Welcome to the Asian movie thread. Here you can discuss your favorite Asian movies or ask for recommendations. I love watching Asian movies. I however have not seen one for a while. Gif is from House Of The Flying Daggers.
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Welcome to the Asian movie thread. Here you can discuss your favorite Asian movies or ask for recommendations. I love watching Asian movies. I however have not seen one for a while. Gif is from House Of The Flying Daggers.
As the maker of the thread I have of cource some recommendations myself. Beware that the list is pretty long since I have seen many movies. I've also tried my best to categorize them.
Comedy/Romance
Antique [Korean]
Do Re Mi Fa So La Si Do [Korean]
Bin Jip [Korean]
Action/Sci-fi
A Battle Of Wits [China]
Azumi [Japan]
Battle Royal [Japan]
Casshern [Japan]
Dead Or Alive 1,2,3 [Japan]
Hero [China]
House Of The Flying Daggers [China]
Initial D [Japan]
Musa The Warrior [Korean]
Natural City [Korean]
The Legend Of The Shadowless Sword [Korean]
Yesterday [Korean]
Triller/Horror
A Tale Of Two Sisters [Korean]
Dark Water [Japan]
Hanzel & Gretel [Korean]
I Saw The Devil [Korean]
Japanese Horror Antology 1,2 [Japan]
One Missed Call [Japan]
Premonition [Japan]
Pulse [Japan]
The Eye [China]
Ringu 0 [Japan]
Ringu 1 [Japan]
Shutter [Thailand]
The Chaser [Korean]
The Uninvited [Korean]
Unborn But Forgotten [Korean]
I liked Shaolin. There was a moment which tugged at my heartstrings. I'm a Mandarin teacher but admittedly, still need subtitles, and from what my friend in Shenyang says, it's common over there as well, since Chinese is tonal but during movies, they don't always stick with the tones to try to highten the moment.
But, other than Shaolin, I'm struggling to come up with others. Admittedly, I don't have the attention span for tv and movies, so I usually don't watch either. But occasionally, I do.
But, other than Shaolin, I'm struggling to come up with others. Admittedly, I don't have the attention span for tv and movies, so I usually don't watch either. But occasionally, I do.
I love horror movies, and as such, watch a lot of foreign horror flicks. I feel like other cultures have an edge on scary because they have a completely different set of fears. I'm used to what Americans think is scary, and its very bland and repetitive, so its really a treat to get to experience the fears of others. Asian horror is usually a slow psychological burn, weather or not they're accompanied by the jump-scares and gore we're used to. Anyway, here are some of my favorites, I'll drop by and add more in the morning if I can remember any!
TAG - its hard to describe the plot in this movie without giving too much away, but it starts with and that is beautiful.
Parasyte - Both a live action move, an anime, and probably a manga as well. Weird eldritch-horror type creatures take over peoples bodies in this one, and the protagonist manages to only get his hand infected. I love everything about this, from plot to character development to obscenely grotesque monster based deaths.
TAG - its hard to describe the plot in this movie without giving too much away, but it starts with
a gust of wind slicing a bus full of schoolgirls in half
Parasyte - Both a live action move, an anime, and probably a manga as well. Weird eldritch-horror type creatures take over peoples bodies in this one, and the protagonist manages to only get his hand infected. I love everything about this, from plot to character development to obscenely grotesque monster based deaths.
Millet, spilling the tea: I used to watch lots of asian flicks but their names escape me for the most part. :(
I don't think I can ever heal,
Ever replace that hole your death tore in me.
7 Lucky Ninja Kids.
I could not watch this movie enough as a child. XD
I love it for the bad lip syncing and whatnot now though XDD
Ever replace that hole your death tore in me.
7 Lucky Ninja Kids.
I could not watch this movie enough as a child. XD
I love it for the bad lip syncing and whatnot now though XDD
Feb 17/69 - November 07/16
I miss you more than you can ever know.
I miss you more than you can ever know.
You need a category of "wut." for movies like Robogeisha, The Machine Girl, and Gothic Lolita Battle Bear.
