The Chaser

2008 "The hunter and the hunted, the ultimate chase begins."
7.8| 2h5m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 20 September 2008 Released
Producted By: Showbox
Country: South Korea
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same client whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.

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Reviews

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
foutainoflife Homeboy!! This was one awesome pimp. Disgruntled former detective turned pimp takes on the task of frantically trying to find the man responsible for what he believes to be the selling off of some of his girls. He links the phone number of a client to the missing girls but only after the client calls for a new girl and the pimp sends her out. The pimp gets in touch with his girl and gives her instructions to call back with the address of this client so that he can confront the man. Once she arrives and there is no cell service from the location, the evening begins to spiral into a night of chaos. It was a near perfect movie. I actually wish I could give it a 9 1/2 stars! I loved everything about this with my one complaint being that the final confrontation was shot in such low lighting that it was hard to see and enjoy the full ferocity of the moment in all its beauty. If you are looking for something with a healthy dose of action and suspense, you will be happy with this. Great movie.
CousinBagunca So... everytime I end watching a movie, I start a review on it. This one is a tough one. A rollercoaster of emotions... but one thing is assured: it's a good movie.With its 125 minutes lenght time, you might think it's way too stale, and yes, I also think this movie could have been a bit shorter. On the other hand, so many detail is put into it that it leaves me doubting if 125 minutes was even enough!I see this movie as a drama thriller. I can't describe it as a crime, or police movie, something like that, since it's not about the technical aspects of the investigation, but rather its emotional aspects.Yoon-Seok Kim's emotional development throughout the flick is captivating. At first, you don't like him, but as you see him "learning", your feelings towards him surely will change. In the end, you're pretty much feeling what he feels. One thing I think is funny is how they treat South Korean cops on each South Korean movie. It's like with American cops and doughnuts. It's kinda funny.Overall, great movie. Not for every one, since it's a low budget movie and it has that distinct South Korean design.
Red-Barracuda The Chaser is yet another example of the excellence of South Korean cinema. Since the millennium there have been several absolute standout movies from this country. Often what makes them so good is that they have materialised from a culture hitherto sparsely represented in the movies, meaning that we in the west often find their films less predictable than we are normally used to. The Chaser is quite a good example of this because what we have is a staple of the thriller genre – the serial killer film – presented in ways that go against expectations. Structurally, it's unusual in that not only is the killer's identity revealed very early on but he is also caught near the start. This means that the focus then switches to the police bureaucracy that hinders everything bar the maniac himself. But even with this switch of direction, the plot-line still retains a high suspense narrative whereby an abducted girl remains in the killer's lair, a place totally unknown the police.The story-line itself has an ex-policemen turned pimp apprehend a man whom he believes has kidnapped one of his girls. This man then confesses to police that has murdered this girl but without any direct proof he is set to be released in 12 hours by the powerless authorities, leading to frantic detective work. This story results in a cat and mouse standoff. But with a hero who is hardly whiter than white – he is after all a pimp who is distrusted by his former police colleagues; who themselves are shown to be fairly incompetent. So the dynamic between the characters is fairly complex and leads to some unpredictable results. The two main characters are especially good here and very well played by the actors. There is great use of the back streets of Seoul too. Especially in the case of some high octane foot chases which unusually show the sheer exhaustion of such an endeavour, equally the several frantic and messy fights have a similar realism. This approach is distinctive and adds a lot. The violence is often so realistic it offers little distance to the audience, particularly horrible is the hammer and chisel sequence which made for extremely grim viewing. This grit and grime adds a further dimension to a film which has already taken a genre film to unpredictable places. It ends in a way that is neither happily wrapped up not one dimensionally nihilistic, it's something in between. In a film of many contrasts and surprises, it feels right that it does so.
videodromedary It's not a joke, I did just open an IMDb account to warm other people that this is worse than a waste of time. This movie did get a strong emotional reaction from me, but it wasn't suspense. It was anger at how stupid all of the characters are, from start to finish. The script is terrible, relying on ridiculous coincidences to move the plot along. If this is supposed to be a critique of police corruption and incompetence, it is a critique written by a complete outsider, an outsider to common sense, someone who lacks basic understanding of how police might think and work. Nothing that happens is plausible. All of the main characters should have dropped dead of stupidity. And it is very predictable. Venting my anger is the best part of this movie. This is Mystery Science Theater 3000 material.