User reviews

We have become so used to the hegemony of Hollywood that it is easy to forget other countries can and do produce excellent movies. This South Korean film is superb in that it is has a topical credible plot that is executed well producing an intelligent political action thriller with touches of humanity and humour. Well worth watching and enjoying.

Well made complicated North and South Korea political and nuclear thriller. Its hard to follow in parts. Korean speakers will find this more understandable probably and appreciate the complicated politics. I liked the comic and touching relationship between the two main actors.

I found "Steel Rain" (aka "Gangcheolbi") on Netflix and decided to sit down and watch it without having heard about it prior to finding it. I needed little persuasion to do so, as it is a South Korean movie, after all.

"Steel Rain" turned out to be a rather interesting movie, both in terms of story and also in sheer thrilling entertainment. It was a great story that really had some rather realistic elements to it. And the storyline started out quite nicely and in great pace, and it never really lost its momentum along the way.

The characters in the movie were also quite nicely detailed and brought to life on the screen. Again, lots of realism here and it was characters that you quickly could relate to and bond with. And of course it helped quite a lot that they had gotten together a rather good assembly of actors and actresses to portray the various roles.

The movie offers equal amounts of action, drama and character growth, which turned out to be a great combination. Everything in the movie just turned out great and came together quite nicely as the movie ended.

If you enjoy the South Korean cinema, then "Steel Rain" is definitely a movie well worth spending time and money on.

Clearly, and successfully, made for western consumption, this South Korean "The Sum of All Fears" style doomsday action/thriller/buddy film is one of the best I've seen. All the requisite action and intrigue parts are there and done very well. The actors are very good; the relationships and developments have weight; the meticulous script is excellent and the 'thriller tension' is ratcheted nicely. 'Timely' would be the cliché, but what isn't is that this not a one sided propaganda piece at all.

The hc subtitles do come quick, but they're good clear translations.

In an effort to prevent a military coup by 3 high-ranking officials within North Korea, a former agent by the name of "Eom Chul-Woo" (Woo-Sun Jung) is recruited by the chief of the RGB "Ri Tai-Han" (Kap-Su Kim) to assassinate them first. However, when he arrives at his firing position in the Kaesong Industrial Complex he is shocked to discover that, instead of his intended target, the Supreme Leader has shown up instead. He is further shocked when 2 incoming rockets fired from South Korea come out of the sky and kill multiple people. To make matters even more alarming, not only is the Supreme Leader seriously injured, but a hit squad soon arrives to finish him off. And that's when Eom Chul-Woo makes the decision to secretly transport him across the DMZ into South Korea. Meanwhile, South Korea is currently having a different form of power transfer as a high-level diplomat named "Kwak Chul-Woo" (Do-Wan Kwak) is trying to implement a smooth transition from the outgoing administration to the incoming presidential team. However, upon going to a medical clinic to investigate a strange rumor involving his ex-wife, he soon finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun held by a North Korean agent--and lying on the hospital bed is the critically injured body of the Supreme Leader himself. From that point on both Eom Chul-Woo and Kwak Chul-Woo become pawns in a power struggle that threatens to erupt into a nuclear war. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an exciting film which tries to encapsulate the political landscape of Korea and the military and economic interests of China, Japan and the United States as well. To that end it succeeds and--coupled with the amount of action and intrigue--renders a very watchable film. Above average.

Just saw it on Netflix, really good movie, everything was done well, script, acting, effects, locations, direction and cinematography. 10/10. Please keep making more motion pictures like this!

If you like this, you'd probably also like Bad Guys Vile City (over the top violence, but good story and acting) and Stranger (Secret Forest) on Netflix. The only issue I have is having to pause and go back sometimes to read the dialogue. Netflix only has Korean (of course) and Spanish SAP, no English.

Little slow at the beginning, sometimes hard to tell between good and bad guys but once action begins from mid to end you will enjoy it, good fighting sequences... helps to understand an important but yet far conflict.

Do yourself a favor and watch this entire film. Great acting, story, special effects, etc. So glad I watched all of it.

There are too many roles in the northern part of the pamphlet, and the situation in the north is not clear when we see the end of the pamphlet. The whole plot is bold and individual, big and small are well balanced.

This movie is incredibly relevant these days because of the current tension between North Korea and the US, South Korea, and Japan. No doubt that is precisely why it was made too. The movie in my opinion is very good, with an underlying moral messages about peace for all Koreans. It shows problems with both sides. The main actors do a great job, and there is both drama and action here, both of which in my opinion are done well. Do yourself a favour and watch a movie that is not only entertaining (which this one most certainly is), but which also has a relevant and important message, for once.

It's an interesting political drama with all the suspense and the action scenes (at the right moments) that a potential nuclear war engenders. But more than the nuclear holocaust in everyone's mind is the unlikely friendship of the 2 main protagonists with the same name. They are fun to watch as Eom is impossibly too formal while Kwak is cool and composed.