@onsenmark: I have Robogeisha and Tokyo Gore Police XD But I haven´t seen them yet. So I cannot say if I would recommend them.
@Lady Luna: That sounds like a bad movie.
@Millet: I only started watching asian movies in my teens.
@Glume: I love horror movies but I can do without weird creatures.
@Gatorlec: I have that movie but I haven't seen it yet.
I don't think I can ever heal,
Ever replace that hole your death tore in me.
@vengeance: I dunno
There's the whole 'I loved it as a kid' thing there, so I still like it. XD
Ever replace that hole your death tore in me.
@vengeance: I dunno
There's the whole 'I loved it as a kid' thing there, so I still like it. XD
Feb 17/69 - November 07/16
I miss you more than you can ever know.
I miss you more than you can ever know.
@Lady Luna: I had stuff that I liked as a kid. But when rewatching when I was an adult I was like "How did I even like this".
I don't think I can ever heal,
Ever replace that hole your death tore in me.
@vengeance: Fair enough. pokemon, for example on my end
But I still get a kick out of the movie. XD
Ever replace that hole your death tore in me.
@vengeance: Fair enough. pokemon, for example on my end
But I still get a kick out of the movie. XD
Feb 17/69 - November 07/16
I miss you more than you can ever know.
I miss you more than you can ever know.
@Lady Luna: Pokemon, gotta catch em all! I only watched the first season. Then I lost interest already.
I don't think I can ever heal,
Ever replace that hole your death tore in me.
@vengeance: I think I only watched the first season too.
YGO is another one for me. XD
technically they count because Asia. XDD
Ever replace that hole your death tore in me.
@vengeance: I think I only watched the first season too.
YGO is another one for me. XD
technically they count because Asia. XDD
Feb 17/69 - November 07/16
I miss you more than you can ever know.
I miss you more than you can ever know.
My Youtube. I upload Tuesdays
Ping me. always
ALWAYS looking for art of my Characters
If you do art, PM me
Ping me. always
ALWAYS looking for art of my Characters
If you do art, PM me
Yoooo i used watch a ton of the wuxia movies with my parents as a kid. The martial arts and sword fighting (with the occasional supernatural and magic) were always my favorite parts lol. I still love watching them, but I just don't have the time anymore. Unfortunately, I don't remember the titles. ^^;
Anyway, here's some of my favorites off the top of my head. c:
Kung Fu Hustle: China, comedy/action, this movie is hilarious and just awesome xD
Black: Korean, fantasy/thriller, i didn't like the ending but it's a pretty good series. c:
Moon Lovers Scarlet Heart Ryeo: Korean, historical romance melodrama
Master's Sun: Korean, comedy/romance/mystery/horror
My Annoying Brother: Korean, comedy/drama, be prepared to cry lol
Railroad Tigers: China, comedy/action/war
Ip Man: China, action/drama/biography
Mr. Sunshine: Korean, drama, currently airing on Netflix c:
Hero: China, action/adventure/historical, one of my favorite movies starring Jet Li!
Nirvana In Fire: China, Historical/wuxia, currently watching this and IT IS SO GOOD!
Tampopo always gave me the munchies. All that food~ :vioyum:
Shin Godzilla. It's freaking Hideaki Anno. Of Evangelion fame. 'nuff said.
And oh, the various Kamen Rider/Super Sentai films. I'd probably be a while posting them all... :viosweat:
Shin Godzilla. It's freaking Hideaki Anno. Of Evangelion fame. 'nuff said.
And oh, the various Kamen Rider/Super Sentai films. I'd probably be a while posting them all... :viosweat:
Asian cinema is my life!!! 
I'm linking trailers on YouTube in case anyone wants to check any of these out:
Comedy
カタクリ家の幸福 ("The Happiness of the Katakuris" - Japanese). This movie is disgusting but it's one of those train wrecks you can't stop watching. A family runs a Bed & Breakfast but they have horrible luck: everyone who stays the night at their house dies. And they don't want to get shut down, so they just keep burying bodies. Then they are informed the nearby road will be expanded onto their land. They don't want the bodies to be discovered, so they dig them up to move them. That's when the movie gets REALLY weird. The corpses get up out of their mass grave...and perform a musical number along their way to their new burial spots. This whole movie is effed up but for some reason I like it.
