SummarySet in the 1930s Manchurian desert where lawlessness rules and many different ethnic groups clash, three Korean men fatefully meet each other on a train. The train’s diverse passengers and imminent danger with guns and knives everywhere serves as a microcosm of the turbulent times. Do-won is a bounty hunter who tracks down any criminals with rewa... Read More
Directed By:Jee-woon Kim
Written By:Jee-woon Kim, Min-suk Kim
The Good, the Bad, the Weird
Metascore
Generally Favorable
69
User score
Generally Favorable
7.4
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
71% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
88
The Good, the Bad, the Weird may owe a lot to other films, but it is always fresh and never boring.
83
Director Kim Ji-woon creates a funny, fast-moving pastiche of Spielberg, Woo, Leone and George Miller, but it's really a must-see for its three big action set pieces -- which go on for a million years each and become almost hallucinatory.
User score
Generally Favorable
74% Positive
40 Ratings
40 Ratings
22% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
4% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Jan 20, 2026
10
A dizzying spectacle of desert dust: A 5.0-star masterpiece where the thrill is as vast as the sand.080720 (5.0)I watched this in the theater in 2008 and absolutely loved it—so much that I rewatched it several times. It was a fantastic ride, but strangely, my "crowd motion sickness" always kicks in during the climax. Whenever everyone starts charging across the desert, I find myself drifting off into a nap! Even on rewatches, that specific part remains my personal snooze button. Despite the unintentional naps, the film is a definitive 5.0 for its sheer entertainment value and breathtaking scale.
Dec 2, 2013
10
Unapologetically strange while remaining immensely enjoyable. Filled with a cast of charismatic protagonists and antagonists, surprising plot twists, deftly choreographed action and plenty of humor. It's Indiana Jones meets every Spaghetti Western you've ever seen all updated for the 21st century. Another one that has been criminally underwatched in the West (despite actually getting a reasonable release slate here). Similarly, it's hard not to see this one getting a remake in the non distant future (for better or worse).
80
At its best, this pomo oater gets within chaw-spitting distance of action-flick greatness; at its worst, the movie is simply unadulterated guns-and-guts fun.
70
East meets West meets East again, with palate-tingling results, in The Good the Bad the Weird, a kimchi Western that draws shamelessly on its spaghetti forebears but remains utterly, bracingly Korean.
63
It’s a lot of fun before it wears you out, and it wears you out sooner than it should.
60
The entertaining non-stop action has the potential to give the film wide cross-over appeal and cult status.
40
Kim's filmmaking is generally cartoonish in a bad sense, as he squanders his set pieces, flashbacks, and other attention-getting with sometimes downright wretched staging.
Nov 12, 2011
10
This is the kind of action movie you've always wanted to see. A great cast, stunning soundtrack and imaginative action sequences. The movie is light-hearted, with the plot being both simple and complex simultaneously. It has a vibrant visual style that allows the movie to look more expensive than it actually was. Action scenes tend to last upwards of 10 minutes each but you never grow weary as they constantly bring something new to the table. The movie's biggest success is its almost childlike sense of adventure that absorbs you into a crazy world that you don't want to leave
Oct 28, 2011
10
This is the best movie of 2008. Can one Korean cowboy, a pastiche of Client Eastwood and eastern modesty, take on the whole Japanese army? Yes, he can. The extended chase and gunfight near the end is worth the price of admission alone and puts western action films to shame. Cool, funny, slick, and awesome, "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" is the surprise movie you have been waiting for.
Dec 5, 2020
6
Quite fun for most of its duration, although it falls short in its ambition, because there are moments that feel very sterile and especially because it's more committed to having the public happy with the dumb action instead of looking for some kind of deeper narrative. It's also true that that never seems the intention, after all, it doesn't seem to be looking to be a more serious film, but obviously its best resources are exhausted after a while, especially because it never tries to vary its tone. It did nothing for me and I doubt I will remember it after a while, but it entertained me.
Nov 3, 2011
6
"The Good, the Bad, the Weird" presents the Korean world of cowboys, which is cool and full of visual action but lacks the brains and a better plot.
Jul 6, 2023
5
4 score points for all epic-well-crafted action scenes, plus 1 point for the well-done plot twist
Production Company:
- Barunson E&A
- CJ E&M Film Financing & Investment Entertainment & Comics
- CJ Entertainment
- Cineclick Asia
- Frontier Works Comic
- Grimm Pictures
- Stone Comics Entertainment
Release Date:Apr 23, 2010
Duration:2 h 10 m
Rating:R
Tagline:One map. Three villains. Winner takes all.
Awards
Blue Dragon Awards
• 5 Wins & 11 Nominations
Asian Film Awards
• 1 Win & 8 Nominations
Grand Bell Awards, South Korea
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
