Non-Korean Film Reviews Archive

  • In the near future, the government of Japan enforces an injection in preschoolers that randomly causes death in the minority of them upon reaching adult hood (anytime between the ages of 18-25) in an effort to boost good citizenship and force a meaningful life. Messengers appointed by the government deliver...

    Non-Korean Review: Death Notice – Ikigami (Tomoyuki Takimoto / 2008)

    Posted on March 28, 2011 | No Comments
    In the near future, the government of Japan enforces an injection in preschoolers that randomly causes death in the minority of them upon reaching adult hood (anytime between the ages of 18-25) in an effort to boost good citizenship and force a meaningful life. Messengers appointed by the government deliver...

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  • Ip Man and his family have escaped the Japanese on the mainland and have relocated themselves to Hong Kong. Life is difficult as they have no money and Ip Man has little success in finding students to teach in order to provide an income. One day a potential student arrives...

    Non-Korean Review: Ip Man 2 (Wilson Yip / 2010)

    Posted on March 3, 2011 | No Comments
    Ip Man and his family have escaped the Japanese on the mainland and have relocated themselves to Hong Kong. Life is difficult as they have no money and Ip Man has little success in finding students to teach in order to provide an income. One day a potential student arrives...

    Continue Reading...

  • A biblical tidal wave strikes Tokyo. In the aftermath, Shizuma leads a rescue squad from the city Fire Department to Shimbashi Station, now an area of devastated wasteland. Shocked to learn that his younger brother, Yuji, and seven year-old niece are trapped underground, Shizuma mobilises a specialist rescue squad to...

    Non-Korean Review: 252: Sign of Life (Nobuo Mizuta / 2008)

    Posted on January 4, 2011 | No Comments
    A biblical tidal wave strikes Tokyo. In the aftermath, Shizuma leads a rescue squad from the city Fire Department to Shimbashi Station, now an area of devastated wasteland. Shocked to learn that his younger brother, Yuji, and seven year-old niece are trapped underground, Shizuma mobilises a specialist rescue squad to...

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  • It’s 1941 and Japan has just signed a peace treaty with the U.S. and the U.K.. A mysterious thief – a ‘man of many faces’ nonetheless – by the name of K-20 has been committing a series of robberies, taking priceless objects and taunting the police who fail to identify...

    Non-Korean Review: K:20 The Legend of The Black Mask (Shimako Sato / 2008)

    Posted on December 5, 2010 | No Comments
    It’s 1941 and Japan has just signed a peace treaty with the U.S. and the U.K.. A mysterious thief – a ‘man of many faces’ nonetheless – by the name of K-20 has been committing a series of robberies, taking priceless objects and taunting the police who fail to identify...

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  • A battle between two warring states ends in a bloodbath that leaves thousands dead and only two survivors – a middle-aged peasant soldier from Liang and an injured young warrior prince from the state of Wei. The peasant soldier seizes an opportunity to collect a reward for the capture of...

    Non-Korean Review: Little Big Soldier (Sheng Ding / 2010)

    Posted on October 31, 2010 | No Comments
    A battle between two warring states ends in a bloodbath that leaves thousands dead and only two survivors – a middle-aged peasant soldier from Liang and an injured young warrior prince from the state of Wei. The peasant soldier seizes an opportunity to collect a reward for the capture of...

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  • Confucius is appointed to the position of Mayor of Zhongdu in the Kingdom of Lu (one of the three main kingdoms of the period) where his reputation catches the attention of the King. Impressed by his ideas, the King elevates Confucius to the Royal Court where his policies have more...

    Non-Korean Review: Confucius (Mei Hu / 2010)

    Posted on October 4, 2010 | No Comments
    Confucius is appointed to the position of Mayor of Zhongdu in the Kingdom of Lu (one of the three main kingdoms of the period) where his reputation catches the attention of the King. Impressed by his ideas, the King elevates Confucius to the Royal Court where his policies have more...

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  • In December 1937 the Japanese army captured the city of Nanjing, early on in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the brutal weeks that followed, hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed… Review Written and directed by Lu Chuan, CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (also known as NANKING!...

    Non-Korean Review: City of Life and Death (Lu Chuan / 2009)

    Posted on August 15, 2010 | No Comments
    In December 1937 the Japanese army captured the city of Nanjing, early on in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the brutal weeks that followed, hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed… Review Written and directed by Lu Chuan, CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (also known as NANKING!...

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  • Kaiji Ito is in a dead-end job and finds himself facing a debt collector who tells him that he needs to pay back the money from a bad loan. Unable to repay her, Kaiji agrees to board a boat where a night of gambling will potentially allow him to clear...

    Non-Korean Review: Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (Tôya Satô / 2009)

    Posted on June 10, 2010 | No Comments
    Kaiji Ito is in a dead-end job and finds himself facing a debt collector who tells him that he needs to pay back the money from a bad loan. Unable to repay her, Kaiji agrees to board a boat where a night of gambling will potentially allow him to clear...

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  • Following an earthquake it is revealed that Japan is literally sinking into the ocean. What is initially predicted to take forty years is revealed, by a lone scientist, to actually take less than a year. Suffice to say, Japan finds itself facing its biggest potential disaster since the last time...

    Non-Korean Review: Sinking of Japan (Shinji Higuchi / 2006)

    Posted on March 1, 2010 | No Comments
    Following an earthquake it is revealed that Japan is literally sinking into the ocean. What is initially predicted to take forty years is revealed, by a lone scientist, to actually take less than a year. Suffice to say, Japan finds itself facing its biggest potential disaster since the last time...

    Continue Reading...