써니 ("Sunny" - Korean). HILARIOUS. It will also make you bawl your eyes out. Honestly, this is one of the greatest films of all time, in my opinion. It's about a group of women who were friends as teenagers but are in their 40s now, and one of them is dying of cancer and wants to get the old gang back together one last time. There are frequent flashbacks to the 80s when they were teens so you get to see them up to all kinds of shenanigans (crushes, bullies, family drama, school events), but you also get to see the harsh reality of childhood dreams never realized and the way people lose touch over the years, even though when you're a teenager you think you will always be young and you will always have your friends from school. Gah, this movie kills me. T_T It's so good. And so, so funny.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil ("Oh, Heart!" - Indian) Again, hilarious, but will make you bawl your eyes out. A man falls deeply in love with his best friend, but she doesn't feel the same. She loves him like her dearest, best friend and favorite person of all time, but he keeps trying to be something more, and she can't love him like that. She's super crazy, wild, and spontaneous, the kind of girl you would love to have for a best friend, but the kind of girl you could also easily fall in love with. Seriously amazing film. And, hey, it's Bollywood!!! Awesome music throughout.
Action
도둑들 ("Thieves" - Korean). This is also hilarious but may also make you bawl your eyes out... It's about a group of Korean con artists/thieves who team up with some Chinese gangsters to pull off a really big heist. Things go completely awry. It's hilarious but bloody, too, and it takes no prisoners.
中南海保鑣 ("The Bodyguard from Beijing" AKA "The Defender" - Chinese). Seriously, everything Jet Li does is amazing. I literally used to have "Jet Li Appreciation" parties in my dorm where my friends would come over and just watch Jet Li movies all day long. I recommend all his films. lol But I picked this one for the list cause I think it's kind of romantic. haha He plays the bodyguard for some bigwig's girlfriend. She's a knockout and falls in love with him, but he can't be with her cause he's just doing his job as her protector. *sniff*
變臉迷情 ("Devil Face, Angel Heart" - Chinese) Daniel Wu is a-ma-zing. Love everything I've ever seen him in, but this is one of his best films, in my humble opinion. He plays a hideously disfigured man who falls in love with a con woman who tricks him into doing her dirty work, with the end result his intended death. He survives, gets plastic surgery to become a drop-dead gorgeous hottie, and comes back for revenge.
Horror
ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ ("Shutter" - Thai). Hands down the scariest Asian film I've ever seen. The end? Woo. That stays with you. Like...for eternity. It's pretty sickening, honestly, but I loved it. A college student gets a girlfriend but she is very plainly and the other guys mock her and try to make him break up with her. He starts ignoring her because he's ashamed of her. Then he does the unthinkable... Serious rape trigger in this film that I could have done without, but if you want to be scared, this is the movie that'll do it to you.
異度空間 ("Inner Senses" - Chinese). This movie is about a woman who sees ghosts everywhere and seeks psychiatric help. It turns out her therapist is being haunted, himself. This movie was terrifying to me, but the ending is kinda wack. Still, soooo worth it for the late, great Leslie Cheung, who was a gay actor who committed suicide in the early 2000s. Broke my heart. T_T
回路 ("Closed Circuit" AKA "Pulse" - Japanese). This is one I cannot watch in the dark. I don't even know what it's about, but people keep turning into ash and it freaks me out so bad. T_T They go to a haunted website and then they can see ghosts (or something). They just act weird and it's terrifying. They put red tape around their doors to keep the spirits out but eventually the entire world's population just turns to dust, and they leave behind these black smudge shadows. Freaky!!!
Drama
시월애 ("Time-Transcending Love Story" AKA "Il Mare" - Korean). Did you like the movie "The Lake House" with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock? That was a remake of this Korean film. A man and woman exchange letters through a magic mailbox, each claiming the mailbox and lake house are theirs, and they eventually realize they are in different places in time. Fascinating. Also heartbreaking. I can't remember how the Korean one ends... The American remake ends happily but Korean movies usually kill everyone off at the end, so...don't hold your breath. lol!
