yet despite the obvious obscenity of the screenplay 'Save The Green Planet' never seems like a movie that wants to satisfy your expectations. It wants to throw them in the river and have them chewed up by sharks. The ride, itself, is a fantastically demented one, so if you can stomach the nastiness of it all, you shouldn't be hateful towards its blatant weirdness. You may even embrace it. Having you guessing right up until the final head-scratching scenes, the movie will leave you bewildered as whether to cry, laugh, shout or scream. Trying all four at once will probably give you the most satisfaction.

SPOILERS!

Save the Green Planet is 2003 Korean film that must be seen to be believed (or appreciated). Full disclosure: It's one of my all time favorite films (from any country).

I typically won't bother writing a review for something when so many people have already done so. I try to keep my reviews focused on little known or reviewed works, so as to try to help other viewers decide if it would be something they like (as so many other IMDb reviewers have done for everyone else in the past). But, I felt I almost owed it to this movie to post a review, and since this director (& writer of this film) is soon going to FINALLY work on a new feature film, there's no better time than now to review this puppy.

I realize this film is not going to be to everyone's tastes. It can be considered being all over the place in tone and story, and it will get violent at times. You will definitely want to ignore the whimsical poster & box art that makes you think this is going to be some lighthearted adventure tale; that is certainly not the case. What this film is about, however, is quite difficult to fully describe. In fact, you're probably better offer just watching it yourself without knowing anything in advance, and forming your own opinions. That's how I first saw it years ago (knowing nothing about it prior to viewing); it was real late at night back in '04 or so, and it was either this Korean film I somehow hadn't heard of, or a Lorenzo Lamas helmed low budget action flick. I clearly chose wisely that evening (sorry Mr. Latin Heartthrob). As the movie I chose played out, I went from: "this is OK enough to watch, to this is a pretty interesting film, to this is getting a little bizarre, to this a mesmerizing piece of cinema". In all honesty, after the credits rolled, I was simply awestruck by WTF I had just watched.

If you want to watch the movie as I first did without prior knowledge as to what it's about (which I fully recommend), DON'T READ THIS PARAGRAPH!...Your story involves a "slightly off" young man who is convinced there are aliens among us that mean to do us harm. With the help of his girlfriend, he's determined to rid the world of these aliens, and hence; 'save the green planet'. He kidnaps what he believes is the leader of these aliens on earth, and systematically tortures him to find the truth about the alien plans. Then, it's a matter of slowly uncovering whether this captor is just a delusional loon, or the key to saving the entire world, or somewhere in between.

This film runs the gamut from being a standard crime mystery thriller, to a torture flick, to a simple tale about life & love & humanity, to an outrageous sci-fi film about the beginnings & end of mankind. You name it, and this movie probably has it; it's as strange as it is grounded, as devious as it is poignant, as simple as it is complex, etc; it somehow manages to successfully juggle so many differing emotions, ideas, and stories together in an astonishingly effortless way that doesn't even seem possible.

As for the acting: Your lead actor is played Shin Ha-kyun. He's always been a really good actor, but, he gives a terrific performance here as the man who's determined to save Earth at all costs. The rest of the actresses and actors involved in this film are all solid to excellent in their performances as well. Job Well Done by everyone involved.

Look; I'd been a huge fan of Asian cinema in general long since prior to watching this film, and, it was pretty clear to me that Korea was starting to bring it big time back in the early 2000's; with Park Chan-wook's vengeance trilogy already under away, and a number of decent spy thrillers, love stories, and rom-coms in the bag, you couldn't help but notice the talent on display in the up and coming Hallyu industry at that time. But, Save the Green Planet was perhaps the final tipping point (in my opinion anyway) that convinced the "non believers" once and for all. Most people look to Old Boy's release a year later, which is also a movie I dearly love, as THE seminal Korean film from that era (and rightfully so), but, you'd be doing yourself a huge disservice if you didn't at least give this "somewhat overlooked" film a look see.

You might not like it, you may love it, you be 'meh' about it. Regardless, I consider this movie to be mandatory viewing for any cinephile, or, any random moviegoer for that matter!...I just watched it again a month or so ago, and it's as awesome as it ever was! If you haven't seen it, I implore you to check it out someday when you get a chance!

Bottom Line: 9 out of 10 stars!...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

P.S. Save the Green Planet is the only feature film this director ever helmed. That alone is simply astonishing. Word is he's now back though, and has signed up one of Korea's highest profile actors to star in the new film he's directing. Hmmmm, CAN'T WAIT!!!

The set-up alone for Save the Green Planet demands your attention.

When a drugged up, marginalized bee-keeper (Ha-kyun Shin) researches the background of a powerful industrialist (Yun-shik Baek), he can draw only one conclusion: the latter is an alien from Andromeda with designs on taking over the Earth on the next eclipse. And he does what any paranoid, stimulant-addled citizen might do -- kidnap the man, shackle him in his basement, and torture the truth out of him.

From this wacky premise comes one of those rare films that successfully mixes dark comedy with true pathos. But the real excitement comes with the film-making, which offers cinematic parodies, inventive plotting, and some penetrating commentary on the evolution of humankind. If Charlie Kaufman were South Korean, this would be the kind of film he'd make.

Alternative history fans will roll in the aisles with the film's wry treatment of UFOs, the death of the dinosaurs, alien abduction, and all sorts of science fiction clichés. Save the Green Planet is just plain fun -- scary fun, uncomfortable fun -- but you won't dare doze off for even an instant.

I had no idea what I went into here when I sat down to watch "Save the Green Planet!" "(Jigureul jikyeora!"). But let me just say right now, that I am very glad that I did sit down to watch the movie.

"Save the Green Planet!" has it all; comedy, drama, Sci-Fi, and even a bit of horror. It does sound like a strange combo, yes, but ultimately it worked out quite well.

The story is about Byeong-gu (played by Ha-kyun Shin) who believes aliens are planning to invade Earth and he is the one chosen to protect planet Earth against the alien invaders. He kidnaps and tortures Kang Man-shik (played by Yun-shik Baek) whom he believes is the leader of the aliens. Helping Byeong-gu is his girlfriend Su-ni (played by Jeong-min Hwang).

The characters in the movie are really deep, with lots of characteristics, and they are so very well portrayed on the screen, which makes it so easy to submerge yourself into the storyline and the universe portrayed in the movie. And hats off to Ha-kyun Shin for his portrayal of Byeong-gu, he was just amazing.

"Save the Green Planet!" surprised me with the torture scenes that were in it. I hadn't expected anything like that from the movie. But it worked very well, especially because it was very crucial to the storyline. It is quite graphical at times, so be warned.

If you enjoy Korean movies, then you definitely have to watch "Save the Green Planet!", because it is well worth the time and effort. This movie is a rather amazing surprise.