The Good, the Bad, the Weird



Three Koreans in exile cross paths in 1930s Manchuria during the Japanese occupation. Park Chang-yi, the hitman/bandit leader, is hired to steal a treasure map from a Japanese official, but a train robber, Yoon Tae-goo, beats him to the punch - only to be captured by a Bounty Hunter, Park Do-won. Tae-goo talks Do-won into helping him search for the treasure instead, and they set off through the desert together, with Chang-yi's gang and the Japanese army in pursuit. During the action-filled chase that follows, each of the three turns out to have some hidden motives.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird is a Korean remake of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but while the original is an epic Spaghetti Western, the remake is a more fast-paced and less serious action film.

Compare and Contrast with Sukiyaki Western Django.


 * Action Survivor: Tae-goo seems to be this; no one knows what skills he has, they just know that he survives no matter what you throw at him. In several scenes he gets away only because Do-won helps him out. In truth, though, this is Obfuscating Stupidity, and he is in fact a textbook Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass.
 * Ass Shove: Tae-goo kills two people this way. When the Japanese find the bodies, they think he's a pervert.
 * Badass Longcoat: Chang-yi and Do-won - the latter providing the movie's Shout-Out to the iconic standoff in Once Upon a Time in the West.
 * Berserk Button: Chang-yi is driven into a psychopathic rage at the mention of Tae-goo's name, especially if his prowess as a fighter is also mentioned.
 * Bullet-Proof Fashion Plate: Come rain, come shine or come gunfights in the desert, Chang-yi's shirt collar remains crisp and white
 * Camera Abuse: The camera gets sprayed with blood, mud and shrapnel, and even hit by a horse.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Tae-goo. Most of the movie seems to be geared towards making us forget his very introduction scene.
 * Disproportionate Retribution
 * Downer Ending: In the International cut, at least.
 * The Empire: Of Japan.
 * Evil Costume Switch: A zig-zagging example.
 * Evil Is Sexy: Chang-yi is the only one who we get to see shirtless. And he's ripped.
 * Expy: Do-won, Tae-goo and Chang-yi are Expies of Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes, respectively
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Look closely in the salemen scene at the beginning, you can spot both Do-won taking his seat and Tae-goo's friend trying to talk to him.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Chang-yi, a hitman, scoffs at Koreans who are loyal to Japan.
 * Fast Roping: Do-won during the Ghost Market fight, wielding his rifle with one hand
 * Fingore
 * Good Guns, Bad Guns: Only villains and mooks use automatic weapons.
 * Guns Akimbo: Tae-Goo
 * Guyliner
 * Handicapped Badass: . Missing the right index finger but can shoot just fine.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Chang-yi. Don't look, talk, interact with him in any way; the chances are, he will kill you, for no damn good reason at all.
 * I Hate Past Me/But for Me It Was Tuesday: past deeds, depending on your interpretation
 * Imperial Japan: The occupiers of Manchuria and Korea and a major opponent
 * Impossibly Cool Clothes: For all three of the protagonists: Do-won dresses like a cowboy, Chang-yi like a pop star, and Tae-goo like a hipster Rummage Sale Reject. And they are all in 1930s Manchuria.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills
 * Improvised Armour: The diving helmet in the Ghost Market scene
 * Katanas of the Rising Sun: One of the major antagonists and providers of cannon fodder.
 * Kick the Dog
 * Knife Nut: Chang-yi.
 * Les Collaborateurs: Some of the characters in the movie are wealthy Koreans who work for the Japanese. They all tend to die rather messily.
 * Mexican Standoff/Showdown At High Noon
 * Mood Whiplash
 * Morality Pet: Tae-goo's family
 * Mr. Fanservice: Chang-yi
 * New Old West: Except it's in the East
 * Nice Hat: Do-won and Tae-goo
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Tae-goo
 * One-Man Army: Do-won. This becomes apparent when he takes on an entire cavalry company of the Japanese Army. By himself. And wins.
 * Opium Den: Tae-goo ends up in one, though he's really only looking for a room to spend the night.
 * Pet the Dog: Tae-goo's kindness to those children. Do-won's expression of idealistic sentiments might also qualify. He's not a bad guy to begin with, but is more sympathetic after showing he does his work because of a code, not just for the cash.
 * Quick Draw
 * Quick Nip
 * The Quiet One: Do-won
 * Rasputinian Death:.
 * Recut: The alternative ending found on most of the DVD's is basically just a longer version of the Ending which closes some plot elements like and gives a clearer explanation for what we see at the end of the theatrical version.
 * Recycled in Space: It's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly WITH KOREANS IN 1930s MANCHURIA!
 * Retired Monster: Tae-goo
 * Second Sino-Japanese War
 * Shout-Out:
 * Toward the end of the film, Chang-yi shoots off Tae-goo's hat and keeps shooting it every time Tae-goo tries to retrieve it from the ground. This is quite similar to a scene in For a Few Dollars More where Monco and Colonel Mortimer do this to each other.
 * During the climactic standoff, a panning shot shows Chang-yi and Tae-goo in the distance, with Do-won in the foreground, seen from the back, wearing his longcoat and carrying his Winchester rifle. This mirrors the scene in Once Upon a Time in the West.
 * In the alternative ending, it's revealed that  in A Fistful of Dollars.
 * Spaghetti Western: The film is indebted to this genre.
 * Stern Chase
 * Super Window Jump
 * Surprisingly Good Foreign Language: Korean, Japanese, and Mandarin is spoken throughout the movie.
 * Train Job/Traintop Battle
 * Warrior Poet
 * What a Drag
 * White Shirt of Death
 * Wire Fu
 * Worthless Yellow Rocks:  This kind of seems to evoke The Treasure of the Sierra Madre