동감 ("Ditto" - Korean). I love time-travel stuff, so here's another favorite. This time a teenager in modern times is contacting a girl who is living in the 1970s via transistor radio. And it's no coincidence, because they are actually connected. And if they had never met via radio, the boy would have never been born... Watch it to find out why! It's so good! (Why are all these films tear-jerkers...? lol)
감기 ("Flu" - Korean). People thought "Train to Busan" was an awesome zombie film, but I think Flu is better by leaps and bounds. It's not zombies per se, but it's about a deadly virus that infects instantly and kills within hours. They start creating landfills of bodies and the main character's child ends up in one in a plastic bag. This movie is seriously scary but ends strangely happily. Unlike Train to Busan. lol I'm mad they took it off Netflix!
Historical Drama
비천무 ("Warrior of Virtue" - Korean). Another bawlfest. A prince is exiled by an invading army and raised as a pauper, but learns secret martial arts. He falls in love with the invading king's daughter and they meet in secret, until the king finds out and has the prince killed. He comes back filled with hatred, brings an army, and sets out to murder everyone who hurt him, including the princess. Except of course his old feelings return. And a lot of twisted, sad things happen that I won't say and spoil but this movie is amazing!
Science Fiction
단적비연수 ("The Legend of the Ginkgo" - Korean). People hate this movie cause it's weird and Koreans aren't the biggest sci-fi film fans, anyway, but I freaking love it and will defend it till I die. A chosen child is meant to be sacrificed by some witch in a freaky cult, but her father gets her away from the witch (who I think is her mother, incidentally) and she is raised by a Viking-like tribe. Two boys in the tribe fall in love with her and as she is discovering her true destiny, their fight for her comes to a head. Very sad, but the popular lead actress Choi JinSil committed suicide years later.
2002 (Chinese). I'll watching anything with Nicholas Tse in it. He's beyond beautiful. But team him up with Stephen Fung? Yummy! In this film Nic is a cop who is partnered with a ghost to take on supernatural threats, but his ghost partner is soon to be reincarnated so Nic needs a new partner. Enter Stephen Fung...a ghost-hunter who is terrified of ghosts.
LGBT recommendation
美少年之戀 ("Bishounen" AKA "Love Between Beautiful Men" - Chinese) I can't find an actual trailer but there are tons of music video fan vids on YouTube. I love this movie, but warning, it does fall into the cross-cultural trap of "gay people can't have happy endings!" Nobody dies, but the men don't stay together. Still, it's worth the ride for that ONE almost-love scene... Daniel Wu plays a security guard who lives with his parents and reveres them above all (it IS an Asian film...) but he and a male gigolo develop crushes on each other. After a lot of UST (unsatisfied sexual tension) they finally wind up in each other's arms...but Daniel's character's father sees them and he is so scared of disappointing his parents that he ends the relationship immediately. This movie breaks my heart but two of my favorite actors in a romantic relationship on the big screen??? Gimme that!!!
Imma stop here cause I could go on forever...
I'm linking trailers on YouTube in case anyone wants to check any of these out:Comedy
カタクリ家の幸福 ("The Happiness of the Katakuris" - Japanese). This movie is disgusting but it's one of those train wrecks you can't stop watching. A family runs a Bed & Breakfast but they have horrible luck: everyone who stays the night at their house dies. And they don't want to get shut down, so they just keep burying bodies. Then they are informed the nearby road will be expanded onto their land. They don't want the bodies to be discovered, so they dig them up to move them. That's when the movie gets REALLY weird. The corpses get up out of their mass grave...and perform a musical number along their way to their new burial spots. This whole movie is effed up but for some reason I like it.
