Nowhere to Hide

Starring:Madigan, Ironside
Studio: Platinum Disc
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Imagine Leni Riefenstahl had made a gangster film...
Disappointing
Nowhere to Hide
One of the best crime dramas I have seen!!
Rent it, don't buy it!

Nowhere to Hide
Starring: Joong-Hoon Park , Sung-kee Ahn , Dong-Kun Jang , Ji-Woo Choi , and Won-jong Lee
Director: Myung-se Lee
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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Shiri
Oldboy
Memories of Murder
Lady Vengeance
Tae Guk Gi - The Brotherhood of War

ASIN: B00005A05O
Release Date: 2001-04-17

Amazon.com

The most kaleidoscopic crime thriller you'll ever see. Nowhere to Hide is about a team of cops tracking down a murderous drug lord--but the plot is the only ordinary thing about the movie. Nowhere to Hide uses just about every visual trick imaginable: slow motion, rapid-fire editing, different film textures (from gritty black and white to luminous color), freeze-frames, as well as techniques that have only become possible with computers and that are impossible to describe. But the movie has more than visual razzle-dazzle: scenes go off in bizarre directions, the tone shifts radically from hyperviolence to total sentimentality (in one scene, the loose-cannon detective is brutally beating a handcuffed prisoner; moments later, he's as happy as a little boy when his sister gives him a pair of gloves), the characters are outrageously melodramatic. The soundtrack shares this amazing cinematic schizophrenia, featuring light pop songs, shrieking heavy metal, moody Spanish guitar, and soaring classical. The overall effect is dizzying, disorienting, but at the same time giddy and exciting. The closest American equivalent is Charlie's Angels; these are movies that have moved beyond story logic and character development into sheer sensory enjoyment; movies that push action-movie techniques to the point of becoming almost avant-garde, some insane hybrid of John Woo and Jean-Luc Godard. Not to be missed. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Imagine Leni Riefenstahl had made a gangster film..........2001-11-05

'Nowhere to hide' is the most visually original film I have seen in years. going way beyond the Oriental action movie pyrotechnics that have shaped Hollywood imitations since 'the Matrix', director Lee Myung-se tirelessly creates something startlingly different in each scene, each frame even. The scene that triggers the main narrative, for instance, the murder of a drug baron, is filmed as an extraordinary cinematic poem, using Eisenstein's Odessa Steps sequence from 'Battleship Potemkin', completely draining of it its kinetic energy, as the rain falls slowly, a mournful Bee Gees cover over the soundtrack, the action choreographed in slow-motion fragments, the actual act less a brutal crime than the culmination of a dance in colour and movement. this destabilising of the action occurs throughout - slow motion so slow it becomes a photo-story; definition so pixelated it becomes animation; editing so fractured it becomes abstract. When Lee isn't making the crime narrative unexpectedly beautiful - one roof-top, laundry-lined, nocturnal fist-fight is turned into a flickering shadow-show; a Kitano-like sequence of rare calm priveleges a snowball-fight between two detective friends as they wait and wait - he is making it comic: the influence of Sergio Leone and his imitators loom large in the exagerrated, implausible and bathetic treatment of violence.

The problem with so much restless originality is that the plot gets somewhat lost, the genre becomes destabilised too effectively. the hero, the archly-named Detective Woo, is the kind of gleefully fascistic cop who makes Harry Callahan and Aldrich's Mike Hammer look bureaucratic, wielding baseball bats with aplomb, torturing suspects by hanging them from their feet off rails. There are a few cliched attempts to give 'depth' to this lunatic, by suggesting his alienation from his family, or the poignancy of his friendship with his sidekick. what actually happens is that Woo's authority is undermined not by his psychosis, but that his power is only assured when backed by a group of gangster-like heavies; on his own he is notably inept, no match for the silent, charismatic, deadly Gian Maria Volonte-lookalike, whose elegant swiftness is much more appealing. 'Nowhere' is the kind of film you desperately want to love, but, because it doesn't really gel, you can't.

