masterly master lee
a home for forgotten and famous korean pulp, its heroes, its heroines, and its pulpeteersArchive for pulp
Deadly Angels AKA The Bod Sqaud 俏探女嬌娃 1977 review
The Master was thoroughly entertained by this Charlie’s Angels rip off, that is much better than the original in all respects. Goofy effects (often unintended, but that’s what 30 years having floated by will do for you) are offset by the grim, gritty atmosphere. The 70s yellow plastic visors on the space helmets of the robbers during a jewelry heist dressed as security guards don’t look so funny anymore after they start killing people almost indiscriminately. Read the rest of this entry »
Run Away 런어웨이 1995 review
Oh yummy, a very early Kim Seongsu 김성수 movie! He’s the pulp master that brought us Musa (Musa: The Warrior) 무사, There Is No Sun 태양은 없다, and Beat 비트. And this one features as martial arts director the unsurpassed Jeong Duhong 정두홍.
Yi Donghui (Yi Byeongheon 이병헌), a handsome game designer, and Choe Miran (Kim Eunjeong 김은정), a pretty free-lance illustrator (who lives in an impossibly large loft), have a steamy one-night stand, Read the rest of this entry »
An Emperor Of The Underworld 암흑가의 황제 1994 review
An Emperor Of The Underworld, directed by Hwang Jang Lee 황정리 (who also convincingly plays the überbaddie here) is a very solid action vehicle for Dragon Lee 거룡, his chubby and funny sidekick Yi Jin-Yeong 이진영 and the very, very pretty and voluptuous Kim Mi-Yeong 김미영. Dragon and his chubby friend are ex-commando’s, forced by the police to take on evil crime lord Hwang Jang Lee. This they do. Read the rest of this entry »
Bloody Mafia 붉은 마피아 review
This is the last movie directed and starred in by action legend Wang Ho 왕호 better known as Casanova Wong 卡萨伐 from his many, many, many Hong Kong action flicks. OK, OK, not his last movie, I mean, this ex-marine also helmed the South Korean Ministry of Defense propaganda flick Read the rest of this entry »
Action Boys 우린 액션배우다 2008 review
Master Lee was thrilled to see this documentary about the daredevils who do the stunts and bodydoubles for Korea’s famous (action) stars (not for the Master of course! He invented action cinema). Action Boys follows the careers of the 36 young men who made it passed the 2004 auditions for the 8th class of the Seoul Action School 서울액션스쿨. Within a month 10 of them dropped out due to the extreme physical and mental demands made on them Read the rest of this entry »
Fate 숙명 2008 review
Can you say ‘overacting’? Then you can say Fate. Violent glares, emotional outbursts, screaming contests, ten minute swearing sessions, extreme action, one man beating up tens of tough gangsters, overcooked romantic (?) liaisons, sentimental flashbacks… Read the rest of this entry »
Private Eye 그림자살인 2009 review
What is it about Korean soundtracks that makes them instantly recognizable? Is the ever-present accordion? The dramatic yet light-footed rhythm of the intro (think dancing bears), the canned strings? The Master isn’t sure (which as you know doesn’t happen very often), Read the rest of this entry »
Kill The Shogun 무장해제 1975 review
In 1592, the Japanese shogun Hideyoshi failed in his attempt to invade Korea (and later, China through Korea). This Hong Kong kung-fu thriller is loosely based on that historical incident. Since the real Hideyoshi is not an issue, and kung-fu is the star of the movie anyway, historical narration does not overpower the action. Basically, the movie shows the Koreans fighting the Japanese against all odds Read the rest of this entry »
Rainbow Eyes 가면 2007 review
Rainbow Eyes didn’t immediately
appeal to Master Lee and the box it came in didn’t help (come on, how many contrasting colours can you get away with?). When he put the disc in his trusty DVD player he had his thumb firmly on the fast-forward button. But lo and behold, he never touched it! Read the rest of this entry »
The Terrorists 테러리스트 1995
A gangster movie with Choi Min-su (Choe Minsu 최민수)? Master Lee is paying attention. Choi Min-su is one of the few truly believable gangsters out there in movie land. Not as believable as the Master, of course, but that would be asking too much, wouldn’t it now? It starts off well… really fake-looking camera shot of police trainees storming through a wood, screaming their lungs out (and screaming “we’re underpaid extra’s… no f*#&$ing way we’re gonna sound convincing to you!). Read the rest of this entry »
USO Shows in Korea 한국의 미8군쇼
Since the 1940s the USO has organised all kinds of shows for its servicemen. In the 1940s and late 1950s, the men serving in Korea were on average very young. Whereas the stationing of troops in Japan had been much better planned and prepared (a number of American servicemen sent out spoke Japanese), the occupation of Korea’s southern half was much less so. Read the rest of this entry »
Once Upon A Time 원스 어폰 어타임 2008 review
Movies about the colonial period in Korea are getting more and more popular. And they are looking real good as well. Master Lee was impressed with the production values of these movies: Radio Days, Epitaph and the movie he saw just now, Once Upon A Time.
