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South Korean director Je-gyu Kang explores a tortured rivalry set during WWII-era Korea, but tells a tale that’s neither convincing nor emotionally satisfying. Though the high definition presentation is a solid one, problems with the film don’t make it worth the time.
My Way
Release Date: July 24, 2012
Studio: Well Go USA
Packaging/Materials: Blu-ray keepcase with slipcover
Year: 2011
Rating: R
Running Time: 2:23:08
MSRP: $29.98
THE FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURES
Video
AVC: 1080p high definition 2.35:1
Standard and high definition
Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio: Korean 5.1, English 5.1 / Dolby Digital: Korean 2.0, English 2.0
Stereo
Subtitles
English
English
The Feature: 2/5
Wartime melodramas don’t get more overcooked than “My Way,” the latest film from South Korean director Je-gyu Kang. The man was also responsible for the 2005 potboiler “Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War,” which told an overwrought story of two brothers torn apart by the Korean War.
For “My Way,” Kang sets his sights on the Second World War and the tortured relationship between the entitled Japanese aristocrat Tatsuo Hasegawa (Joe Odagiri) and the son of his former servant, Jun-shik Kim (Dong-gun Jong). Both are avid runners and have alternately won and lost to each other in a myriad of races in Japanese-occupied Korea.
A simple rivalry turns tragic, however, when Tatsuo is targeted for assassination by unknown terrorists, and Jun-shik’s father is unjustly implicated and beaten senseless. Forced to make a living for his exiled family as a rickshaw driver, Jun-shik has no love for the Japanese and Tatsuo in particular. When he’s given the chance to compete against him once more in the Olympic tryouts, he jumps at the opportunity to show up his longtime rival, though the Japanese-controlled athletics board will see to it that Tatsuo wins regardless of the actual outcome. When a riot breaks out over the obvious manipulation of the results, Jun-shik and his friends are sentenced to serve in the Japanese Imperial Army and shipped off to the Mongolian border to fight the Soviets. Eventually he’ll come face-to-face with Tatsuo again, though with so much bad blood between them it’s unlikely either of them will survive the reunion.
To give you an idea of “My Way’s” overabundance of plot, the events leading up to Jun-shik being sent off to war takes up only the first 30 minutes of the nearly 2-1/2-hour film. The rest of the movie follows him as he moves from one hell hole to another, whether it’s as a conscripted soldier for Japan, forced to serve under the man responsible for basically ruining his life, or as a prisoner of war in a Soviet camp, where he sees his friends either go insane or die. Eventually, he and Tatsuo are placed on the same level playing field when the Soviets conscript them to fight the Nazis, which is familiar territory for Jun-shik, but obviously uncharted for Tatsuo. The intent of this is obviously for him to see things from the other end for a change, though by that point he’s done so many reprehensible things that it’s hard to either want or believe in his redemption. That Jin-shuk would accept such a change is equally preposterous, given all the character has been through. In the end, when Jun-shik and Tatsuo are somehow the best of friends, I’m not sure which is worse – that the redemptive journey has been depicted with such laziness or that the filmmaker thinks the audience is so dumb as not to notice.
Video Quality: 4/5
The 1080p, AVC encoded transfer is framed at 2.35:1 and features strong blacks, solid contrast and great detail in hair, skin and fabrics. The color palette is stylized with mild to moderate amounts of desaturation, giving most of the film that now-stereotypical aged, wartime look, but with spots of color showing a satisfying level of depth and saturation. The picture has consistent posterizing artifacts during transitions, but otherwise the image shows no byproducts of digital noise reduction or sharpening.
Audio Quality: 4/5
Dialogue in the Korean language 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is consistently crisp and detailed. Surround activity can be fairly aggressive, particularly for the many combat sequences, and bullet trails, airplane flyovers and other panning effects sound nicely balanced. LFE is somewhat mild for the type of film it is, but provides sufficient support during critical sequences.
Special Features: 2/5
Making Of (9:03, SD): Without voice-over narration or interviews, the piece amounts to a loose collection of behind-the-scenes video from the shoot, focusing mostly on the action sequences.
Interviews (5:52, SD): In on-location interviews, the director and one of the principal actors talk about how they became involved with the project, the various characters and their casting, and the inspiration for the story.
Theatrical Trailer (1:59, HD)
Home Video Trailer (2:11, HD)
International Trailer (2:56, HD)
Pre-load Trailers: “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” (2:03, HD), “The Front Line” (1:51, HD), “9th Company” (1:39, HD).
Recap
The Film: 2/5
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 2/5
Overall Score (not an average): 2/5
Well Go USA delivers a stong presentation for an ultimately unconvincing Korean WWII melodrama. The special features don’t provide much that’s in-depth, which is appropriate given the ultimately superficial nature of the film.
