Best Korean films
by jirifl | created - 27 Apr 2014 | updated - 27 Apr 2014 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Host (2006)
R | 120 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-Bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona
Votes: 132,664 | Gross: $2.20M
2. Memories of Murder (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 216,152 | Gross: $0.01M
3. Snowpiercer (2013)
R | 126 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer (a train that travels around the globe), a new class system emerges.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris
Votes: 388,856 | Gross: $4.56M
4. Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy
An idle part-time college lecturer is annoyed by the yapping sound of a nearby dog. He decides to take drastic action.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Bae Doona, Lee Sung-jae, Kim Ho-jung, Byun Hee-Bong
Votes: 10,318
5. Mother (2009)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yun Je-mun
Votes: 71,612 | Gross: $0.55M
6. Save the Green Planet! (2003)
Not Rated | 118 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Byeong-gu believes that the world is on the verge of an alien invasion, and sets out to save the world.
Director: Joon-Hwan Jang | Stars: Shin Ha-kyun, Baek Yun-shik, Hwang Jung-min, Lee Jae-yong
Votes: 8,700 | Gross: $0.01M
7. A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't follow his boss's orders.
Directors: Jung Doo Hong, Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min
Votes: 42,906
8. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 146,117 | Gross: $0.13M
9. The Good the Bad the Weird (2008)
R | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The story of two outlaws and a bounty hunter in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jung Woo-sung, Yun Je-mun
Votes: 37,927 | Gross: $0.13M
10. The Foul King (2000)
112 min | Comedy, Sport
A wimpy, incompetent bank clerk decides to become a pro wrestler.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Park Sang-Myeon, Song Kang-ho, Jin-young Jang, Jang Hang-seon
Votes: 2,325
11. The Quiet Family (1998)
101 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A family opens a mountain inn where their first guest commits suicide. Suddenly all their guests befall horrible fates.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Park In-hwan, Na Moon-hee, Song Kang-ho, Choi Min-sik
Votes: 5,996
12. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
R | 114 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
After being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lim Soo-jung, Yum Jung-ah, Kim Kap-su, Moon Geun-young
Votes: 68,251
13. Thirst (2009)
R | 134 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Through a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-bin, Choi Hee-jin, Seo Dong-soo
Votes: 51,388 | Gross: $0.30M
14. Joint Security Area (2000)
Not Rated | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
After a shooting incident at the North-South Korean border DMZ leaves two North Korean soldiers dead, a neutral Swiss and Swedish team investigates what actually happened.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Lee Yeong-ae, Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Kim Tae-woo
Votes: 34,185
15. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Lim Ji-eun
Votes: 75,113 | Gross: $0.05M
16. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 635,393 | Gross: $0.71M
17. Lady Vengeance (2005)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Nam-mi Kang, Jeong-nam Choi, Hye-Sook Go, Bok-hwa Baek
Votes: 86,072 | Gross: $0.21M
18. The Man from Nowhere (2010)
R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.
Director: Lee Jeong-beom | Stars: Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Hee-won
Votes: 74,824 | Gross: $0.01M
19. The Yellow Sea (2010)
R | 136 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the attempt to kill a professor goes wrong, a series of violent events are triggered which force a taxi driver to run for his life.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Lee Yoo-mi, Ha Jung-woo, Lee Hee-joon, Kim Yoon-seok
Votes: 22,951
20. The King and the Clown (2005)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, History
Two clowns living in Korea's Chosun Dynasty get arrested for staging a play that satirizes the king. They are dragged to the palace and threatened with execution but are given a chance to save their lives if they can make the king laugh.
Director: Lee Joon-ik | Stars: Kam Woo-seong, Jung Jin-young, Kang Seong-yeon, Lee Joon-gi
Votes: 5,983
21. Castaway on the Moon (2009)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A failed suicide attempt leads a heartbroken man to live a life in the wilderness.
Director: Lee Hae-jun | Stars: Jeong Jae-yeong, Jung Ryeo-won, Yeong-seo Park, Yang Mi-kyeong
Votes: 19,709
22. My Sassy Girl (2001)
Not Rated | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young man sees a drunk, cute woman standing too close to the tracks at a metro station in Seoul and pulls her back. She ends up getting him into trouble repeatedly after that, starting on the train.
Director: Jae-young Kwak | Stars: Cha Tae-hyun, Jun Ji-hyun, In-mun Kim, Song Wok-suk
Votes: 50,476
23. Memento Mori (1999)
R | 97 min | Horror, Romance, Drama
In this second installment of the Whispering Corridors series, a young girl finds a strange diary, capable of arousing hallucinations, kept by two of her senior fellow-students who seem to have an unusually close bond.
Directors: Kyu-dong Min, Kim Tae-yong | Stars: Kim Gyu-ri, Park Yejin, Lee Yeong-jin, Jong-hak Baek
Votes: 3,605
24. Whispering Corridors (1998)
R | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
In a Korean school, students are regularly beaten and mistreated by their teachers. However, the spirit of one pupil, who died ten years ago, periodically returns in the guise of a new girl, thus able to gain a revenge on the culprits.
Director: Ki-hyeong Park | Stars: Kim Gyu-ri, Yun Ji-hye, Park Jin-hee, Choi Kang-hee
Votes: 3,498
25. Crying Fist (2005)
134 min | Action, Drama, Sport
Tae Sik, a troubled middle aged man and Sang Hwan, a troubled youth will meet in the ring with their respective mission. To change their life.
Director: Ryu Seung-wan | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Ryu Seung-beom, Jeong-ah Bae, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 3,133
26. Attack the Gas Station (1999)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Crime
Four disaffected youths rob a gas station but find their plans complicated and sidetracked before the night is through.
Director: Sang-Jin Kim | Stars: Lee Sung-jae, Yu Oh-seong, Kang Seong-jin, Yoo Ji-tae
Votes: 4,543
27. The Thieves (2012)
Not Rated | 135 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
After a heist in South Korea, a gang of 5+1 fly to Hong Kong to look into a heist, in a Macau casino, of a $30M diamond, planned by someone unreliable. He brings in HK thieves as well. Can anyone be trusted?
Director: Dong-hoon Choi | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Lee Jung-jae, Kim Hye-su, Jun Ji-hyun
Votes: 11,542 | Gross: $0.69M
28. Woman Chasing the Butterfly of Death (1978)
110 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A depressed young man crosses paths with a woman who commits suicide, a book salesman obsessed with the will to live, a resurrected female corpse, and a archaeologist and his unstable artist daughter, in a fantasy tale of life and death.
Director: Kim Ki-young | Stars: Kim Ja-ok, Jeong-cheol Kim, Man Kim, Won Namkung
Votes: 267
29. Birdcage Inn (1998)
105 min | Drama
Streetwise Jin-a moves into a boarding house run by a small, close-knit family. But her unacceptable behavior threatens to destroy them all.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Ji-eun Lee, Hye Eun Lee, Ahn Jae-mo, Hyeong-gi Jeong
Votes: 2,025
30. 3-Iron (2004)
R | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A transient young man breaks into empty homes to partake of the vacationing residents' lives for a few days.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Lee Seung-yun, Jae Hee, Hyuk-ho Kwon, Joo Jin-mo
Votes: 58,249 | Gross: $0.24M
31. No Mercy for the Rude (2006)
121 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A mute hit-man vows to kill only the rude, and save up enough money for tongue surgery.
Director: Cheol-hie Park | Stars: Shin Ha-kyun, Yun Ji-hye, Kim Min-joon, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 1,760
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