D-War

Plot synopsis:
"Since the dawn of what became a legend, the most unimaginable is about to occur . This summer, experience the absolute conquest of all mankind. Beginning with one search. For the one and only. The chosen one. Descended from the heavens above. Welcome to Dragon Wars."A STORY THAT HAS BEEN LOST TO MANKIND...CONCEPT:"Dragons are mythical, legendary creatures found in cultures throughout the world. However, the Imoogi possesses extraordinary powers that allow it to transform itself into a dynamic, powerful and sometimes demonic animal.In mythology, the Dragon is characterized as a divine governor of water and rain. People held sacrificial rites to the God of King Dragon to pray for rain or protection from deadly storms . These sacrificial rites also included prayers to the Imoogi because it had the ability to cause droughts by filling the skies with fire. There are still actual remnants around the cult-like shrines and prayer altars used to worship the Imoogi thousands of years ago.Yeouijoo, a symbol for Dragon, refers to a magical pearl possessing the power to grant any wish. Legend has it that an Imoogi can transform itself into a Dragon if it acquires the Yeouijoo .Every five hundred years, the Imoogi have the ability to become Dragons and, thereby, conquer the world by obtaining the magical Yeouijoo.The Yeouijoo is currently hidden in a young's girl's body. The culmination of the Imoogi's perseverance and determination promises to bring dramatic, devastating and inconceivable
consequences .By applying the legend of Imoogi to modern times, D-War is a film that invites us into a new and exceptional world full of suspense, thrill and fantasy !SYNOPSIS:In a small Korean village, five hundred years ago, a girl named Narin was born carrying the coveted Yeouijoo inside her. The Heavens sent the protector Bochun and his protégé Haram, to ensure that when it came time, Narin was peacefully sacrificed to the
pre-determined Good Imoogi. Bochun vigorously trained Haram as a knight, to be prepared for the eventual day when Narin would be delivered to the Good Imoogi.
The day the Dark Imoogi, Buraki, and his army destroyed Narin's village looking for the Yeouijoo, Bochun instructed Haram to take her to the Good Imoogi.The young girl and her knight would then fulfill the giant's serpent's destiny by giving it the power to save the world and become a heavenly dragon. By this time, after spending several years together, Haram and Narin had fallen in love.
Unable to sacrifice their love to the benevolent Imoogi, they jumped to their deaths together
in each other's arms. The Good Imoogi's destiny was unfulfilled and he would have to wait
another five hundred years until the next Yeouijoo appears.It is now five hundred years later in present day Los Angeles and the quest for the Imoogi is reborn. Haram and Narin have been reincarnated as Ethan Kendrick and Sarah Daniels whose bond of love remains unsevered. Ethan is an investigative reporter for the local news. He is closely following a series of unexplainable disasters occurring in the area.
When a young woman named Sarah is linked to those occurrences, Ethan remembers that an ancient man he met many years before had predicted all of these events . Ethan finds Sarah and helps her escape the wrath of Buraki and his army.
Aware that Sarah must sacrifice herself in order to save the city from the Buraki and ensure that the Good Imoogi becomes the Dragon, Ethan tries to convince Sarah that there is another way to battle the Imoogies. Meanwhile, the FBI agent on the case, Frank Campbell, has uncovered the Imoogies' intentions through his own investigations. Campbell is ready to sacrifice Sarah to the demonic animals to save Los Angeles.
In the face of chaos and destruction, Ethan and Sarah must decide their own fate - whether to defy the will of heaven once again and let the city be destroyed or deliver Sarah
to the Good Imoogi. "-----end( obtained from Younggu-Art by media liaison, Irene Nakano , in Seoul , Korea / e-mail: soongshil@gmail.com )

Tags: good versus evil, action

Review:
This made the viewing experience far more exciting than it should have been.It's a good movie to take your kids to, but except for the final battle sequence, D-War is disappointing.
The film is a big, loud special effects bonanza the likes of which have been seen plenty of times on United States soil, but "D-War" is unique in the fact that it is not an American production, but an Asian one, specifically of the South Korean kind.But just because it's a South Korean movie with American actors, does that really make it good?
It's received mostly negative reviews here in the U.S. and in South Korea (where it set box office records for an opening week with an estimated five million viewers within a nine-day time-span), but the movie's special effects and action sequences are undeniably stunning.
