“Fist and Furious” Theatrical Poster
For people like me who’ve been waiting for Jung Doo-hong (Korea’s top fight choreographer) to have another lead role since 2006’s City of Violence, the following news is a big deal (for everyone else, maybe not so much).
Jung Doo-hong (Fighter in the Wind) is back in action with Fist and Furious (formerly known as Heuksan Island), the latest from director Ha Won-joon (Stray Dogs).
Fist and Furious (read our review) also stars Ryu Deok-hwan (The Last Ride), Seo Eun-ah (Tunnel), Jung Ui-kap (Chronicle of a Blood Merchant) and Choi Je-heon (Revenger).
Look out for Fist and Furious in July. For now, here’s the latest Trailer:
This looks promising! I’ve been waiting for something along the lines of City of Violence for some time.
This looks good indeed! I wish that Jung du-Hong became a bigger star. Aside from being a real life badass, he’s a pretty good actor as well.
I’m upset that I’m the only one who didn’t like City of Violence that much. For something that was being touted as “The ultimate Korean action film” at the time, the action scenes didn’t resonate with me. The scene where he and Ryoo fight the gangs had some moments before they ran away, but then they return and wipe them out off screen.
The finale was also disappointing since even though the knife fight portion was pretty good, the outdoor fight looked sloppy and kept intercutting with the bosses. Then when they fight the lieutenants, they spend the whole fight getting their asses kicked only to take them out in 1 or 2 moves.
Jung was the best part about No Blood No Tears, but I felt like he was wasted in that as well. I hope Fist and Furious is his best showcase.
Actually I’m with you on City of Violence. It was just ok but nothing really spectacular in terms of fight choreography. Lots of cool setups but like you mentioned it was ultimately forgettable IMO. This one is looking much more promising though!
Thanks. Sometimes I wondered if it was my fault that I didn’t enjoy the movie. The best Korean action films tend to be the thriller kind like Man From Nowhere and Villainess. (As said before here)
It would be nice to have more in line with The Terrorist. (Which I finally watched recently.)
I’m probable too old. No. It’s just freacking impossible to understand what’s Going on. And that lead actor couldn’t be charismatic to save his his life. I predict a flop, commercial and artistic.
“I’m upset that I’m the only one who didn’t like City of Violence that much.
Don’t worry. You are not alone anymore. I think that movie sucked big time.
“For everyone else, not so much.”
Everyone else doesn’t know any better! Jung Doo-hong will always be a big deal! Haha!
‘City of Violence’ was a stylish misfire in my opinion. Too many pacing issues (did anyone really care about the flashback scenes to their youthful days?), the dreaded ‘soft’ sound effect that I hate used during all of the fight scenes, and a finale that fizzled rather than soared. Doo-hong has onscreen charisma, so I’ll happily watch him as a leading man, so I’m keeping my fingers tentatively crossed for this one.
I’m right there with you guys, I thought ‘City of Violence’ was a solid 3/5, nothing more, nothing less. Certainly a bit over-hyped in some circles. I reckon my favorite Jung Doo-hong film is still ‘No Blood No Tears.’ Now THAT’S a brutal flick.
I blind bought NBNT based on kfccinema’s review back in the day, and I was disappointed unfortunately. As great as Du-Hong was, I felt like he was wasted against an unworthy opponent who cheated. I think it’s a movie that speaks for a specific audience as opposed to the “masses.”
If anyone is truly curious, this film is available to rent in HD on Amazon Video for $2.99. However, I have to caution that the movie registers as a colossal disappointment. Even at 52 years of age, Hung Doo-hong still moves like lightning and remains one of our best onscreen fighters – so why are all of the action scenes here over-edited to death? You can tell the fight choreography here is solid, but the way it’s been shot and edited renders it almost incomprehensible. There are at least 3-4 unnecessary cuts for simple actions, like a roll on the ground, that could have been captured in one take. It’s nearly at the spastic editing levels of something like “Taken 3.”
It also doesn’t help that “Fist & Furious” was obviously a low-budget effort – the audio quality here is terrible, as though the actors weren’t even properly mic’d at times. When the credits rolled around the 85 minute mark, I was actually grateful for the mercy.
I checked it out for $1.99, and I’ll say I was disappointed as well. I didn’t think the movie was horrible, but that trailer was pretty dishonest.
While there is a good amount of action in the movie, it’s not the main focus. With a title like Fist and Furious, you wouldn’t think it’s a movie about a guy dealing with his mortality, personal failures, and the glum world of human trafficking. It’s like the movie didn’t know what it wanted to be.
I tolerated the fight scenes where Jung uses a tin can lid as a weapon, a church fight scene, and the finale, but the editing is definitely not to most people’s liking. I was reminded of the HK movie Fist Power which was also made quickly and featured a lot of quick editing which only I was able to tolerate, but it’s better than this.
I hope Jung stars in a movie more akin to Man From Nowhere, Man on High Heels, or The Divine Move. Low budget affairs are too good for him.