Eventual reunification remains to be an elusive dream. Still the plan that both sides adopt--to keep the peace, cooperate with each other and promote prosperity--is worth considering. And, as expected, one's family is all the matters in the end.

The actors are generally good. No one goes over the top which could be irritating. Pacing doesn't lag as the story unfolds in an almost rhythmic fashion.

This movie's only redeeming quality is that it's not its sequel. As much as this farce tries to put a different spin on the relations between the split Koreas, it loses a lot by how weak and uninformed it portrays the South. While this is a South Korean production which shows the North in a fairly negative light, their fear in using Kim Jeong-eun's actual name is farily telling in how much faith they have in this story.

Implausible depiction of events combined with terrible acting. There are a few Koreans in the film who obviously cannot speak English, forcing the fact, and producing what sounds like pure gibberish! Foreigners based in Korea should be speaking to the natives in their tongue, not the other way around! This is not a terrible film, but it's also not a good one.

The Koreans have made far better, more intense and more true to life movies about politics and war than this particular one, but it'll do...

The good: this story about a military coup in North Korea with the danger of a nuclear attack on South Korea has got a lot of politcal content, but if you would not know.understand anything about the politics of North and South Korea this could still be an okay espionage picture to watch, but dont expect fireworks...

The bad: there is definitely some suspense and there are some solid action scenes as well, but nothing above average. There are too many dumbed down plot turns that make it hard to take this story very seriously, which deflates the little supsense there already was. But the actors do perform well and it is they who make this movie okay to watch, provided you are into this political Korean movie genre...

Not terrible, but definitely nothing extraordinary either...

I was expecting an "okay" action movie with an excuse plot and a lot of unrealistic, flashy stunts from the lead character. Gangcheolbi (Steel Rain) is not that. This is a movie that gets it right.

It doesn't rely on flashy action scenes to provide entertainment and fake tension, but on a good story to provide actual tension. It doesn't force in character development or beg for some audience empathy, but simply lets the characters do what they do in a believable and organic way. Actions feel consequential. The dramatic scenes (unlike most movies) succeed because they are set up carefully and aren't milked for everything they can.

It's got plenty of action scenes and those were very enjoyable: fast, but well-shot (no super-short cuts), gritty, and with very little nonsense. Some of the shots in general were absolutely stunning. But the plot is also very solid (if somewhat difficult to follow for a Western person...) and stays interesting for the entire movie. It uses credible dynamics between countries and powers and masterfully displays the concerns over the existence of two entire nations, as well as the concerns over an entire people.

My only gripes with the movie are the sub-par acting of the CIA woman, and the parts where Asian actors suddenly tried to speak English (for no reason whatsoever) and didn't do so well, which is a bit of a shame since they acted phenomenally otherwise.

One of the best Korean movie now part 2 will be released in 2020.

Finally a movie worth watching. Seen a lot of action movies but this one is a beauty.

HOLY-BACKGROUND-MUSIC!!!! What was that!?

Watched Steel Rain/Gangcheolbi (Korean) last night. Netflix.

Plot: There's a coup in North Korea, and an agent escapes with the country's injured leader into South Korea to save him. Both the countries are now about to go to war with each other. China and the US also end up getting involved.

This was a good action movie! Great performances by both the leads, the action sequences were really good and believable, the CGI didn't look fake, there was comedic relief and there were emotions. So, a little bit for everyone in a mostly action film.

DID I MENTION THE BACKGROUND MUSIC!? Action movies are good, but good music can transform an action movie into a thriller and that's exactly what they did with this one. You know how music with certain beats and at a certain pace can build the intensity and anticipation and tension? They went all out with this one and took the movie to a whole new level.

This isn't for people who don't like action, but it doesn't have over-the-top action either. Not for everyone, but if you're in the mood to watch something good and different for a change, check this out.

Great film great story..great characters...well written...I got a little confused at the beginning

I learnt about the tension between North and South Korea. I didn't expect that North Koreans military would possibly blame their Great Leader for not using the nuclear weapons. The difference between the strong, straightforward North Korean soldier and the South Korean Security Secretary is also interesting especially their friendship. This movie makes me think that division within a team could really cause chaos. Unity. The ruling government is very important to shape the people's mind.

I watched this for its action. But it did not have much action as i expected it to have. The movie picks up after the first 30 mins. I felt it has a slow start leading to the story. The story is good. But too long for this movie. There were parts where i felt it was not necessary.

So many accusations Of an asian invasion Here they come a point'n fingers at me Preyin on a mass emotion Stirrin up a big commotion Trying to assign responsibilities Gonna stop this negativity Turn it into positivity with integrity Giving all of me For all to see This fight for equality But even if they blame us Try to frame us nobody can shame us I'm sing this next verse in Chinese.

So many accusations Of an asian invasion Here they come a point'n fingers at me Preyin on a mass emotion Stirrin up a big commotion Trying to assign responsibilities Gonna stop this negativity Turn it into positivity with integrity Giving all of me For all to see This fight for equality But even if they blame us Try to frame us nobody can shame us I'm sing this next verse in Chinese.