500 years later in Los Angeles, the man is reincarnated as American news reporter Ethan (Jason Behr), who as a child was given a powerful pendant by an elderly antiques dealer named Jack (Robert Forster) and now has to find the reincarnated woman, Sarah (Amanda Brooks), before her 20th birthday.Sure enough, in special effects sequences that seem right out of any Asian monster flick made in the last 50 years, the dragon Buraki reappears with his seemingly invincible army of demonic warriors to continue his 500-year pursuit of what is rightfully his.
Lots of explosions, guns, and destruction as ancient slams head-on into 21st-century military technology, and Ethan and Sarah try to find a way to stop Buraki and his army before he destroys the city."D-War" is a film that looks and sounds amazing, in theory, but the execution is so poor that you'll rightfully feel that you've been cheated by the time the credits roll.
In this regard, Shim has surely done his job in presenting "D-War" as a no-holds-barred sci-fi/fantasy action epic.On the other hand, the film's human players are drastically short-changed and given cheap, hokey dialogue and scenes that rarely connect.
The acting and direction seem mediocre at best (so that you do feel a little sorry for the hokey performances of American heavyweight Robert Forster and up-and-coming Jason Behr), which is a real shame because Hyung-rae Shim is obviously a capable talent who knew what he wanted to do here and surely enough had the means to do it.
And the ending, a would-be "Raiders of the Lost Ark" special effects showdown, seems pretty cheap too.I really wanted to like this movie, believe me, but "D-War" is a mediocre attempt at something that really had potential to be spectacular.
It's just too bad that the finished product of "D-War" appears to be like any other "B"-grade monster movie than the extraordinary idea that the director had in mind.5/10.
Because that way there's nobody around to tell you when you hack great holes in your plot, have meaningless transitions, trite, unmemorable dialog and manage to turn a fairly cool Korean legend into a steaming pile of celluloid turd.I wanted to like this movie as a trashy popcorn movie, really I did; I like lots of crappy movies.
Good Lord, I've seen bad acting, but this movie takes the cake.
You'd expect the action scenes on a movie like this to be its strong points but D-Wars surprises you with even a let down in that department.
Please, whatever you do people, don't waste your time and money on a crappy movie like D-Wars..
This movie is likely the worst movie I've ever seen in my life -- surpassing the previous most god-awful movie, "Spawn of Slithis," which I saw when I was about 10.Bad acting, stilted and ridiculous dialog, incomprehensible plot, mishmashed cut scenes, even the music was annoying.
Well, the special effects weren't bad -- but CGI does not a decent movie make.I can't believe I actually spent money to see this movie.
But it wasn't a one or two star movie like people are giving it.Pretty much, the plot is decent.
I've seen a lot of B movies like Reptilian, The Cave, Spider, and others, but i have to say if you want a non stop laugh for an hour, watch this.Story: 1/10 CG: 5/10 Acting:3/10I don't drink...but it would have helped before watching this movie.
Things that although seem rational at the time, later reveal themselves to be engraved invitations for suffering and endless recriminations of stupidity.For some people it is signing the note for the new Hummer, for others it is picking up a homicidal hitchhiker, for still others it is sending their bank account information to third world millionaires mysteriously strapped for cash.For me it was a film.D-War: Dragon Wars In hindsight, I should have guessed how environmentally friendly and thoroughly recycled this movie would turn out to be from its stuttered and repeating title.
Sadly, by the time the old man in the pawnshop explained the entire backstory, fifteen minutes into the picture, I had the sudden, sinking revelation that comes from knowing every plot point of a still unseen film.
And worse: I knew just how badly every point would all suck.Let me be perfectly clear here, the English language lacks sufficient nuance and depth in the field of ultimate evil to properly describe just how bad this film really is.As for knowing all the twists of movie, I was wrong.
And lots of liquor.Let me try to explain.Imagine you could get a hold of all the coolest-looking set pieces from successful action movies of the last decade: First take the rasta-talking army of amphibians from Star Wars Episode One and remove their Prozac until they are ready to club Navy Seals.Next, take close approximations of Kira Knightly and Tom Cruise (You can even call him Ethan as a "subtle" nod to the Mission Impossible franchise.) and give them lots of film noir narration, so no one get confused while trying to follow the wading-pool depths of their thoughts.Finally add a raspy-voiced villain in pointy armor worthy of a Lord of the Rings yardsale and a couple of giant cobras, angry at having their scenes deleted from latest edition of King Kong, and lay them all out in no particular order in modern day Los Angeles.Now run to the drugstore to find something for your sudden migraine.
And it was, but not as implied, and thereby disappointing some movie goers who expected good dragons versus bad dragons, utterly destroying a big city.
