Chad

Undeadcow

I enjoyed The Host a lot this time around. Some of the slapstick comedy, moron father aspects, and political potshots gives such an inconsistent tone it's sometimes glaring and a distraction but eventually it seems to meld together. I wonder how much is lost in translation, maybe the humor is more spot on to native Koreans. Great cinematography really helps The Host.

rbrown498

I LOVED this movie!* I've owned it for years, but tonight was the first time that I've ever seen it. Unfortunately, my viewing experience was less satisfactory. I was really, REALLY into the film, and at the layer change there was the momentary pause that affects most dual-layer DVDs that are over three or four years old. Except...it never actually changed layers. My Blu-ray player froze up; none of the controls worked. I turned the player off, then back on, then skipped chapters until I found the one that I thought would be after the one it froze on...and it froze again.

Panicking, I took the disc out and tried it in the DVD player in my guest bedroom. Same thing happened.

REALLY panicking, I took the disc to my computer to see if it would play there. It wouldn't even load. I tried to rip it to my hard drive, and it got about halfway through before encountering an unrecoverable error.

At this point, I'm getting really pissed off. I came to this page to see if Chad had posted a streaming link. Luckily for me, he had (thanks, Chad!). I noticed that there was a Netflix stream, so back to the Blu-ray player I go. I find it on Netflix and am able to finish watching the movie. Crisis averted.

Since I found out that my DVD is only half there, I ordered the Blu-ray as soon as I finished watching it. I was kind of amazed at how much better the streaming copy looked than the DVD version; now I can't wait for the Blu-ray to come in so that I can see how it compares to the streaming version.

Specific things that I loved: the sound design, the creature design, the film's refusal to adhere to genre conventions, the performances by everyone involved, and especially the score. I guess that I'm going to have to look for a copy of that next.

This has EASILY been the highlight of the Challenge so far; even though it's only the sixteenth film that I've watched this month (and the eighth first-time viewing), I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that this will be my favorite new-to-me film of the Challenge. Great pick, tarfrimmer!!!


*Except for one aspect of the climax...and if you've seen the film, you'll know what I'm talking about. Still, it didn't detract from my overall love for this film.

Trevor

I agree with you Undeadcow, about the strange humor almost taking me out of the film or taking it down a notch, but it somehow recovers and I enjoyed it more this time than my previous viewing(s?).

That's quite a viewing journey you had there rbrown! Are you sure your players and computers aren't now infected?

ntnon

I enjoyed it thoroughly, too. Pleased to find it on Amazon Prime, (which allowed me to watch it while wandering around) and then enjoyed pretty much everything about it. The slapstick seemed very regional, but didn't bother me much, while I assume that the ultimate lack of virus was a dig at either Government incompetence, American incompetence (I assume the head Sciencey people talking in English was deliberate?) or just media misinformation - and the mild confusion over which was being lampooned was perhaps the only thing that bothered me slightly - while I thought the main guy got off lightly for handing his father an empty gun...

The death at the end seemed more "real" than so many convenient escapes, but it was still rather brutal.

jacob_b

While I did enjoy some of the comedy of this film, this should NOT have been a two hour film. It dragged on and on during some parts that I really just wanted to give up and quit. Way too much filler and just randomness that didn't need to be in this movie. Could have easily been a 60-80 minute movie. Again, some of the comedy early on is great, but boy overall did this movie stink.

Spiderbite

I don't agree with you that it stinks but it definitely should not be 2 hours. This could be a tight 80 minute movie and it would be 5 stars.

I haven't seen this movie in a while and didn't seem to enjoy it this round as much as I did the first time. I still think it is a well made film but it is overly long and the shifts from heavy drama to slapstick comedy can be downright jarring. I would love to see a shorter edit of this but that will never happen. Great performances by the cast though. This is an enjoyable monster movie that, for me, is at the level of super big budget movies like Pacific Rim and the new Godzilla despite its much smaller budget.

My rating: ***1/2 out of *****

DaveyJoe

I love this movie! I've become a big fan of Korean cinema since I first watched Oldboy around 10 years ago. I think South Korea is going through a golden age of cinema, they are producing a lot of hard-hitting dramas, fresh thrillers, and moody horror films. Having watched a lot of Korean films I of course recognize Kang-ho Song who is a very talented actor with range. He gives a humorous turn here as a lazy father who is prone to napping. Unlike a few others here, both the dramatic and comedic elements worked for me, and I don't see why a movie(especially a monster movie) can't have room for both. It all worked for me because of the performances and the family dynamic. Three wildly different and flawed siblings are brought together through a family tragedy, and work together to save the daughter. The ending is a punch to the gut that gets me every time. The film has wonderful direction, music, and scenes of suspense. I didn't mind the run-time at all, while it is a bit on the long side for a monster movie, I thought the pacing was swift and the story compelling enough that I never get bored while watching. Some of the CGI is starting to look a bit dated, but for the most part the director wisely framed his shots so the monster would be out of focus, showcasing the human characters instead. The initial attack scene by the river is still amazing. What a great film!