The best way to describe Once Upon A Time 원스 어폰 어타임 Read the rest of this entry »
Korea’s Two Sisters 한국의 둘씨스터즈
Master Lee doesn’t like Copyright issues (although he was a bit pissed off with Tony Jaa stealing his backward-looping double flip-kick), and so this video of ‘Arirang Moktong’ 아리랑목동 gets his full approval, even though the song is said to be composed by (the probably fairly lazy) Pak Chunsŏk 박준석 and not The Hague’s Shocking Blue, or even the later Bananarama. Read the rest of this entry »
Lotte ice cream commercial 롳데제과 아이스크림 광고
Master Lee likes ice cream, and he loves pulp. This ad with cute model/actress Seo Woo (née 김문주, 金紋柱) deserves his 5-star rating.
Vintage Korean film posters 2 한국영화 옛 포스터 2
Here are some more vintage Korean film posters. The first one is from what is commonly regarded as the best Korean film ever, The Stray Bullet 誤發彈 (1961). And Master Lee agrees. Although he doesn’t really think in terms of lists with at the top the best (except when it comes to himself, of course), Read the rest of this entry »
Vintage Korean film posters 한국영화 옛 포스터
These posters make Master Lee feel nostalgic, longing back to his youth when he would watch these movies with his friends in the movie theaters of Chongno in Seoul. He had almost forgotten how beautiful the poster art was in those days. Read the rest of this entry »
If You Want 그대원하면 1987 review
If you’re looking for 80s pulp, look no further. It’s all here: the strange, scrawny hairdo’s, big leather belts with holes big enough to put your arm through, tight leggings, colors that scream “Mismatch!” and that inimitably dark feeling of doom from movies like The Class Of ‘84: Read the rest of this entry »
Hapkido 合氣道 aka Lady Kung Fu 女活殺拳 1972 review
Here comes the unbreakable china doll to give you the kicking of your life! That is a fair description of this early Hong Kong/South Korean co-production made by Golden Harvest. Three Chinese students (Angela Mao as Yu Ying, Carter Wong as Kao Chang and Sammo Hung as Fan Wei) Read the rest of this entry »
Epitaph 기담 2007 review
There is little argument that horror movies belong to the pulp genre. Nonetheless, here on Masterly Master Lee you’ll not find too many of them. Why? Because they’re BORING! At least, that is what Master Lee thinks. And pity the fool who’d argue with him. Read the rest of this entry »
Vampire Cop Ricky 흡혈형사 나도열 2006 review
Ricky 나도열 is a crooked cop (played by the king of supporting actors Kim Suro 김수로) who manages to get bitten by a mosquito infected with the blood of Count Dracula. Whenever he gets an erection, he now turns into a vampire… Read the rest of this entry »
Wrestling nostalgia
Professional wrestling is seen as entertainment rather than a form of sport, but Master Lee says it may just be the purest form of sport there is. After all, sport is not just about winning; it is for the true sport aficionado as much or even more a question of how the game is played. The outcome comes second. Matches in pro wrestling are fixed. Without the outcome as a factor he can determine, the athlete puts everything he has in how he plays the game – or rather, how he fights the fight. As such, professional wrestling is a pure sport, Read the rest of this entry »
Pulp watch chic?
With X-mas approaching fast, Master Lee went out on a bit of a shopping spree and found a real gem of bad taste, made in Korea: Christi Oneil’s SR001-2, from Korea’s “pioneer in sophisticated watch design”, is going to seriously charm his mother in law…
Charisma 카리스마 1997 review
Well, after watching Charisma, there can be only one conclusion. Superheroes do exist and they are very hard to beat, although they seem to be very sentimental and vulnerable to rather pathetic music. From the director who brought us Clementine, this 1997 gangster flick is memorable for two things. Read the rest of this entry »
Gangsters and comics and gangsters in comics
Gangster movies in Korea are part of a much bigger cultural field. With roots going back to the birth of Korean cinema under Japanese occupation, the gangster movie has produced a cultural icon that partly fulfills the role of the PI Read the rest of this entry »
Anarchists 아나키스트 2000
As opposed to Korean- Japanese co-productions, Korean-Chinese productions usually work out. The first such co-production ever, Anarchists is a typical coming-of-age gangster movie, but with anarchists instead of gangsters. Set in 1920’s Shanghai it tells the story of a tightly knit group of übercool Korean anarchists who have joined countless other Koreans in exile in China. There they continue their struggle against the Japanese colonizers. And boy, do they do so in style! Read the rest of this entry »