It could have been a well-balanced work, adding in the character-driven plot lines; however, the acting herein was so poor, as to drive this film down into the annals of the "B" action/horror flick.The effects are awesome!
Though it did not detract from the overall effectiveness of the work, it did lessen the enjoyment somewhat.Frankly, the Lord of the Rings/Star Wars-worthy CGI combined with poor acting quality and brilliant style, left this production feeling more uneven and unprepared for filming, as if the actors themselves did not have their hearts in this work.All in all?
Some of my favorite sci-fi /fantasy movies so you can have a sense of my taste: Mirrormask, Stardust, Serenity, Gattaca, Willow, Matrix, Resident Evil series, LOTR, Stargate, Dark City.It wasn't confusing like everyone said and the monsters looked good and the battles great.
Further more the plot is of an old korean legend with dragons, wizards and helpers who kick arse!....Fantasy storytelling at its best....And no its not the best film ever but nether was godzilla which one critic gave 1 star, yet i loved it as did lots of my family, friends and other critics!.
This film has everything from stars wars to lord of the rings incorporated into the story and effects....so what?...Thats why i enjoyed films like this as a child.It reminded me in parts like the 'never ending story' which as a child i truly enjoyed!.....So those adults out their that still have a little bit of child within them, go take your kids and enjoy this entertaining movie!!..
Neither of these actors are reasons to see this stupid, stupid movie.The plot, if you can call it that, deals with some old legend about dragons, and dragons and Korean warriors coming to LA, and the only hope of stopping them are two people who were reincarnated versions of these two Korean lovers.
Dragon Wars fits that bill nicely.Bad acting/story/special effects are all essentials elements of a BAD movie.
Its got "that guy from Roswell" and "Daryl" and some pretty cute chick (and I swear to god one of those actors was in a porno I saw titled "Busty Cops" but that's a whole other thing that I don't feel like getting into).Also, this isn't a movie that's bad and unenjoyable (see "War").
Prior to the premiere of this film in Korea, every time I watched the news, there was some story about D-War....
Yes, I KNOW that this movie is about dragons and I shouldn't be too scrutinizing on the CGI, but Jurassic Park was based on dinosaurs and that was made over 10 years ago and managed to have better graphics than this.
The CGI didn't converge well with the rest of the scenery and made a terrible clash.I think I was soooo lucky to have watched Transformers AFTER D-War because if I saw it the other way around, I would have walked out of D-War. D-War may have set the record for best opening in Korea, but to be perfectly honest, it was all based on national pride, which isn't a bad thing mind you.
It was good enough to make this movie great if the script, acting, direction and editing had been a lot better.
i have watch dragon wars at the movie theater and own a DVD.people judge the movie bad because it made in Korea.i found this highly entertaining,just wild fun.A COMPUTER GAME?.style only fast fast fast.has anyone seen iron man avengers pirates of Caribbean(salt crabs carrying jack sparrows ship?.the cgi was done by a American company The Orphanage.this company was hired by the Korean movie company for those cgi special effects and WETA (lord of the rings)did the working creatures.(static shots and partial mostly full size puppets).to quote a famous comic actor,"every one copies its how you make it your own".also there are inside jokes in the special effects areas.LOOK.the story made perfect sense and a ton of stereotype was thrown into the dumpster.dialog is in complete clear language and Korean parts in Korean language.no more white mans ding dong dub.i am a enlightened white man.early movie dub basically was done by distribution companies this stupid sounding lingo found one primarly Asian movies.a large number of Asian movies made before 1977 are being redubed pollicaly corrected dialog but,in correct that countries style of spoken language..
people who's criticize this flick here seems bloating d-war's weakness as if all other pg-13 rated sci-fi monster movies are Oscar winners.This movie, Dragon War should get at least 7 out of 10Godzilla, 7 out of 10 King Kong, 8 out of 10 Independence day, 6 out of 10 Jurassic park, 9 out of 10.
Those sequences don't even fit into the overall making style of the movie.For sure we can not reward this director for finding new and innovative ways of action-movie making.What the sci-fi action thrillers Jurassic Parc and Co. have in common is at least a decent plot, thrilling moments and some good, authentic acting.
Here are the good things: the Korean version I saw is shorter than the European one - sorry, my European friends, you have 17 more excruciating minutes.In conclusion, if you like CG, buy a PS3 or a Wii. If you want to be entertained, D-War is not the place..
