Each Friday we will be bringing you weekend-viewing movie picks available for streaming on Netflix! From the popular to the obscure, we will browse Netflix’s Streaming library so you don’t have to, and bring you what we consider to be “Must Watch” selections!
The Good, The Bad, The Weird (English Subtitles)
Directed by Kim Ji-woon
Starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung
For this inagural “Friday ‘Flix Picks” I want to highlight a film that I have actually wanted to review for a very long time, The Good, The Bad, The Weird. This gem premiered at the Cannes Film Festival back in 2008, but didn’t hit limited release in the US until April 2010. I stumbled upon a trailer for this film around that time and it stayed on my radar until it hit Netflix Instant – at which point I immediately set aside some time to watch it.
Inspired by Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, this film harkins back to Spaghetti Westerns in all the right ways while incorporating an Asian flare into the story. The Good, The Bad, The Weird begins with a fantastic train heist in which a hitman (The Bad) has been hired to hijack a train to steal a treasure map from a Japanese diplomat. However, a thief (The Weird) on board the train steals the map first, and amidst the train’s derailment, is able to escape with it once A bounty hunter (The Good) shows up to collect the bounty on The Bad. From this point on, the chase is on for The Weird and the treasure map with The Good, The Bad, a group of bandits, and the Japanese Imperial Army all in pursuit of the riches this map could lead to.
From this point on we are treated to shootouts between the various players, insights into the backgrounds of The Good, The Bad, and The Weird, and an overall exciting time as these various groups all chase down a treasure map said to lead to unimaginable fortune. The film culminates in a fantastic climax as all the forces after the map bear down on The Weird simultaneously, all fighting each other as they chase him across the desert with The Good and The Bad in pursuit as well, navigating the war being waged all around them. I don’t want to give away the ending obviously, but I will say that I quite enjoyed it – even if it does become predictable in the final moments and revelations.
Director Kim Ji-woon really knows his way around a western film, and I would dare say the The Good, The Bad, The Weird stands its ground to the great westerns from decades passed. The action and chase sequences are exciting, and the characters are well fleshed-out with rich histories providing reasons for their actions throughout the film. If you are a fan of the western genre, then add The Good, The Bad, The Weird to your Netflix Instant Queue, it will make for a perfect viewing this weekend!