써니 ("Sunny" - Korean). HILARIOUS. It will also make you bawl your eyes out. Honestly, this is one of the greatest films of all time, in my opinion. It's about a group of women who were friends as teenagers but are in their 40s now, and one of them is dying of cancer and wants to get the old gang back together one last time. There are frequent flashbacks to the 80s when they were teens so you get to see them up to all kinds of shenanigans (crushes, bullies, family drama, school events), but you also get to see the harsh reality of childhood dreams never realized and the way people lose touch over the years, even though when you're a teenager you think you will always be young and you will always have your friends from school. Gah, this movie kills me. T_T It's so good. And so, so funny.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil ("Oh, Heart!" - Indian) Again, hilarious, but will make you bawl your eyes out. A man falls deeply in love with his best friend, but she doesn't feel the same. She loves him like her dearest, best friend and favorite person of all time, but he keeps trying to be something more, and she can't love him like that. She's super crazy, wild, and spontaneous, the kind of girl you would love to have for a best friend, but the kind of girl you could also easily fall in love with. Seriously amazing film. And, hey, it's Bollywood!!! Awesome music throughout.
Action
도둑들 ("Thieves" - Korean). This is also hilarious but may also make you bawl your eyes out... It's about a group of Korean con artists/thieves who team up with some Chinese gangsters to pull off a really big heist. Things go completely awry. It's hilarious but bloody, too, and it takes no prisoners.
中南海保鑣 ("The Bodyguard from Beijing" AKA "The Defender" - Chinese). Seriously, everything Jet Li does is amazing. I literally used to have "Jet Li Appreciation" parties in my dorm where my friends would come over and just watch Jet Li movies all day long. I recommend all his films. lol But I picked this one for the list cause I think it's kind of romantic. haha He plays the bodyguard for some bigwig's girlfriend. She's a knockout and falls in love with him, but he can't be with her cause he's just doing his job as her protector. *sniff*
變臉迷情 ("Devil Face, Angel Heart" - Chinese) Daniel Wu is a-ma-zing. Love everything I've ever seen him in, but this is one of his best films, in my humble opinion. He plays a hideously disfigured man who falls in love with a con woman who tricks him into doing her dirty work, with the end result his intended death. He survives, gets plastic surgery to become a drop-dead gorgeous hottie, and comes back for revenge.
Horror
ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ ("Shutter" - Thai). Hands down the scariest Asian film I've ever seen. The end? Woo. That stays with you. Like...for eternity. It's pretty sickening, honestly, but I loved it. A college student gets a girlfriend but she is very plainly and the other guys mock her and try to make him break up with her. He starts ignoring her because he's ashamed of her. Then he does the unthinkable... Serious rape trigger in this film that I could have done without, but if you want to be scared, this is the movie that'll do it to you.
異度空間 ("Inner Senses" - Chinese). This movie is about a woman who sees ghosts everywhere and seeks psychiatric help. It turns out her therapist is being haunted, himself. This movie was terrifying to me, but the ending is kinda wack. Still, soooo worth it for the late, great Leslie Cheung, who was a gay actor who committed suicide in the early 2000s. Broke my heart. T_T
回路 ("Closed Circuit" AKA "Pulse" - Japanese). This is one I cannot watch in the dark. I don't even know what it's about, but people keep turning into ash and it freaks me out so bad. T_T They go to a haunted website and then they can see ghosts (or something). They just act weird and it's terrifying. They put red tape around their doors to keep the spirits out but eventually the entire world's population just turns to dust, and they leave behind these black smudge shadows. Freaky!!!
Drama
시월애 ("Time-Transcending Love Story" AKA "Il Mare" - Korean). Did you like the movie "The Lake House" with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock? That was a remake of this Korean film. A man and woman exchange letters through a magic mailbox, each claiming the mailbox and lake house are theirs, and they eventually realize they are in different places in time. Fascinating. Also heartbreaking. I can't remember how the Korean one ends... The American remake ends happily but Korean movies usually kill everyone off at the end, so...don't hold your breath. lol!