After all, there were trailers before the movie, and these I quite enjoyed.See, I went into the film expecting CGI, and to probably see the CGI, and to love it anyway, because there was action, and there were dragons, and there was lots of shoot 'em up.
So I am sure that you will not be disappointed with dragon wars because it is a good movie.
The apache versus 1000 foot snake and apache versus gargoyles in the crowded building laced streets of LA was pretty coolly done.so basically the whole movie is only the last 15-20 minutes, that's the money's worth and the length before that is well like everyone said, hogwash.Good CGI, something at least I saw after some long time..
The apache versus 1000 foot snake and apache versus gargoyles in the crowded building laced streets of LA was pretty coolly done.so basically the whole movie is only the last 15-20 minutes, that's the money's worth and the length before that is well like everyone said, hogwash.Good CGI, something at least I saw after some long time..
I went to see it with friends also, and even though we laughed, a lot, it was still not worth the $6.50 and definitely not worth the hour and a half we spent in there.To let you know where I'm coming from, I actually liked D&D the movie.
There is no coherent plot, there is no coherent story line, there are no coherent actors (I'm pretty sure they had to be on something to be in this flick and think what they were doing was acting), and the CGI was almost worse than the old school use of claymation.The only good thing I can say about this movie is that it gave my boyfriend and I a lot to laugh about - first off at ourselves for being lame enough to see this movie, second after reading a lot of yahoo user reviews and reviews on here (one man said he'd shoot himself in the knee cap if anyone asked him to see this movie again) we felt highly entertained (though one could just read those reviews and avoid the movie and be fine), and third at how we could not name ONE MOVIE we've ever seen that was worse than this one.So if you LIKE terrible movies, like REALLY terrible, then this is for you.
Koreans are not naive that much any more.I think the reason is it's the first movie that visualize the legend of Imoogi and Korean-style dragon.I heard that many Korean who watched the movie said the plot was terrible, but in the last battle scene of "Imoogi and dragon", they felt something.I think the director failed in telling the story itself, and so failed in giving some strong impression.Koreans were generous to this movie enough to ignore the big holes in plot, so they felt some impression that might have arisen either in non-Korean's heart, if the plot was good enough..
Ethan seeks out Sarah and together they fight to survive and destroy the devilish dragon."D-War" is a disappointing movie, with a lame story of the director and writer Hyung-rae Shim associated to a terrible acting of the unexpressive lead couple.
The plot development went on for -- ev -- er and I wish I could have even that 50% of my money back.The effects and graphics were good but if you are looking for a movie then wait until it comes to a Red Box near you so you will only waste one dollar.As movies go, this one should have been left in the can..
This New Korean Film Director is from Korea, and this country never made SF Movies before.
In all my 37 years of seeing movies I have NEVER asked for a refund for a movie ticket....until this film.first of all, a THIRD of the film is in Korean - no subtitles as I saw it in Korea - understandable, but I'm sorry - I expect non-English dialog to be subtitled in ANY Hollywood film.That would have been bad enough, but all the Korean scenes are SO out of touch with the reality of the Korean they're supposed to take place in - the clothes are all wrong, and the people are WAY too clean - this was a medieval period and the characters look like they just stepped out of a Korean soap opera.
A really crappy plot, the dragon wars comes in like an aid to help the movie, and then it fails.
Not only did the movie stink but something happened to the film in the last 25 minutes so we had to wait while they fixed it and they turned the lights on and half the people in the theater were complaining about how bad the story line was.
There are a few shots that could have be done different that would have made the movie a little better but all in all I give the Korean film makers a 10 star(part for effort) and hope there next sci-fi with a little more money available will give us more great entertainment.
I would give this movie about half of a star because the effects and some of it was good for a laugh with friends, but if you want to see what is wrong with the entire movie industry see this film!!!.
I can only guess that the people who gave this movie such bad reviews didn't have brains enough to follow its imaginative storyline, or appreciate Sci Fi Channel product that (for once!) was more plot than gore.Do yourself a favor and pay no attention to these obviously over-the-top pans.A fun mixture of martial arts, fantasy, Korean mythology (which I was totally unfamiliar with, prior to seeing this), D-WARS offers a unique cultural angle on the standard dragon legend, with solid effects and better-than-SciFiChannel- average acting..
Maybe because I like to see dragons ruin cities and stuff, but I'd say this is a movie worth watching.
Again, you cannot watch this movie and look for a deep plot or story mainly because you will not find it, but the movie is entertaining, and even funny at points, just because the fact that there is a legit war going on between humans and dragon/dinosaur type things.