Movie : D-War (2007)

This could have been a great movie. Unfortunately it's ruined by a confusing and unnecessary storyline. As a spectacle it's great, but a deeply thought provoking and emotional plot is added to mess things up.

The main characters in the movie have no real reason for being there, other than to tie in why we're seeing these cool dragon 3D effects. Dragons seem to be the wrong term for the creatures featured as well, they're more snake than dinosaur like. Whichever, they're still cool. The 3D animation and compositing are fantastic. The highest budget for a Korean movie and it shows.

This movie is shot beautifully, every scene is set up well and composed perfectly. The 3D animation blends seamlessly in the scenes. Unfortunately that can't be said for the story or dialogue. Perhaps in Korea this plot is more familiar, but it was difficult for me to get a grasp on it without thinking that most of it should have been cut.

The director and writer Hyung-rae Shim has made other dragon movies for the Korean market and this was his first international version. With an actor like Robert Forster I had expected more. It seemed as though American actors were spliced into a Korean movie so it could be marketed around the world.

I'm not sure if it's Hyung-rae Shim, or his cinematographer, Hubert Taczanowski who made this movie look so good, but I definitely want to see more from them, but next time with a solid story.

3 out of 5

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