D-War

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D-War
Theatrical poster
Directed byShim Hyung-rae, Mitchell
Written byShim Hyung-rae, Mitchell
Produced byJames B. Kang
StarringJason Behr
Amanda Brooks
Robert Forster
Chris Mulkey
Elizabeth Pena
Cody Arens
Music bySteve Jablonsky
Distributed bySouth Korea - Showbox
United States - Freestyle Releasing
Release dates
France:
Cannes premiere - May 20, 2007
South Korea:
August 1, 2007
United States:
September 14, 2007 [1]
Running time
90 Minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageEnglish/Korean
Budget$32-$76 million(est.) [2][3]

D-War, released in North America as D-War: Dragon Wars Also referred to colloquially and in some marketing materials as Dragon Wars, is a 2007 South Korean film written and directed by Shim Hyung-rae. It is a fantasy-action film that was its nation's largest-budgeted as of 2007.[4]

Production

Originally titled Dragon Wars (and still referred to by this title in publicity material), D-War has a long production history in South Korea. The film was announced in 2002 by director Shim Hyung-rae as his follow-up project to Yonggary. A show reel appeared in early 2003,[citation needed] showcasing the extensive amount of CGI the production would be using to create the various creatures. Despite heavy promotion via posters, press releases and videos, principal photography did not begin until October 2004, continuing through December.[citation needed] The budget was set at approximately $30 million,[5] or $33 million (30 billion won), but ultimately came out with a $75 million dollar budget in order to create the various creatures in the film. [4]

As with Yonggary, Shim opted for a mostly American cast. Veteran actor Robert Forster landed a pivotal role and Jason Behr and Amanda Brooks were cast as the two young leads.

The next three years were spent creating the creature effects, all of which were done in house by Shim's Younggu-Art Movies company. The completed film premiered at the American Film Market in early 2007. The film was released in South Korea on August 1, 2007. In the U.S., the film was released on September 14, 2007.

On August 7, 2007, South Korea's MBC Morning Live TV Show broadcast the movie's ending scene on TV, causing a controversy. A few days later the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released a statement that the incident did not violate South Korean copyright laws.[6]

Plot

As a young boy, Ethan Kendrick (Cody Arens) encounters antiques dealer Jack (Robert Forster), who has a glowing dragon scale in a Korean chest in his shop. Jack says Ethan is the reincarnated spirit of Haram, a warrior-apprentice from 500 years ago. Centuries ago, Imugi was chosen by heaven to receive the Yeo-ui-ju orb, which is required for a Imugi to become a dragon; however, a evil Imugi by the name of Buraki wanted the Yeo-ui-ju for himself even if it meant to defy Heaven's law. To keep the Yeo-ui-ju from Buraki, it was sent to Earth and placed within the body of a newly born girl, Narin. When she turned twenty, with the Yeo-ui-ju fully formed, Buraki found her before the good Imugi could, sending his followers to get her for him. But though she must be sacrficed to the good Imugi to release the Yeo-ui-ju, Haram couldn't do it and so the two commited suicide to escape Buraki's grasp with promise to meet again in a next life.

15 years after the enounter with Jack, the reincarnation of Haram's mentor, the adult Ethan (Jason Behr) is a television news reporter who coincidentally meets Sarah Daniels (Amanda Brooks), the reincarnation of Narin. Meanwhile, after waiting 500 years, Buraki rises in modern Los Angeles and repeatedly chases the two reincarnated lovers; personally and with his army. In the end, he finally captures both her and Ethan. However, the good imugi arrives at the last moment and fights with Buraki. It is then that Sarah decides that she doesn't want to run away anymore, releasing the Yeo-ui-ju from her body to allow the good imugi transform into a powerful dragon, at the cost of her life, to finally destory Buraki. As the skies begin to clear, Ethan holds the dead Sarah in his arms, as she fades into a spirit and promises Ethan they'll meet again before she gives herself up completely into the Yeo-ui-ju as the dragon, moved to the point of tears, takes the orb back to heaven.

Cast

Reception

Within nine days of its South Korean release, D-War attracted five million viewers, setting a national box office record for an opening week.[citation needed] Despite the film's popularity, film critics were unimpressed by the movie's weak storyline, and questioned Shim's ability as a director. The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews upon release in the U.S. and was not screened in advance for many critics. As of January 5, 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 25% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 28 reviews.[7] Derek Elley of Variety, reviewing it at the Berlin Film Festival's market section, called it "visually entertaining, and superior to helmer Shim Hyung-rae's last monster outing", while also saying the film had a "a Z-grade, irony-free script," and predicted it would become "the most expensive cult movie on DVD."[8] The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck said, "the CGI effects are undeniably impressive" but that "the laughable story line, risible dialogue and cheap humor ... seriously detract from the fun".[9] Luke Y. Thompson in L.A. Weekly derided the film as one "for connoisseurs of the 'totally preposterous crap' school of fantasy cinema" and "[f]unnier when it tries to be serious than when it goes for the gag".[10]

The seemingly positive reaction from the Korean population, as indicated by the movie's box office success in Korea, was widely attributed to the film's appeal to Korean nationalism[11]; a logical impression drawn from Shim's message at the end of the Korean version of this film, "D-War and I will succeed in the world market without fail," accompanied by the Korean folk anthem, "Arirang". However, despite box office success, D-Wars was far from critically acclaimed by either Korean critics or Korea's general public. Korean film critic Kim Bong-sok said, "They want it to be successful in the U.S. because it's Korean, not because it's good," and called the film "immature and poorly made" and "below criticism." Other reactions from Korean critics have been similar[11][12].

D-War set a record of grossing $20.3 million in South Korea in its first five days in 689 theatres. As of September 1, the film has grossed $44 million in Korea and another $10 million in other countries, totaling a worldwide gross of $54 million as of September 16. In North America, the film grossed $5 million on 2,275 screens in its opening weekend. As of November 25, 2007, the film has grossed $10,977,721 in North America,[13] making it the highest grossing Korean-made film released theatrically in North America.

Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.freestylereleasing.com/library.htm
  2. ^ 김인구 (2007-06-14). "'화려한 휴가' '디 워', 우리가 '괴물'의 영광 재현한다". Joins.com. Retrieved 2007-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ 이경호 (2007-06-14). "심형래 8월 '디워' 개봉 앞두고 '침착 담담한 심경'". Mydaily. Retrieved 2007-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b Yang Sung-jin. The Korea Herald (July 25, 2007): "D-War upgrades computer graphics"
  5. ^ Barnes, Brooks. The New York Times (Sept. 10, 2007): "New Tactics Aim to Make Korean Film a Hit in the U.S."
  6. ^ Jinho, Jung (2007-08-14). "On MBC's D-War Controversy". Joynews. Retrieved 2007-08-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Dragon Wars - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
  8. ^ Elley, Derek. Variety (review posted Feb. 9, 2007)
  9. ^ Scheck, Frank. The Hollywood Reporter (review posted Sept. 17, 2007)
  10. ^ Thompson, Luke Y. L.A. Weekly (review published Sept. 12, 2007)
  11. ^ a b Wallace, Bruce (October 15, 2007), "In South Korea, patriotism rears its dragon-like head", Los Angeles Times
  12. ^ Su-jin, Chun. ""D-War" scores with nationalism". JoongAng Daily.
  13. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dragonwars.htm

References

External links

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