Disappointing.......2001-08-28

I missed this film when it played in some theaters in Los Angeles a few months back, but not because I didn't want to see it. I remember this film getting a tremendous number of rave reviews, with comparisons running the gamut from John Woo to Wong Kar-Wai to Run Lola Run. Having seen it, I simply do not understand all the hype. This is not a terrible film, and it has some moments of genuine beauty and off-the-wall humor. But it truly is style over substance, something that wouldn't be a problem if the style were interesting. But it's really not. Nowhere to Hide uses a whole bag of tricks--black and white film, freeze frame, even some animation. But to what end? I was surprised at how uninvolved I was in the story and I kept thinking "All that hype for this?" On a positive note, the acting is very good and the characterizations are unusual in a good way. But this isn't something that you need to see.

Nowhere to Hide.......2001-08-15

Very good movie, excellent use of filming techniques, soundtrack was a little bit off at times but still worth the watch, and one thing, it does ran like cats and dogs with sun shining in the background, visit korea sometime!

One of the best crime dramas I have seen!!.......2001-08-04

Every now and than comes a movie that just excites you from the opening credits to the ending credits. This Movie is one of them!

I remember seeing this movie at the video store and wonder: "what the hell is this about?" I put the dvd in the player, pressed start and the rest was magic! I loved it so much I watched it twice that day, and ordered it the next day.

If you are a big fan of film editing, this movie will amaze you! I have not been so excited from a movie by how it was cut! You have to see it for yourself, to see what I am talking about.

The story, plot, characters, sound, lighting, edit, and music are purely great! Myung-se Lee seems to be on the right road one day to be consider great among his peers, if he keeps up with this kind of direction for his movies.

As for now, I am becoming a great fan of his movies.. and cannot wait to see what he'll do next!

Rent it, don't buy it!.......2001-07-19

I saw this movie and thought everything was so absurd. How could rain pour like cats and dogs and have sunlight in the background? (Last fight scene at the abadoned railway) This movie is about a killer drug lord trying to get away from the cops. The plot was dumb, the cinematography was less than average; however, the only nice thing I can say about this movie is it's soundtrack. Pretty good stuff.

Give it a rent and see how you like it. Don't blame me that I didn't warn you.

Duelist (Standard Edition) DVD
Average customer rating:

Beautiful

Absolutely Incredible!!!

Glorified Spiritual Madness

Fire the Reviewer!

Not about Two Women fighting not a cat fight!!!!!!!

Duelist (Standard Edition) DVD

Manufacturer: Enter One
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000GBT3OW

Product Description

Two Korean women fighting - Cat fight.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2007-03-23

This was a beautiful movie. I think a lot of people who dislike this film miss a lot of points as many things are left unsaid. Kang Dong-Won plays beautifully in this movie and Ha Ji won is perfect in this film as well(I loved the faces she made, they were adorable!). In no way are their gender reversals perverted nor do they overpower the film. These are two opposite characters with one definite similarity and that is they solve things through action. Detective Nam Sun (Ha Ji won) solves her problems through fighting and Sad eyes seemed to be brought up simply as a killing machine. Their fighting scenes with each other--especially one in particular-have a lot of emotion to them like a couple arguing. They are also on opposite sides of the law which creates another problem.

I enjoyed the plot line and felt the movie held a complete story. Although, it seemed there were a few times when the movie raced over certain details leaving you to fill in the blanks yourself. Great movie. Great soundtrack. Great actors.

Absolutely Incredible!!!.......2007-03-05

I loved the beautifully intricate story line! This movie is not a disappointment, it has great fight scenes and beautiful art scenes. Worth the buy!!!

Glorified Spiritual Madness.......2007-02-14

Dear Amazon Customer,

This is a perverted story about a modernist Asian woe-man who pursues a lost effeminate Asian man in order to engage in disturbing and continual sword fighting (as they are both sword fighters) with him in a love sub-plot having the theme of love through pain or love/hate relationship. That is, the two leads experience a sort of euphoria and escape by playing with death together.

However this is not love. One false slip of their sword and their partner is dead and burning in hell for eternity. If I hold a knife to your neck and say I love you would you believe me? Used as a metaphor for arguing, who is silly enough to think that arguing is the product or a producer of love? Either as a story or as metaphor this love story is impossible on a surface level.

But it gets worse.

Plot Summary: She is a good guy detective and he is a bad guy assassin. His boss is a mobster lord who is creating counterfeit money and distributing it to the city and his assassin is her only lead to catch him. As she chases the assassin, a lust develops for him from 1) the chase 2) his apparent mystery and 3) his acceptance of her masculine (quote: crazy b***h) persona; and this is the heart of the story. After engaging each other a few times, all three points above develops an unspoken bond between them and eventually the woman breaks down, screams at him, and according to his effeminate character, he follows her lead in changing to be one of the good guys. That is, after he leaves the disrespectful screaming encounter with her, he goes off to meditate and then meets up with her again to tell her and the cops how to take down the big bad boss he works for. And because he already killed so many people, the cops then go and kill him too.

