Jang Dong-gun Movies
Asian samurai Yang (Korean superstar Jang Dong-gun) has a change of heart after slaughtering his enemy's family, and spares a newborn child. On the run from his master, he heads to America, where he finds a beat-down town that is home to freaks, circus performers, an old drunk (Geoffrey Rush), and a knife-thrower (Kate Bosworth). This spunky love interest soon becomes the student, with the wandering warrior passing along his knowledge so that she can enact revenge against scarred scumbag The Colonel (Danny Huston). As the master tracks the sound of the warrior's sword (literally), the samurai makes one final stand with the town to thwart The Colonel and his gang before they burn it all down. Soon enough, cowboys and ninjas meet in a duel to the death -- guns vs. katanas. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jang Dong-gun, Kate Bosworth, (more)
- 2009
In this wacky comedy from South Korea, three inept leaders take turns occupying the country's presidential residence, also known as the Blue House. Kim Jong-Ho wins the lottery and soon retires; single parent Cha Ji-Uk must fight his way through diplomacy issues while exploring a romantic involvement with his childhood sweetheart; and Han Gyeong-ja - the country's first female president - must deal with her devoted but meddlesome husband. Jang Jin directs. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lee Soon-jae, Jang Dong-gun, (more)
A would-be North Korean defector still reeling over the killing of his family by the communist government when he was just a child determines to destroy the Korean peninsula in a tense, politically minded action thriller directed by Kwak Kyung-taek and starring Jang Dong-gun, Lee Jung-jae, and Lee Mi-yeon. When a vessel sailing a few hundred kilometers off the northeast port of Jt Long in Taiwan is hijacked by pirates and the National Intelligence Service learns that a nuclear guidance kit has been stolen, they quickly dispatch naval lieutenant Kang, Se-jong (Lee Jung-jae) to find out who was responsible for the deed and to bring him to justice. The criminal mastermind in question is Sin (Jang Dong-gun), a man who harbors a deep-rooted hatred for the Korean government due to a tragic event that took place in his childhood. As a young boy, Sin's family had tried to defect to South Korea. When they were turned away by a government who feared complicating their relationship with China, however, Sin watched as his parents were brutally executed and his only sister, Choi, Myung-ju (Lee Mi-yeon), was taken away. Upon learning that Sin currently resides in Russia, Lieutenant Kang travels to the Eastern European republic as the tragedy of Sin's past slowly comes into focus for the sympathetic military man. His mission to apprehend Sin is clear, though, and despite his personal feelings Lieutenant Kang remains determined to get his man by any means necessary. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jang Dong-gun, Lee Jeong-jae, (more)
Love and war conspire to create a romantic triangle in this lavish historical epic from director Chen Kaige. A young girl who has lost her parents to the violence of war bravely refuses to obey the orders of a warrior's son, and is approached by a spirit who offers her a life of wealth and power as a reward, but with a catch -- she will never know the love of a man unless she learns how to bring the dead back to life by turning back time. Two decades later, the orphaned girl has become Qingcheng (Cecilia Cheung), the adopted daughter of The King (Cheng Qian), and her nation is yet again in the grip of war. During a long and bloody battle, Kunlun (Jang Dong-gun), a slave who has been ordered to fight, proves his skill and bravery in combat, and his commander, General Guangming (Hiroyuki Sanada), rewards him by making him his personal assistant. When Guangming learns that the King is in danger, he and Kunlun set out to rescue him. Kunlun is disguised as Guangming as they prepare to fight the enemy leader Wuhuan (Nicholas Tse), who is out to assassinate the King, but when they arrive, they find that the strong-willed Qingcheng is in greater danger than the potentate as her father and his soldiers struggle to verbally and physically cut her down to size. Kunlun and Guangming impulsively rescue Qingcheng instead of the King, and as they look for a safe haven for the princess, both men fall in love with her, while both the King's forces and Wuhuan are determined to find them. Budgeted at 30 million dollars, Mo Gik (aka The Promise, Master of the Crimson Armor, and Wu Ji) was a major box-office success in China before receiving an international release. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hiroyuki Sanada, Jang Dong-gun, (more)
Imagine the world and age that you live in unfolding under slightly different circumstances -- what would life be like if our familiar history took a different route? Instead of fighting each other, Japan and the United States have teamed with one another to bring down Hitler during World War II -- and instead of bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Enola Gay flew its fateful mission over Berlin, effectively bringing an end to the Nazi reign of terror. When a terrorist attack unleashes destruction upon a museum housing a collection of priceless ancient artifacts, J.B.I. Agent Masayuki Sakamoto (Jang Dong-Gun) discovers an underground band of freedom fighters willing to pay the ultimate price to acquire the mythical "Lunar Soul." As the mystery comes into light and Sakamoto discovers that everything he has ever known could be little more than a complex illusion, political intrigue and speculative science fiction combine to bring viewers one of the most compelling and original fantasy films that South Korea has to offer. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toru Nakamura, Jang Dong-gun, (more)