동감 ("Ditto" - Korean). I love time-travel stuff, so here's another favorite. This time a teenager in modern times is contacting a girl who is living in the 1970s via transistor radio. And it's no coincidence, because they are actually connected. And if they had never met via radio, the boy would have never been born... Watch it to find out why! It's so good! (Why are all these films tear-jerkers...? lol)
감기 ("Flu" - Korean). People thought "Train to Busan" was an awesome zombie film, but I think Flu is better by leaps and bounds. It's not zombies per se, but it's about a deadly virus that infects instantly and kills within hours. They start creating landfills of bodies and the main character's child ends up in one in a plastic bag. This movie is seriously scary but ends strangely happily. Unlike Train to Busan. lol I'm mad they took it off Netflix!
Historical Drama
비천무 ("Warrior of Virtue" - Korean). Another bawlfest. A prince is exiled by an invading army and raised as a pauper, but learns secret martial arts. He falls in love with the invading king's daughter and they meet in secret, until the king finds out and has the prince killed. He comes back filled with hatred, brings an army, and sets out to murder everyone who hurt him, including the princess. Except of course his old feelings return. And a lot of twisted, sad things happen that I won't say and spoil but this movie is amazing!
Science Fiction
단적비연수 ("The Legend of the Ginkgo" - Korean). People hate this movie cause it's weird and Koreans aren't the biggest sci-fi film fans, anyway, but I freaking love it and will defend it till I die. A chosen child is meant to be sacrificed by some witch in a freaky cult, but her father gets her away from the witch (who I think is her mother, incidentally) and she is raised by a Viking-like tribe. Two boys in the tribe fall in love with her and as she is discovering her true destiny, their fight for her comes to a head. Very sad, but the popular lead actress Choi JinSil committed suicide years later.
2002 (Chinese). I'll watching anything with Nicholas Tse in it. He's beyond beautiful. But team him up with Stephen Fung? Yummy! In this film Nic is a cop who is partnered with a ghost to take on supernatural threats, but his ghost partner is soon to be reincarnated so Nic needs a new partner. Enter Stephen Fung...a ghost-hunter who is terrified of ghosts.
LGBT recommendation
美少年之戀 ("Bishounen" AKA "Love Between Beautiful Men" - Chinese) I can't find an actual trailer but there are tons of music video fan vids on YouTube. I love this movie, but warning, it does fall into the cross-cultural trap of "gay people can't have happy endings!" Nobody dies, but the men don't stay together. Still, it's worth the ride for that ONE almost-love scene... Daniel Wu plays a security guard who lives with his parents and reveres them above all (it IS an Asian film...) but he and a male gigolo develop crushes on each other. After a lot of UST (unsatisfied sexual tension) they finally wind up in each other's arms...but Daniel's character's father sees them and he is so scared of disappointing his parents that he ends the relationship immediately. This movie breaks my heart but two of my favorite actors in a romantic relationship on the big screen??? Gimme that!!!
Imma stop here cause I could go on forever...
seconding Kung Fu Hustle. it's a golden cult classic. XD
@Yixing: Hero is such a beautiful movie. I've seen it a couple of times already.
I like historical things so I should check out Nirvana In Fire.
@Eldweena: I hate crying so I try an avoid all drama movies even tho there are definitly some really good ones.
Shutter is second on my favorite horror movies list. It's a really good movie. For me it's also the only Thai horror movie I've liked so far.
Pulse is a really good movie. If I ask people if they have seen it and they do they are always like "OMG that couch scene".
Let me put a spoiler to tell you what it's exacly about.
The feeling of isolation, desperation and loneliness even though we are not physically alone is almost too much to bare. The website contains a Virus that makes people feel lonely in the world.
"Ghosts won't kill people, because that would just make more ghosts. Instead they'll try to make people immortal, by quietly trapping them in their own loneliness".
"Ghosts won't kill people, because that would just make more ghosts. Instead they'll try to make people immortal, by quietly trapping them in their own loneliness".
196/750
@Vengeance: I've only seen it once. I should definitely watch it again. c:
Just a heads up, Nirvana in Fire is pretty long and really politic heavy. But the story and character development is really good!
(ง •̀_•́)ง
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Having you as a Voltie would be awesome.