That sums up the whole story. However, it begins and ends with suggesting the idea that both the man and woman are really demons in human flesh who have a love/hate (i.e. contradictive) relationship possibly from times past. That is, two demonic spirits are continually fighting each other as man and woman human beings, possibly via reincarnation or whatever.

This idea of them being demons (which would be reason enough not to watch this movie) is hinted at by the introduction, her strange behavior in the movie, their apparently superhuman fighting abilities, a conversation between the male and female leads when she is undercover and the his apparent resurrection at the end of the film. That is, the man comes back after apparently being killed and she, once again, takes the lead in engaging him in a sword fight.

There is a perverted reversal of the male/female role in this demonic movie. He is effeminate, both externally and internally. Externally, he has long hair, a fair complexion, a slender body, and a girlish and beautiful face. Internally, he is a lost and purposeless soul. He cannot lead because he has no direction both morally and in common affairs. He merely follows orders and kills people (good guys) and apparently he has no qualms about it, no sense of moral indignation, until he meets the woman. His character is like a lost little boy with a sword who is essentially receptive and leads only within the context of first being lead.

The female is essentially masculine with a small hint of feminine. She engages men and situations as if she were a man and usually takes the lead in matters (i.e. like a feminist), walks like a man, speaks loudly and rudely in her mannerisms (except when she goes undercover as a concubine and does not hesitate to physically fight men on her own. She needs no protection, no love and in all ways is repulsive as a woman.

To counteract having adopted her role as an iconic idol of feminist culture as well as to sell the story as a love story, her character does indeed revert to being feminine within the love story, albeit in a strained sense and only after she has already forced a context between them in which her feminine role is obviously a fake. That is, she is submissive and feminine only after and if she can first be aggressive and controls the relationship. She pursues him as a man pursues a woman, forces him to confront her and then after fighting him like a man for some time she then, by shifting her focus to the mystery she creates and holds about him, uses that as a catalyst to respect and admire him and suddenly she becomes feminine midway through the interaction. In other words: she respects the mystery she holds of him rather than submitting to his male role.

We see this in the first fight scene between them in which half way through he leaps into the air and before the full moon and his shadow covers her face which has morphed from one of aggression to one of awe, intrigue and respect. We see this continual dynamic going on even until the last closing fight (dance?) scene in which she submits to his lead like a woman in tango.

Among her various problems, first is the problem that she is a wicked feminist and self-confessedly very unhappy woman which is also demonstrated by the fact that her idea of love is to hold a knife blade to his throat. Secondly, she pursues a lost effeminate man who she leads in leading her in a perverted relationship that allows her to be accepted without the guilt of being a wicked woe-man. She chooses a man who lets her essentially be the man.

Next, we will discuss the male lead. He is the movies idol and catalyst for a twisted morality made manifest by the actions of the female lead. The lack of moral clarity in the film seems to suggest a world without meaning and definitive moral standards. With this excuse we are lead to accept the crude male-mannerisms of the woman and the fiery directionless sword-passion of the man. After all, the world is so bad and so meaningless that these characters are really to have our sympathy, right?

Together, they massage one anothers empty and wicked lives using the blade of a sword to take their attention away from the guilt and wickedness that plagues them or possibly the fiery hell that awaits them. They are both mad and loving it.

Now, I mention this while discussing the male lead (led) because, like it or not, this is the atmosphere that his male presence encourages and generates. He neglects his active role and accepts a passive one whereby in accepting her lead he shows that it he has nowhere else to lead her. The bottom line is, what loving future can a man and woman create when there is no other aim than attacking each other? Their hate/love relationship becomes an end in itself.

The underlying soul twisting attraction to this film is its ability to manipulate mystery. Taking the eternal mystery of the person of God and allocating that to a male sword fighter whom the female effectively creates as an idol for herself to worship and in her self-deception she is carried away by his quite demeanor and evasions. This issue of mystery is one of the central deceptions and intrigues of the story. Also, because the audience views the story from her perspective we are also kept from ever discovering who the male lead is as a person and not a mysterious someone. It is this intentional cloaking of the male lead that gives an austere authority to the perverted love/hate conclusion.