- 2004
- R
- Add Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War to Queue Add Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War to top of Queue
Korea's leading filmmaker, Kang Je-gyu, directed this epic-scale drama focusing on two brothers caught up in the madness of the war that tore their nation apart in the early '50s. Jin-seok Lee (Weon Bin) is a bright and well-educated young man whose older and more physically imposing brother Jin-tae Lee (Jang Dong-gun) believes he represents the best hope for his family's future. When both Jin-seok and Jin-tae are called up to fight in the South Korean army following the advance of Communist forces, a wary Jin-tae cuts a deal with his commanding officer -- if he racks up an impressive enough record on the battlefield, the army will give Jin-seok an early release. Jin-tae proves to be a fearless soldier, and is soon recognized as a war hero, but as the conflict wears on, he develops an unhealthy enthusiasm for the violence of the battlefield, and Jin-seok finds himself questioning his big brother's actions, both as a soldier and as a member of his family. The title Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War refers to the Korean name for the South Korean flag, originally designed in 1876 but outlawed during Japanese rule of the nation, and restored to use in 1948. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jang Dong-gun, Weon Bin, (more)
Kim Ki-duk's Haeanseon (The Coast Guard) is set on the South Korean coastline. Kang Han-cheol (Jang Dong-gun) is an eager military private who wants nothing more than to shoot a North Korean spy. The villagers in town are at odds with the military presence because they claim there are no more spies. One night Kang sees two people on the beach who turn out to be a local girl and her boyfriend engaged in sexual intercourse. Kang shoots the young man and is celebrated by his fellow officers even though the villagers are outraged. The Coast Guard was the opening film at the Pusan Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jang Dong-gun, Park Ji-a, (more)
This historical action drama puts a modern-day spin on a story inspired by actual events from Korea's past. In 1924, the Japanese government has occupied both Korea and Shanghai, putting a stranglehold on political freedoms and imposing Japanese imperialism upon the people. A group of five anarchists skilled in the martial arts -- lone wolf Seregay (Jang Dong-gun), impulsive master fighter Dol-Suk (Lee Bum-soo), sickly but fast-moving Han (Sang Jung Kim), philosophical Lee (Joon Ho Jung), and novice battler Sang-gu (Kim In-kwon) -- joins forces with a group of rebels fighting against Japanese tyranny. However, while the five anarchists soon prove their bravery in a series of terrorist actions against Japanese occupation forces, most of the rebels have embraced a socialist political philosophy, and when the anarchists refuse to follow suit, they are forced to strike out on their own. With nowhere else to turn, the anarchists take up a life of crime to support themselves as they strike out against Japanese authority, but soon they realize that their mission is doomed to fail and decide to go out in a final blaze of glory against a Japanese ship carrying a number of top officials. Along with Sandstorm, Anakiseuteu won the Audience Choice Award in its American premiere at the 2001 Cinequest San Jose Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Conflicting criminal alliances turn old friends into mortal enemies in this taut drama. Thoughtful Sang-taek (Tae-hwa Seo), hot-tempered Jeong-suk (Yu Oh-seong), bookish Jeong-ho (Un-taek Jeong), and hair-triggered Dong-su (Jang Dong-gun) are four friends who grew up together in a small town in South Korea. The four came of age in the politically tumultuous early '80s, and while in high school, the boys began to drift into a life of crime as members of a teenage gang. Three years after graduating, Dong-su has ended up in prison and Jeong-suk is addicted to drugs, while Jeong-ho and Sang-taek have walked away from their delinquent pasts and are enrolled in college, though they occasionally visit Dong-su behind bars. When Dong-su is finally released, he returns to a life of street crime, but turning his back on Jeong-suk, he aligns himself with a different underworld gang. Despite his drug habit, Jeong-suk has risen to a position of no small power on the streets, and as Dong-su's star rises, it leads to an inevitable collision between the two friends. Chingu proved to be a massive commercial success in South Korea, setting a record for racking up six million admissions faster than any local feature in the nation's history. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yu Oh-seong, Jang Dong-gun, (more)
Korean maverick auteur Lee Myung-Se directs this wildly exuberant, genre-crunching, police-comedy action flick. Held together with only the barest of plot elements, this film is a gleeful romp through a litany of film styles and references. Following a gangland murder in a popular Seoul shopping area, bumptious, cock-sure detective Woo ( Lee regular Park Joong Hoon) and his marginally more contemplative partner Kim (Jang Dong-gun) comb the city for the killer (former heartthrob Ahn Sung-Ki). Woo stumbles from one jaw-dropping sequence of stylized violence to another until he has his final two-fisted showdown with the killer. Nowhere to Hide was the second-highest-grossing film of 1999 in Korea and an audience favorite at the 1999 Pusan Film Festival and the 2000 Sundance Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ahn Song-Gi, Park Joong-Hoon, (more)
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