My Way
Release Date: July 24, 2012
Studio: Well Go USA
Packaging/Materials: Blu-ray keepcase with slipcover
Year: 2011
Rating: R
Running Time: 2:23:08
MSRP: $29.98
THE FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURES
Video
AVC: 1080p high definition 2.35:1
Standard and high definition
Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio: Korean 5.1, English 5.1 / Dolby Digital: Korean 2.0, English 2.0
Stereo
Subtitles
English
English
The Feature: 2/5
Wartime melodramas don’t get more overcooked than “My Way,” the latest film from South Korean director Je-gyu Kang. The man was also responsible for the 2005 potboiler “Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War,” which told an overwrought story of two brothers torn apart by the Korean War.
For “My Way,” Kang sets his sights on the Second World War and the tortured relationship between the entitled Japanese aristocrat Tatsuo Hasegawa (Joe Odagiri) and the son of his former servant, Jun-shik Kim (Dong-gun Jong). Both are avid runners and have alternately won and lost to each other in a myriad of races in Japanese-occupied Korea.
A simple rivalry turns tragic, however, when Tatsuo is targeted for assassination by unknown terrorists, and Jun-shik’s father is unjustly implicated and beaten senseless. Forced to make a living for his exiled family as a rickshaw driver, Jun-shik has no love for the Japanese and Tatsuo in particular. When he’s given the chance to compete against him once more in the Olympic tryouts, he jumps at the opportunity to show up his longtime rival, though the Japanese-controlled athletics board will see to it that Tatsuo wins regardless of the actual outcome. When a riot breaks out over the obvious manipulation of the results, Jun-shik and his friends are sentenced to serve in the Japanese Imperial Army and shipped off to the Mongolian border to fight the Soviets. Eventually he’ll come face-to-face with Tatsuo again, though with so much bad blood between them it’s unlikely either of them will survive the reunion.
To give you an idea of “My Way’s” overabundance of plot, the events leading up to Jun-shik being sent off to war takes up only the first 30 minutes of the nearly 2-1/2-hour film. The rest of the movie follows him as he moves from one hell hole to another, whether it’s as a conscripted soldier for Japan, forced to serve under the man responsible for basically ruining his life, or as a prisoner of war in a Soviet camp, where he sees his friends either go insane or die. Eventually, he and Tatsuo are placed on the same level playing field when the Soviets conscript them to fight the Nazis, which is familiar territory for Jun-shik, but obviously uncharted for Tatsuo. The intent of this is obviously for him to see things from the other end for a change, though by that point he’s done so many reprehensible things that it’s hard to either want or believe in his redemption. That Jin-shuk would accept such a change is equally preposterous, given all the character has been through. In the end, when Jun-shik and Tatsuo are somehow the best of friends, I’m not sure which is worse – that the redemptive journey has been depicted with such laziness or that the filmmaker thinks the audience is so dumb as not to notice.
Video Quality: 4/5
The 1080p, AVC encoded transfer is framed at 2.35:1 and features strong blacks, solid contrast and great detail in hair, skin and fabrics. The color palette is stylized with mild to moderate amounts of desaturation, giving most of the film that now-stereotypical aged, wartime look, but with spots of color showing a satisfying level of depth and saturation. The picture has consistent posterizing artifacts during transitions, but otherwise the image shows no byproducts of digital noise reduction or sharpening.
Audio Quality: 4/5
Dialogue in the Korean language 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is consistently crisp and detailed. Surround activity can be fairly aggressive, particularly for the many combat sequences, and bullet trails, airplane flyovers and other panning effects sound nicely balanced. LFE is somewhat mild for the type of film it is, but provides sufficient support during critical sequences.
Special Features: 2/5
Making Of (9:03, SD): Without voice-over narration or interviews, the piece amounts to a loose collection of behind-the-scenes video from the shoot, focusing mostly on the action sequences.
Interviews (5:52, SD): In on-location interviews, the director and one of the principal actors talk about how they became involved with the project, the various characters and their casting, and the inspiration for the story.
Theatrical Trailer (1:59, HD)
Home Video Trailer (2:11, HD)
International Trailer (2:56, HD)
Pre-load Trailers: “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” (2:03, HD), “The Front Line” (1:51, HD), “9th Company” (1:39, HD).
Recap
The Film: 2/5
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 2/5
Overall Score (not an average): 2/5
Well Go USA delivers a stong presentation for an ultimately unconvincing Korean WWII melodrama. The special features don’t provide much that’s in-depth, which is appropriate given the ultimately superficial nature of the film.