To a degree this movie could be a metaphor for the singles nightlife; The woman actively seeks a man by dressing like a whore and going to the club, she indulges in the intrigue and mystery of the man she lures that night to the conclusion that she leads him to lead her to the wicked act of fornication, indulging the enchantment of ignorance to organism. In other words, using mystery as a cloak for ones own self-deception and wickedness.

It is funny that the editorial review on Amazon.com says this: Two Korean women fighting - Cat fight. LOL, so true! We have an effeminate man and a feminist lesbian woman scratching each other like wild beasts trying to rationally communicate. Perhaps this is the movie writers solution to the curse God placed on men and woman at The Fall.

Finally, the movie has a subtle but misandric (i.e. anti-male) vibe to it. The female insults her male co-worker for laughs, grabs men by the balls, never presents a morally courageous male, and give the female lead the only moral card in the deck.

I think most people will walk away with a very deep fatalistic philosophy rubbed off on them but given that the movie ends on a good note with the male and female whipping at each other into the sunset, just as they desire, I think most people will conclude that this is just a complex love story that takes love (apparently the only remedy to the evils of this world) very seriously by showing that even in love there is conflict and so we must accept love along with hate. Therefore, to walk away loving this movie is to accept the male/female relationship as a love/hate relationship that never end in a cycle of love and conflict.

Obviously I disagree. So what is my alternative?

The man and woman act as I have described above because they do not have Jesus Christ. No authority guides their thinking (other than subjective, relative and arbitrary ones that they have rejected from their culture i.e. Female says: are you trying to teach me Confucianism?) and the fury that results so overwhelms them that only the threat of death can distance the turmoil in their souls. Even the comfort of a quite life and love does not quell. They prefer the games, risks and fury to a life that would otherwise require them to settle down long enough to see that they are acting in destructive, prideful, rebellious and sinful ways.

Their conflict is a spiritual one and very emotionally twisted, much like the stories you hear of women who constantly go back to men who beat them then apologize; they like it because the iniquity the men commits against them seems to so overwhelm their own that it defers them from confronting their own guilty conscious. The solutions any culture gives cannot stave off the madness inherent in the problem. For culture holds no final authority but is merely the product of lost individual men. Only the power of the Holy Spirit can change their wicked hearts.

This movie glorifies the very worst of between men and woman.

PS

Has strong spiritual ties to the following movies:
Millennial Actress
The Thomas Crown Affair
Original Sin

Fire the Reviewer!.......2006-08-13

Kang Dong Won is very much a man! I feel whoever "reviewed" this movies had done this talented young man a great disservice. Next time try watching the movie, before you write a review.

Not about Two Women fighting not a cat fight!!!!!!!.......2006-08-03

Once upon a time in Korea, the Minister of Defense, SONG Pil-joon, gets rid of his political opponent and assumes complete control of the armed forces. He goes on to stamp counterfeit money.As soon as it goes into circulation, prices skyrocket and the common people are thrust into extreme hardship. Meanwhile, the royal court grants Minister Song free reign to resolve the political crisis, thereby speeding him on his way to absolute power. Detective Namsoon goes forthrightly undercover with her partner Detective Ahn to investigate the counterfeit money. But when all the prime suspects are killed, the case becomes a much deeper mystery. She discovers one loyal henchman, Sad Eyes, a beautiful swordsman with a pale, blank face, is covering up Minister Song's tracks. Namsoon and Sad Eyes confront each other in a series of duels ? tirelessly chasing, being pursued and dodging each other. Inevitably, they fall headlong in love ? and their forbidden enchantment blossoms. Each struggles to reconcile the desperate conflict between love and obligation to duty, as they square off to meet their fate in one last duel.

Average customer rating:

Nowhere to Hide
Starring: Philip Akin , Maury Chaykin , John Colicos , Jayne Eastwood , and Garick Hagon
Director: Mario Azzopardi
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000VV4AY
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Average customer rating:

Taxman/Killer Cop/Nowhere to Hide/Money
Starring: Taxman , Killer Cop , Nowhere to Hide , and Money
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0009KA80S
Release Date: 2005-06-07

Average customer rating:

Nowhere to Hide
Starring: Nowhere to Hide
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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